New life for a branch of beetle killed pine,

Pine Wood Ring   David is making himself a ring right now as a side project. I'm calling it his '48 Acre' Touch Wood Ring.  It's made of bug killed pine from our own property. 

David wears a size 13 1/2.  He's tapering his ring and it features a 'galaxy' knot. He swears by a tapered ring for comfort.

I thought it would be fun to share a few pics of this ring as a work in progress, then when it's complete, I'll come back and update with final pics. The grain and figure in wood deepens and intensifies through the sanding, shaping and finishing processes.

'Bug killed pine' is the blue stained wood sometimes called Blue Pine, Denim Pine or Beetle killed pine.

And here, as promised, are some pics of David's finished Denim Pine Wood Ring

"The current outbreak of The Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic in BC started in the early 1990's. Today the Mountain Pine Beetle occurs well beyond its historic range, extending into northern British Columbia and eastward in the boreal forest of north-central Alberta. Not just limiting itself to lodgepole pine any longer, the beetle is also reproducing in jack pine, the dominant pine species of the boreal forest." 1 source NRC
 

Six years ago, David wrote a blog documenting the sustainable harvesting of the dead and dying pine on our own property.

You wouldn't necessarily know it from reading my 'zippety do dah' posts, but our remote off grid lifestyle requires a good deal of grunt work.  Living here is worth every minute of the hard work required. I'm just saying I don't talk about it much.

David's blog is called Racing Ants It's a good read; full of intelligent, thoughtful commentary.  He talks about all sorts of things;  road building, fencing, sustainable logging, forest health, and it's chock full of photos too.  It's a great record of some of the hard work that happens to keep our 48 acres singing.  


And so ... as a bit of background to the bug killed pine that is getting another life as a wooden ring, here is David's introductory post on Racing Ants.  It was written June 5th, 2009. 

Chapter 1

In the beginning . . . there were ants

It's a busy time of year when spring finally emerges from the frosty nights and blustery days. Every project that winter inspired becomes more urgent as the short summer approaches and setting our priorities becomes paramount. Thank goodness our talented lead hand is also patient as we jump from one job to the next and he struggles to divide his time into our list of wants.



This is the year we have to deal with the considerable amount of bug killed pine that peppers our little forest. The trees are standing dead, but just barely standing, as root rot and ant colonies conspire to fall them before we do. We have to be very careful and keep our wits about us because they will sometimes fall without provocation . . . unnerving and dangerous . . . and the sound of wind is a warning to make your way to a clearing . . . heads up!

The Pine Beetles that eat the Cambrian layer and kill the tree, cause a stain that penetrates the tree for several inches in some cases. This stained wood when sawn produces a spectacular show of blue grey wood mixed with the typical white pine. The stain does not appear to fade or run so the wood can be finished to enhance this natural beauty. We have been burning this wood in the home fires while lamenting the destruction of these beautiful trees and the huge waste of potential lumber and wood products that are falling all around us. This winter we decided to do something to at least deal with the trees on our own land, so we bought a four head Logosol planer to add some value to the rough sawn lumber that is commonplace here. . .

Planing our lumber is the final step in the production process . . . first we had to acquire all the support machinery that is needed to produce the rough lumber for the planer and to selectively log the trees and haul them to the mill, and clean up the branches and remove the stumps and build the roads etc etc. Also we had to provide shelter for the machinery and store the final product. This will be a record of how all that is coming together . . .

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For the rest of the story, visit David's sustainable logging blog at http://racingants.blogspot.ca and check back here at the end of the month for some finished pics of his '48 Acre Ring'.


David and I are old school readers ~ the idea of reading a blog from the latest entry backwards never feels quite right.  There is a sense of order in starting at the beginning :)  on that note, here are chapter by chapter links for Racing Ants.

Chapter 1 
Chapter 2    
Chapter 3 
Chapter 4 
Chapter 5 
Chapter 6 
Chapter 7 
Chapter 8 

As always ~ thanks so much for dropping by!  

A Wooden Wedding Ring for Tim

It was Spring.  The birds were just returning to the meadow. . .

Working with Tim; a self described '60 year old semi-retiring medical guy', was a lovely experience. Tim was looking to replace his gold wedding band which he explained had outlived it's wear-ability years ago. He was also looking to set a good environmental example for his grand kids. Tim gave David excellent information in terms of sizing and fit, and he was drawn to Juniper heartwood.  Beyond that he gave David artistic license to create something beautiful.

Just the other day we received this lovely warm letter from Tim ~ and a photo of Tim and Ingrid's hands taken at their daughter's wedding.

"Greetings David and Nicola.

I commissioned a Juniper Heartwood Wedding band from you last year. After I received it in the Spring I started to wear it sparingly because we were prepping the old house to sell, then proceeding with the renovations on the retirement home we moved to. With all that work, I didn't want to risk it harm. I now have the opportunity wear it out to community and events and at Church. The two of us are well worn and inseparable now.

I'm always delighted to wear it (a perfect fit) and Ingrid is joyed with it too. It is truly a work of art, unique in composition, and announces it's presence in a way that jewelry never can. It's subtle, and reflects light with a warmth that only finely polished wood can. The grain flow and contrast suits my heartwood. So a truly grand and sincere thank you for your composition David.  Kindest regards, Tim."

 

Under the Ancient Cedar Tree

David and I had the absolute pleasure of working with these two beautiful women. One is a doctor, the other a midwife.  That's pretty cool in itself. They have also given of their time and expertise to Doctors Without Borders.  My communications with Dominique and Terra have been so easy and delightful ... I feel as though their love for each other just spills over into everything they do.  

When they received their rings they wrote; 

"We just wanted to let you know that we think they are absolutely beautiful, much nicer then we even expected. And they fit and feel amazing. We love them! They are so special!    It was great working with you both Nicola and David. David is an amazing craftsman, and Nicola, your the nicest and loveliest person to exchange ring emails and ideas with. Altogether you are an amazing pair! We also really enjoyed your many photos and updates. Hats off to you both for your commitment to a green and off the grid lifestyle."

To which David and I can say only; "The pleasure was all ours! Though our time working together was all too brief given the spontaneous nature of your decision to elope :)"
and then, this email ...  
"Dear Nicola and David.  We wanted to share our happiness and pictures with you. We eloped in an old grove forest and got married under a 1000 year old Cedar tree. It was a magical autumn day. It was perfect. Just the way we wanted it! The rings you made for us are amazing and were such a wonderful part of our ceremony. They mean a lot to us. Each time I look at it I remember these magic moments under that old cedar.  Thank you for your amazing work and lovely emails throughout the process."

 

I am often overwhelmed by the beautiful souls who reach out to David and I, and who so enrich our lives. We are incredibly blessed.

The icing on the cake, so to speak, was the woman they hired as their photographer.  All the photographs on this post are Tracie's work and she, and Terra and Dominique, have been gracious enough to allow me to post them here.  Tracie Howe is a Seattle based wedding and  portrait photographer.  Tracie's  website is as warm and lovely as her photography.  And, she loves to travel too. In her intro, Tracie writes: "If you’re planning a destination wedding or you live in the Seattle area and are looking for a destination wedding photographer then you have found her!  "Give me a tent and a breathtaking destination for your wedding, and I’m golden." 

 

 Terra and Dominique ~ David and I thank you both so much for the opportunity to work with you on the wee wooden symbols of your love for each other, and we wish you both tremendous happiness in the days and years ahead.

 

And thanks again to Tracie Howe for allowing me to share her photography of this magical day.

Hawaiian Wood Rings

When we work with folks through the design process I often send emails with mini-showcases of one particular wood to show a range of colour and figure in a wood that someone is considering using in their design.
The 'figure' of a particular piece of wood is, in part, due to its grain and in part due to the cut, or to innate properties of the wood.  Here is a good example of 'figure' in this Walnut wood ring with birds eye maple interior and Koa wood inlay. The Koa in this inlay is highly figured.

I've put together an extended showcase of David's work with Hawaiian woods and primarily Hawaiian Koa wood.

David introduced Koa in his earliest wooden rings.  We have always asked that folks choose this wood mindfully.  The Hawaiian Islands are a unique and fragile ecosystem. The same can be said of our whole planet of course. We treat all the woods we work with as precious. Woods that aren't from our own property or from pruning piles in friends orchards, come primarily from our clients. 

We have a client friend on Hawaii who is an arborist and so we have been the happy recipients of a variety of Hawaiian woods that would otherwise be  landscaping waste, or some other woodworkers treasure.  Such a tiny bit of wood is used in the creation of a Touch Wood ring, that a little goes a long, long way. 

Hawaiian Koa Wood, in my humble opinion, rivals any precious metal for beauty! 

Koa varies from a gold and reddish brown to very dark brown with streaks of black. Finished Koa is lustrous, with beautiful hues of gold, red, and brown. There is tremendous depth to this wood. 

Here's a little Hop-Scotch array of custom designed and hand crafted Touch Wood Rings featuring Hawaiian Koa Wood ~ Enjoy!  

Another Hawaiian wood that I just love for it's figure and depth of colour is Kamani. 

David created this set of rings using Kamani and Hawaiian Kou woods.  Here is a close up of how they began; two uncut boards and a bag of sand.

As always, thanks so much for dropping by.  

We love to hear from you ~ please drop us a line anytime at nicola@touchwoodrings.com