I have made quite a few bobbins in the past few years, and have tried many different kinds of wood, including several fruit woods, lilac, snakewood, pink ivory, etc. This all started when one of my square Binche bobbins had a streak of color, which I found intriguing. From my experience, apple is quite brittle, and I have snapped every bobbin I tried to make. Plum wood, from a tree in my back yard is amazing. This particular piece of wood has some silver streaks in it, which are so striking, it looks like I splashed some iridescent silver paint on them. Lilac is amazing if you are able to get some with a dark center core.
The true hardwoods, like rosewood and ebony look finished right from the tool without any sanding. These woods look like glass after sanding and applying finish. I can make the softer woods have an incredible finish with the help with some good grain filler. When the bobbin is finished, you cannot see the grain filler, but the bobbin has a wonderful, very smooth finish. The snakewood bobbins I have made are the most beautiful by far, but the wood is VERY expensive. Some of the Ebony varieties are more expensive, but lovely when done. The wood does not have to be expensive to make a nice bobbin. Some of the prettiest bobbins I have made have some from wood people have given me. I got off work a little early today. Time to go downstairs and make some bobbins! Eileen Collins Edmonds, Washington, USA Lacemakers of Puget Sound *********************** **From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Lorri Ferguson **Sent: Sunday, 17 February 2019 5:27 AM **To: Arachne list <[email protected]>; Adele Shaak <[email protected]> **Subject: Re: [lace] Bobbin question **Even a home hobbyist can produce very fine bobbins. It is all in the sanding and polishing. **I have made bobbins from various woods, one just has to take some time with the finishing. **Yes, some woods are better than others - fruit woods are probably the best. **I made some from the wood of the apple tree in the yard of the house I grew up in. It is super **to work. But I have also used much coarser grained woods and with the proper finishing they **can be just as good. **Lorri Ferguson **Renton, WA - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
