This letter opener, pen & pencil set are turned from Poison Ivy vines.  The pen takes a Parker© style insert.  The pencil takes 0.7 millimeter lead.

John A. Styer
The Lathe-meister
P. O. Box 250, North East, Maryland, 21901-0250

john@lathe-meister.com

410-287-8844

This is another poison ivy ensemble

Poison Ivy is Beautiful!

     I once shared with a shopper that I had made a pen out of a poison ivy vine. She was  instantly galvanized into covetousness, so I was forced into action.  The local cemetery produced a poison ivy vine a couple of inches in diameter, that had been strangling a black gum tree for a few decades.   I liberated an 18 inch section, and brought it home.  Having experienced no untoward symptoms, I proceeded, with caution.  IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION: The poison is in the oil, which is on the leaves, and the sap just under the bark.  The wood itself is poison-free, and has a gorgeous heartwood.  (My previous experiment was a piece too thin to have much heartwood.)  This piece had some similarity to locust. Having truly believed I removed all traces of its demon oils, I turned a pen or two (just to satisfy that unique market demand, mind you).  I discovered that the wood was safe to work with, turned easily, and that there might be a limitless supply of raw material.

     So I reaped the rest of that delightful poison ivy vine from the North East Methodist Cemetery.  Its heartwood was a bronze-colored cross among locust, mulberry and osage orange. I further discovered that, if the vine, cut at the bottom, is left on the tree over the summer, all the oils evaporate, so that I don't need to do any further "processing".  You can handle the finished product with confidence.  I have also discovered that not all vines contain that gorgeous grain, which, of course, diminishes its appearance, in my opinion.  (I feel like such an explorer with all these discoveries.)  My next one was, as expected, many people have actually encouraged me to come onto their property and just take their entire poison ivy crop, leaving them with, well, nothing. (Some have demanded it!)

     I thought that I had cornered the market on poison ivy, since I haven't seen anyone else working with it.  (I just can't understand that!)  But, I have heard of other woodturners working with it.  We are, I'll bet, a miniscule fraternity.  I've tried to use poison ivy in at least a couple of every kind of small turning that I've done recently.  This includes golf ball marks and diggers, bookmarks, perfume pens, mini-pens, twist pens, small knives, etc.  Judging from the market, however, I may need to up the percentage of poison ivy turnings. It is a great-looking wood.  However, I believe that most purchasers buy poison ivy products, not so much for their appearance,  as for their uniqueness.  There is a certain element of titillating intrigue, to owning something made from poison ivy.  On the other hand, those who buy poison ivy products as gifts, either buy them for the preceding reasons, or because they hate the recipient.  (Okay, that's probably not true!)