Here in east Tennessee, hickory is a native tree. I have several pieces in
the wood pile and a few months back finally got around to turning some. It
is a beautiful wood. There is a good deal of variety in what it looks like,
but I had piece with a sort of chocolate heart with streaks of chocolate
beyond the heart surrounded by a creamy white. It looked very nice when
finished as well.

Turning it, on the other hand, proved to be.....well, challenging. There is
a reason they make ax handles out of it. It's very springy...slightly
stringy and a bear to turn. It bounced out of the chuck at least three
times in the process. In short, the rest that I have is destined for the
fireplace. YMMV

Peace....
Spencer
Ten Mile, TN

"Bigal" wrote in message
...
hi everyone,can anybody tell me if hickory is available in the uk? does it
turn well,and could it be used to make pen blanks?? yours in
anticipation,bigal..........