hey all, i was hoping the crew could maybe help out with some add’l info on this rosewood fixie i have. it’s a beaut (pics!), and the finish has an iridescence almost like cat eye or moonstone. i grabbed it a while ago when i was just getting back into the swing of throwing and only buying wood fixies, but the provenance i know of is this:
I purchased it from a guy, who had purchased it from a former master carpenter and fine furniture maker living in Texas at least 20 years prior. This guy also made rare wood yoyos as a hobby. In a conversation between these two guys years later, the furniture/yoyo guy said he didn’t make furniture anymore - he made fishing lures. I guess he’d gone fishing with his buddies and carved a massive lure as a joke and threw it in the water on his line… it made a big splash, but everyone was impressed by the detail and all of this massive lure. Afterwards he started making legit lures for his buddies and other people. But, demand got so big he stopped making furniture and started making lures full time.
That’s what I know. It seemed like a fish tale… this is a gorgeous piece though. I’ve done research and didn’t find much, but seems like every furniture maker made yoyos.
That’s from a company called Design In Wood. Made by Ken Picou. He advertised in the old Yo-Yo Times Newsletter. Yes, a printed newsletter before the internet communities. I think I posted a picture of his stuff a long time back. I’ll look for it.
Ken made great stuff, and Design in Wood is still around. But hasn’t made yoyos in a long time. I picked up some of his leftovers he still had about 5 years back. I posted here that he still had a few if I recall.
Here’s the pictures of some of Ken Picou’s stuff. Great players too, or course so few are interested in the GOOD stuff now. Wood is not only good, it’s the best. DH
Oh, forgot to mention. You mentioned that " the finish has an iridescence almost like cat eye or moonstone. " I collect Rocks, Minerals, Fossils as well. That finish you mention, where the finish has depth and looks 3D, like it has depth and changes in the light? That is called “Chatoyancy”.
A lot of Kens wood finishes looked like that too. If you look at my pictures, that Birdseye Maple doesn’t even look symmetrical because of the effect.
When I was trying to find the pictures of Ken’s stuff, I found some more awesome wood pictures. Here’s a few from my long and checkered past. I have 1000’s and 1000’s of pictures of old stuff.
Btw, the Batik is one of only 5 ever made … a Batik Sleep Machine. Forgot I even had those … need to get them in the museum.
Brad Countryman was doing lasering tests and never told me about these until about 8 years back. Lasering is deeper and more precise than the standard run on No Jive 3 halves.
