This is obviously a work in progress. Eventually, it will be a showcase of my work, showing some of my favorite pens and pencils, and telling a little about what makes each one special.
As a start, here's an assortment of pens, to at least give an idea of some of the choices:
The one on the left is a "fancy" pen made from a composite of Maple and Cherry. Next to that is a slimline pen, made from corian countertop material. The third one is made from blue Celluloid - an acrylic plastic. That's one of my favorite pens! The fourth pen is another special one. It's made from Red Cedar, that came from a 70 year old tree that grew in a co-worker's dad's front yard in Tennessee. The fifth pen is from Box Elder Burl - a burl is a tumor-like growth that occurs occasionally on trees. The woodgrain in burls is erratic, making for very interesting patterns. Box Elder is known for red imperfections, which makes the wood especially beautiful, and a great choice for making pens! Next is a green and black aquapearl, in the slimline style. Last but not least is a maple pen with a red inlay.
Here are some more pens, in greater detail:
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This is one of my favorite pens. The wood is over 419 years old! It comes from a very famous tree, in Salem, NJ, called the "Salem Oak Tree". John Fenwick purchased the state of NJ from the Indians under the branches of this tree. The darker brown part is where the wood was starting to rot. I think it adds character. |
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I enjoy making pens from wood that has history to it. The wood doesn't have to be exotic or expensive, just special in some way. This pen is made from Apple wood - fresh off my brother's firewood pile. |
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My neighbors had their kitchen remodeled. They had some wood left over from the cabinets, and they gave it to me. The two pens above are made from that wood. It's red Oak, but the cabinets were stained very dark, so the pens don't look much like the cabinets. The top pen is carved in the "KC" style (named after Kip Christensen, the style's creator). The bottom pen is a slimline twist pen, carved in my "Fancy" style. |
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This pen is another slimline twist pen, made from Figured Walnut. |
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This is a similar pen, made from Hondoras Rosewood. This pen is a Click style, made from the Slimline-Pro style pen. |
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Here's yet another; this one is made from Maple. |
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Here is an example of a slimline twist pen carved in the traditional manner. The wood is Spalted Birch. Spalting occurs when a fungus gets into the tree, causing interesting discolorations and figures. |
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This is another "Fancy" slimline twist pen. This one is made from an acrylic plastic, called Celluloid. |
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This one is made from Orange And Black Aquapearl, another type of acrylic. |
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This is yet-another slimline twist pen, carved in a different style, which I call "Artsy". This pen is made from another type of acrylic, called "Crushed Velvet". |
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Moving onto some other styles; the pens above are the Gentleman Jr. Style, made from Red Oak. The cap can be unscrewed, and screwed onto the other end, eliminating the problem of "what to do with the cap while writing", and helping to maintain the pens balance. |
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This is another type of Gentleman Jr pen. This is a rollerball, in Platinum. The body is black and white marble celluloid. The white parts look like Mother Of Pearl. |
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This is one of my favorite styles, called the "Little Havana". As you can see, this is a fountain pen, which writes beautifully. This pen also features a screw on cap, similar to the one above. Not to be redundant, but this pen is also made from the same Red Oak as the Gentleman Jr, above. |
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This is a Big Ben Rollerball pen, made from Canarywood. It looks much prettier in person; the wood is a yellowish, with pink highlights. |
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The wood for this pen is beautiful, and special. It's olivewood, from Bethlehem. The style of the pen is the Slimline-Pro click pen. |
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This is the same style pen, made with White & Black Celluloid |
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This is a Big Ben Cigar Pen, made from Oak and Maple, with black, white, and red inlays. The thick brown piece is figured walnut. |
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Here is a slimline twist pen, in the "Fancy" style. The wood is a combination of (Left to right): Oak, red veneer, Leopardwood, white & black veneer, Cedar, red veneer, Figured Walnut, Apple, Padauk, black veneer. The pattern is repeated again in the lower half. |
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This pen is a similar style, except the wood is cut on the diagonal. The woods are the same as above, but in reverse order. Also, the pen is a Slimline Pro. |
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Here's another glued-up pen, made from Padauk, with black veneer and Baltic Plywood, done in the Slimline style. The pen is a Slimline Pro. |
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Another Slimline Pro, this pen is made from Cocobolo and Maple, with a red veneer separating them. |
