TJ's Rosewood Pen

My nephew came over yesterday to hang out.  This was his first creation.  It is a Bolivian Rosewood twist pen.  He did most of the work himself. He picked out his wood blank, drilled them on the drill press, all the rough turning and the assembly.  I did the last few passes and the finishing.

If he spends much more time on the lathe, I will need to get him a step stool. The lathe is set up for me. I am 6'3" and he is much shorter so had a harder time with getting the right angles when turning.  

Pretty proud of him for his first creation.

A New Rollerball

Woodcraft came out with a new higher end rollerball kit a few weeks ago. I was successfully able to get the last five in my store. This is their 'Metro' kit.  I am very happy with it. Although it is pricier, the external pieces are all metal. The only plastic component is threaded insert on the cap.  Aligning the grain between the  cap and the body can be difficult, but done right really adds to the appearance.  They right nice (as you would expect a rollerball) and the concave feel of the pen nip fits into the grip of your hand quite nicely.  The bonus of this kit is that the cap will screw on the the back side of the body so that it isn't loose on the desk as you write.  This also adds some weight to the pen when writing which is another bonus for me.

The concave nib makes this pen comfortable in my hand

Black & White Metro Rollerball Pen

Here you can see that the cap attaches to the opposite end of the body.  A definite plus in my book for this style.

The flowing grain of the Black & White Ebony is quite mesmerizing.

Black & White Ebony

The first pen is a Black & White Ebony.  I still really like this wood. The contrasting colors and flowing grain is so much fun to look at. I had a bit of trouble with this one because the blanks I bought are on the small side. It made turning these a bit tricky as there just wasn't a lot of wiggle room. I blew up one blank coring it out for the tubes.  But the second try was successful and it is beautiful. This particular pen has a standard Carnuba Wax finish

Black and white ebony (Diospyros embryopteris) is an exotic wood with color that will vary, usually uniformly black with light-colored bands, pale to medium brown zones, or with marked contrast between almost white and black wood. The wood has a fine texture with mostly straight grain. A rare find. The wood is exceptionally dense and strong. It comes from Southeast Asia and Laos.

Tamboti

This next pen is made from Tamboti. Tamboti wood, or African Sandalwood, is a beautiful wood harvested in southern Africa. Due to demand and deforestation, Tamboti wood is not available in high quantities. The Tamboti tree's heart wood is a dark brown color, dissected by darker longitudinal streaks that create striking markings on the wood. Tamboti is regarded by some as the most beautiful African hardwood.

Tamboti Metro Rollerball Pen

Tamboti Metro Rollerball Pen

I have only made a few pens from Tamboti in the past. I had this blank sitting in the drawer.  After my experience chunking out the Black & White Ebony, I wanted to make sure that my starting blank was wider than the ebony. This was just staring me in the face.  The medium brown grain of this pen is relatively straight with a mild contrast.  It is not as flamboyant as the Black & White Ebony. It has more of a 'I have been in the End Zone before' kind of elegance to it. This pen does have the more durable CA glue finish.

Purpleheart

At the request of someone at work, I made a pen from Purpleheart.  Since I had a bag of Purpleheart blanks in the drawer, I would give it a try.This pen has very straight grains and is a soft pink-purple in color. This pen does have the more durable CA glue finish.

Purpleheart Metro Rollerball Pen

Purpleheart Metro Rollerball Pen

Purpleheart is a tropical hardwood that comes from Central American and Northern South America where the tall and large trees grow abundantly, sometimes reaching a diameter of five feet.  Depending on where you are in the world, this wood could also be called amaranth, violetwood, tananeo or saka.  This wood may darken with age. If so, it will go toward the purple spectrum.

Bubinga

Bubinga Metro Rollerball Pen

Bubinga Metro Rollerball Pen with black leatherette case

Bubinga Metro Rollerball Pen

I just like saying 'Bubinga'. It is fun to say. Side by side, it looks a bit like the Purpleheart with its soft pink color.It is a few shades lighter. The grain has more 'rays' to it than the Purpleheart. Both provide a nice contrast to the gold finish of the pen.. Bubinga does darken with age toward the red spectrum. This pen has the Carnuba wax finish.


Bubinga wood can be an amazingly wavy-figured exotic wood, sought by guitar makers and small box builders alike... often referred to as African Rosewood, although technically NOT from the rosewood family. The Bubinga tree can grow to heights of up to 100' and 3' in diameter and grows mostly in parts of West Africa, Cameroon and surrounding nations.

The Black & Ebony is $65. The Bubinga, Tamboti and Purpleheart are $60. If interested, please use the contact information found in the about me or contact section of the blog.

Continental Rollerball Pens

I have found a new pen style to work with. These are Continental styled capped pens with rollerball refills. These are a much heavier pen than I normally make. The feel solid in the hand and with the metal tips, they are comfortable to hold. The rollerball refills that come with these pens are German made Schmidt branded ceramic rollers. The refills are available at most office supply stores and of course the world wide interwebs...

This one is the angle Cut Cocobolo. The blanks were cut at an angle to pronounce the grain of  the wood and allow the grain to cut cross over the pen.

Angle cut Cocobolo pen with cap off

Front side of angle cut Cocobolo pen

Back side of angle cut Cocobolo pen

This pen is made from Zebrawood. I was able to save many of the contrasting striations in this pen.

Zebrawood with cap off

Frontside Zebrawood

Backside Zebrawood

This pen is made from Honduran Rosewood. As expected from Rosewood, the grain is a beautiful piece of art by itself.

Rosewood pen with cap off

Front of Rosewood pen

Backside of Rosewood pen

Cocobolo is a tropical hardwood from Central America which is typically orange or reddish-brown in color, often with a figuring of darker irregular traces weaving through the wood.  Standing up well to repeated handling and exposure to water, a common use is in gun grips and knife handles. It is very hard, fine textured and dense. This chrome bottle stopper has silicon o-rings. It will fit on wine bottles and most standard liquor bottles.

Zebrawood’s heartwood is a light brown or cream color with dark blackish brown streaks vaguely resembling a zebra’s stripes. Depending on whether the wood is flatsawn or quartersawn, the stripes can be either chaotic and wavy or somewhat uniform. It comes from West Africa.

Honduras rosewood (dalbergia stevensonii) is from Central America with a deep brownish-purple color with moderately straight grain .

Each of these pens are $60. If interested, please use the contact information found in the about me or contact section of the blog.