Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) is a very close grained wood, one of the heaviest woods in North America. It burns nearly as hot as coal when used for firewood. This pen is made from a burl which is sort of like a wart or cancer on the tree. The grain in a burl is typically very [...]
Archive for the ‘Available for Custom Order’ Category
23 Jul
Maple Coffee Table
Wooden furniture is not considered treen but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a woodworker who doesn’t like to make a piece once in a while. I’ve made several pieces for my wife and friends including this coffee-table for an ex-colleague. He couldn’t find a suitable match from stores for a particular corner in his new apartment [...]
21 Jul
Holly Fruit Muddler
I made this fruit muddler as a present for a friend who has an affinity for Mojitos. The wood is from some Holly branches collected from another friend’s yard trimmings a couple of months ago. The wood was still fairly green when I worked with it, so I got to experience the joy of watching [...]
17 Jul
Alder Potpourri Holder
This potpourri holder is now sitting on my mother-in-law’s chest of drawers in Singapore. She alternates its original purpose with coin change storage. The pewter cover is one of four I found at a local word-working store. I didn’t pay much attention to pewter until I met my Malaysian wife who hails from the home [...]
13 Jul
Peruvian Walnut & Osage Orange .50 Caliber BMG Pens
These pens are made from once-fired .50 caliber BMG (Browning Machine Gun) shell casings. The turning of the pens is relatively straight forward but the assembly was less so and took some figuring out. The Peruvian Walnut (dark brown, left in top photo) has some nice grain to it and I’ve always liked turning this [...]
13 Jul
Osage Orange & Mpingo 24-Carat Gold Fountain Pens
Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera) is one of my best selling woods, and with good reason. It starts out as a bright orange color when freshly cut but mellows to a very nice dark orangy-brown with exposure to light and use. I try to make my pieces from wood that I find and this one is [...]
29 Jun
Black & White Ebony Bottle Stopper
Black & White Ebony (Diospyros embryopteris) is one of the prettier woods I work with and when it’s paired up with a solid piece of chromed steel, you can get some striking looks. This bottle stopper was made after a conversation with one of my best friends. I’d made a wine bottle stopper for her [...]
15 Jun
Osage Orange Slimline Ballpoint Pens
This pen is made from Osage Orange wood ((Maclura pomifera) which is also known as Horse Apple or Bois ‘d Arc (Bodark). Osage Orange is a very hard wood that, while it has a tendency to split or check, is a very nice wood to work with, plus you can use the saw dust and [...]
11 Jun
Ifil Slimline Ballpoint Pen
Ifil wood makes some of the prettiest pens I’ve made. This particular piece was harvested about 23 years ago on the island of Guam by my brother. He brought me a a long thin chunk of it some time ago on a trip up here, and I’ve made several pens from it. There is a [...]
9 Jun
Mpingo Slimline Ballpoint Pens
Mpingo (Dalbergia melanoxylon) is commonly known as African Blackwood and frequently used in the manufacture of musical instruments due to it’s high density and ability to take a fine finish. While this pen looks like it’s all black, there is actually some swirling grain that shows up as reddish undertones that’s difficult to photograph. You’ll [...]
