Padauk (Pterocarpus soyauxii) is a bright orange color when it’s freshly cut but quickly fades to a pretty reddish brown with exposure to light. The sawdust is strangely sticky, clinging to everything it touches, metal, skin, clothing, etc. This makes it somewhat difficult to work with because the dust tends to pile up on my knives as I work the lathe. I can’t pour or blow it off like other species and have to push it off with my fingers. However, it turns beautifully and takes a very nice finish. One of the things I really like about Padauk is its characteristic called chatoyancy – which is the appearance of depth in the finish. It has a 3-D effect when you look down into the wood, like you’re looking through its surface.

This is the largest pen I’ve made to date, ideal for someone who is looking for a pen with a lot of well-balanced weight.

Mechanism: Parker style rollerball with a rhodium-plated pen nib and premium Schmidt steel cartridge refill with a ceramic point. There’s a Swarovski crystal in the clip for an added touch of flair and all the furniture is cast, then plated with titanium nitride for an extremely durable finish.

Finish: Hand sanded through 400 grit, then 00 through 0000 steel wool for a fine polished surface. The finish is mineral oil, bee’s and paraffin waxes melted onto the surface and polished in with a soft cotton pad.

Price: US$168
Item Ref No: PdkERP0042
Status: Available. Click here to inquire about purchasing.

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 convoluted and this one is no different. Drilling the blanks was difficult, and turning the wood on the lathe was no easier. The wood likes to split and the little eyes in the grain readily pop out. Think Marty Feldman’s character Igor in Young Frankenstein. Fortunately a little patience and cyanoacrylate solved solve the challenges and the pen turned out beautifully.

Mechanism: 24-Carat gold plated classic 1920s classic Parker style pen design. If gel rollerball is preferred, inserts are available at most office supply stores.


Finish: The pen was sanded up to 400 grit, then burnished with 0000 steel wool to bring up a smooth surface. It was then finished with mineral oil, bee’s & carnauba wax and a final polish with paraffin wax.

Osage Orange is a much easier to turn wood than Locust Burl.  I like that it’s a very tough wood but takes to the lathe knife really well, peeling off fine curls of shavings as I go. Besides, it smells nice and takes a beautiful finish.  This pen took less than half the time to make compared to the above Locust but a lot of that is simply climbing the learning curve for a new style of pen and a new wood to work with.  If you like a rollerball that has a nice slim profile and gratifying weight, you’ll like these!