This Turned Wood Pen: Walnut and 24k Gold Artisan Slimline Twist Pen is the last of my recent experiments with form and function. The reverse-tapered ends give it a nice grip. I thought that maybe the ridges in the middle might make it uncomfortable, but if you picture your fingers gripping the left end, the right end rests against your hand and the middle doesn't touch you. So it looks kind of funky and feels great to hold.
Walnut wood is hard, dense, tight-grained, and polishes to a smooth finish. Cutting it on the lathe is like carving chocolate. It smells kind of sour when cut - I guess that keeps me from wanting to put the shavings on my ice cream... It can vary in color from creamy white sapwood to deep brown heartwood. It's long been a favorite for gun stocks, and also popular for guitar bodies.
The pen parts are 24k gold plated, and supplied with a Cross style refill that features a premium Swiss-made carbide writing tip for smooth, consistent writing. The pen has a great feel in your hand - balanced and solid. Price as shown: $25.00 Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
Waiting List Information
All my woodwork is custom made, after you place your order. Wait times vary depending on my workload and the intricacy of the item you order - anywhere from two weeks to several months. Please contact me before placing your order if you have any questions. Thanks!
Custom-Made Hand-Turned Wood Pens
Design your own hand-turned wood Artisan Pen or Pencil, using this four-step process, or pick from the completed projects shown on this page, subject to availability. Prices shown are for pens in stock - special orders may be subject to an additional cost for materials shipping.
Wood Pen: Yew and 24k Gold Artisan Slimline Twist Pen
This Wood Pen: Yew and 24k Gold Artisan Slimline Twist Pen is made sleek and straight. It may not be such a creative form as some of my others, but it looks elegant and classy if you ask me. I chose this form for this piece of wood because the grain and wood is so attractive that I didn't want to draw attention from it.
The Yew Tree is highly poisonous except for the red berries. It only takes 30 seeds though to kill an adult in a matter of hours. Chemotherapy drugs are derived from the Pacific yew tree. The wood has been prized throughout medieval history for use in longbows. In England it was so prized that before long there was a shortage of mature yew trees and a law was passed that every ship that came to port had to bring with it four staves for a port charge. Eventually this was increased to 10, and the law stood until guns started replacing bows for use in warfare. The wood is bright orange in the sapwood, and a deeper russet in the heartwood. Its hardness and swirling grain make it prized for woodturning, furniture, and other decorative uses.
The pen parts are 24k gold plated, and supplied with a Cross style refill that features a premium Swiss-made carbide writing tip for smooth, consistent writing. The pen has a great feel in your hand - balanced and solid. Price as shown: $25.00 Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
The Yew Tree is highly poisonous except for the red berries. It only takes 30 seeds though to kill an adult in a matter of hours. Chemotherapy drugs are derived from the Pacific yew tree. The wood has been prized throughout medieval history for use in longbows. In England it was so prized that before long there was a shortage of mature yew trees and a law was passed that every ship that came to port had to bring with it four staves for a port charge. Eventually this was increased to 10, and the law stood until guns started replacing bows for use in warfare. The wood is bright orange in the sapwood, and a deeper russet in the heartwood. Its hardness and swirling grain make it prized for woodturning, furniture, and other decorative uses.
The pen parts are 24k gold plated, and supplied with a Cross style refill that features a premium Swiss-made carbide writing tip for smooth, consistent writing. The pen has a great feel in your hand - balanced and solid. Price as shown: $25.00 Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
Wood Pen: Carob and 24k Gold Artisan Slimline Twist Pen
This Wood Pen: Carob and 24k Gold Artisan Slimline Twist Pen was made with smooth elegant lines to draw attention to the color variation of the carob grain. Carob is an evergreen shrub with edible bean-like pods (which some believe was part of what John the Baptist survived on in the wilderness), you may know carob better for the chocolate substitute that is derived from the beans. The wood can vary in color from orange-brown as shown to red or pink creamy colors and this pen shows them all, though it's hard to tell from the photo, sorry. The carob tree is the only tree in the Holy Land that can outlive the olive tree.
The pen parts are 24k gold plated, and supplied with a Cross style refill that features a premium Swiss-made carbide writing tip for smooth, consistent writing. The pen has a great feel in your hand - balanced and solid. Price as shown: $25.00 Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
The pen parts are 24k gold plated, and supplied with a Cross style refill that features a premium Swiss-made carbide writing tip for smooth, consistent writing. The pen has a great feel in your hand - balanced and solid. Price as shown: $25.00 Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
Wood Pen: Osage Orange and 24K Gold Artisan Slimline Twist Pen
This wood pen from Osage Orange and 24K Gold Artisan Slimline Twist Pen components is in a class of its own. I have another pen from the same kind of wood and parts below, but I posted this one because I thought the form was so original - I looked all over the internet at weird and not-so-weird pens, and didn't see any like this. The thing is, as different as it is shaped, it feels GREAT to hold and write with - the tapers fit your natural grip very nicely. And it looks slim and elegant and unique.
The Osage Orange tree grows in the American Midwest, and was prized by the plains Native Americans for its worth as a bow wood. Its hard, straight grain made bows of such quality that Native Americans would travel for a week to harvest the wood. In the early 19th century, you could trade a horse for a Osage Orange bow. The wood's color is a vivid yellow-orange, and it turns smooth and hard.
The pen parts are 24k gold plated, and supplied with a Cross style refill that features a premium Swiss-made carbide writing tip for smooth, consistent writing. The pen has a great feel in your hand - balanced and solid. Price as shown: $25.00 Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
The Osage Orange tree grows in the American Midwest, and was prized by the plains Native Americans for its worth as a bow wood. Its hard, straight grain made bows of such quality that Native Americans would travel for a week to harvest the wood. In the early 19th century, you could trade a horse for a Osage Orange bow. The wood's color is a vivid yellow-orange, and it turns smooth and hard.
The pen parts are 24k gold plated, and supplied with a Cross style refill that features a premium Swiss-made carbide writing tip for smooth, consistent writing. The pen has a great feel in your hand - balanced and solid. Price as shown: $25.00 Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
Wood Pen: Birdseye Maple and 24k Gold Slimline Twist Pen
These turned wood pens are from Birdseye Maple and 24k Gold Artisan Slimline Twist Pen parts. I tried another variation in styling that I really like on the second one - wider at the ends and tapers to the slim barrel quickly - this gives a comfortable look while retaining the slim look that makes slimline pens look so attractive.
Birdseye maple is one of the rarest woods in the world. Nobody knows for sure what makes the birdseye pattern - little dark dots of swirling grain, but whatever it is does not happen in wood very often, and when found, the wood is set apart and treated very carefully at the lumber mill because it fetches a high price. Rolls Royce uses it for dashboards of its cars, for example.
The pen parts are 24k gold plated, and supplied with a Cross style refill that features a premium Swiss-made carbide writing tip for smooth, consistent writing. The pen has a great feel in your hand - balanced and solid. Price as shown: $27.50 (higher than my other pens from the same 24k gold parts because the birdseye maple is more expensive.) Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
Lignum Vitae and 24k Gold Slimline Twist Pen
This Lignum Vitae and 24k Gold Slimline Twist Pen is made with simple straight styling - I still haven't decided whether I like straight, convex, concave, or what for my personal pens, but they all look cool and feel great to hold and write with.
Lignum Vitae (Latin for the wood of life) is named for its medicinal uses. Supposedly you can make a tea from shavings and from the bark. The tea from the bark is supposed to have um...well...um... let's call it medicinal qualities, as does the resin. What I think is really cool about this wood though is that it's the hardest and heaviest known wood in the world (it actually sinks in water) and contains natural lubricants that make it durable for saltwater applications - it's been used for bearings and busings for submarine and ship propellers, among other things. Its color varies from yellow-brown like that shown, to dark brown, and sometimes green. It may develop a green color with time - it'll be interesting to see.
The pen parts are 24k gold plated, and supplied with a Cross style refill that features a premium Swiss-made carbide writing tip for smooth, consistent writing. The pen has a great feel in your hand - balanced and solid. Price as shown: $25.00, Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
Lignum Vitae (Latin for the wood of life) is named for its medicinal uses. Supposedly you can make a tea from shavings and from the bark. The tea from the bark is supposed to have um...well...um... let's call it medicinal qualities, as does the resin. What I think is really cool about this wood though is that it's the hardest and heaviest known wood in the world (it actually sinks in water) and contains natural lubricants that make it durable for saltwater applications - it's been used for bearings and busings for submarine and ship propellers, among other things. Its color varies from yellow-brown like that shown, to dark brown, and sometimes green. It may develop a green color with time - it'll be interesting to see.
The pen parts are 24k gold plated, and supplied with a Cross style refill that features a premium Swiss-made carbide writing tip for smooth, consistent writing. The pen has a great feel in your hand - balanced and solid. Price as shown: $25.00, Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
Figured Maple and 24k Gold Slimline Twist Pen
This Figured Maple and 24k Gold Slimline Twist Pen includes some custom styling - the beaded grip adds character and style, and the figured maple has interesting grain variations.
I like working with maple. Its closed-grain nature finishes smooth and shiny, it's hard, and it cuts cleanly.
The pen parts are 24k gold plated, and supplied with a Cross style refill that features a premium Swiss-made carbide writing tip for smooth, consistent writing. The pen has a great feel in your hand - balanced and solid. Price as shown: $25.00. Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
I like working with maple. Its closed-grain nature finishes smooth and shiny, it's hard, and it cuts cleanly.
The pen parts are 24k gold plated, and supplied with a Cross style refill that features a premium Swiss-made carbide writing tip for smooth, consistent writing. The pen has a great feel in your hand - balanced and solid. Price as shown: $25.00. Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
Bloodwood Fountain Pen
This Bloodwood Fountain Pen is made with 10k gold Artisan Fountain Pen parts, and a bloodwood pen blank. Bloodwood is actually a name for several types of reddish wood. This is the Brosimum Rubescens botanical name, and is hard and tough, with no smell at all. Shavings are a striking bright red color, and it finishes nicely. Hard and strong, it's supposed to age to a deep brown color, but the finish will slow that down.
Fountain pens are a traditional favorite, but with modern refills, they're as convenient as a rollerball or ball-point pen. This has a heftier, thicker, more masculine look than the slimline pens, and makes a great gift for dad, hubby, boss, or a fine pen to buy for yourself.
Bloodwood and Fountain Pen Price: $45.00
Purpleheart and 24k Gold Slimline Twist Pen
This Purpleheart and 10k Gold Slimline Twist Pen is made from the same chunk of wood as the Purpleheart Bowl I posted last week. The interesting thing was, when I was sanding it with the 600 grit sandpaper, I accidentally rediscovered that this wood burns easily and turns a vivid grape purple when it burns. So I deliberately burned the surface of the pen with the fine paper before applying the finish. The effect is a beautiful deep purple, completely natural colored, pen.This second pen is also from the same chunk of wood, but I was careful not to burn it, so I could preserve the natural color of the wood. Also note the different forms - rounded verses custom-grip like the first pen.
Purpleheart, also sometimes called amaranth or violet wood, comes from several species of tropical trees native to Central and South America. The heartwood is a light purple when cut, and darkens upon exposure to sunlight, reaching first a darker purple and eventually a brown with a purple cast. It is hard and strong, and takes attention when turning, requiring sharp tools, gentle cuts, and a LOT of sanding. An interesting side note: every kind of wood smells different when turned. Maple smells kind of like pancake syrup, mesquite like warm raw meat, walnut like something sour. Well, the dust and shavings from this wood at first smelled kind of sweet, but as I kept smelling it as I was working, it started to smell more meaty, and then kind of like sweet warm old meat. Yuck. Wikipedia says the dust can cause nausea. I can see that. Don't worry, the finished work is scentless.
The pen parts are 24k gold plated, and supplied with a Cross style refill that features a premium Swiss-made carbide writing tip for smooth, consistent writing. They both have a great feel in the hand - that's one of the advantages of a custom made pen - you can make it fit your hand instead of making your hand fit the pen.
Price for either Purpleheart and 24k Gold Twist Pen: $25.00. Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
Kingwood and 24k Gold Slimline Pen
This first Kingwood and 24k Gold Slimline Pen was made with the help of my son, Matt, as a gift for his teacher, Mrs. Burch. Thanks, Mrs. Burch, for taking such an active interest in my son's education, and in his social adjustment - he made leaps and bounds as he adjusted to all-day school. You know what I mean, and Liz and I are forever grateful for what you have done. The second pen is a more recent addition to my catalog, styled for comfort and elegance. Both pens are extremely comfortable to hold and write with- that's one of the advantages of a custom made pen - you can make it fit your hand instead of making your hand fit the pen.
Kingwood, also called Violetwood or Violete, is from a slender low tree native to Brazil. It is called kingwood because in the 18th and 19th century it was a favorite wood of French kings for their furniture. It is fairly rare, and its fine texture and stability makes it a prized wood for inlay work, wood turning, and fancy accessories.
The pen parts are 24k gold plated, and supplied with a Cross style refill that features a premium Swiss-made carbide writing tip for smooth, consistent writing. Price for pen shown: $25.00. Other choices of pen parts, colors, and woods are availalbe. Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
Spalted Maple and 24k Gold Slimline Pen
This Spalted Maple and 24k Gold Slimline Pen was made with the help of my son Tyler for a gift for his teacher, Mrs. Handy. Thanks, Mrs. Handy, for taking such an interest in our son's education and in keeping him challenged and interested in school!
The Sugar Maple produces sweet sap used to make maple syrup. Its wood is hard, and a creamy white to reddish brown color, and produces a sweet smell when cut or sanded. Spalted maple is maple wood with dark veins caused by a pattern of white fungus rot in the wood. It can be deliberately cultured in the wood by keeping the uncut wood at or near room temperature and moist for several months. Once stabilized, this wood is very decorative as it often looks like a pen and ink drawing through the wood, and is a favorite for fine woodwork and woodturning.
The pen parts are 24k gold plated, and supplied with a Cross style refill that features a premium Swiss-made carbide writing tip for smooth, consistent writing. The pen has a great feel in your hand - balanced and solid
The Sugar Maple produces sweet sap used to make maple syrup. Its wood is hard, and a creamy white to reddish brown color, and produces a sweet smell when cut or sanded. Spalted maple is maple wood with dark veins caused by a pattern of white fungus rot in the wood. It can be deliberately cultured in the wood by keeping the uncut wood at or near room temperature and moist for several months. Once stabilized, this wood is very decorative as it often looks like a pen and ink drawing through the wood, and is a favorite for fine woodwork and woodturning.
The pen parts are 24k gold plated, and supplied with a Cross style refill that features a premium Swiss-made carbide writing tip for smooth, consistent writing. The pen has a great feel in your hand - balanced and solid
Price: $25 as shown. Other woods and pen kits are available. Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
Box Elder Burl and 10k Gold Slimline Pen
This Box Elder Burl and 10k Gold Slimline Pen is made with with 10k Gold Artisan brand parts for quality and durability - this pen will last a lifetime. I think this pen turned out so beautifully - made from Box Eelder Burl, giving it variations in color and marbled grain patterns, and The curved profile, according to my friend Kami, looks like a voluptuous woman. Go Kami!
The Box Elder tree is a variety of maple tree, also known as Boxelder Maple and Maple Ash. A small, fast-growing, and short-lived tree, it has generally weak wood with little use commercially, except for the burls, which have beautiful coloring and grain patterns. Creamy white to dark brown to yellow, red, and even vivid pink in places, the hard burls make for beautiful turnings. They don't come cheap though, and the irregular wood requires attention to fill voids and turn it without breakage. For the pen shown, due to the special attention the burl requires and the high-quality 10k gold parts, I would charge $30. Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
The Box Elder tree is a variety of maple tree, also known as Boxelder Maple and Maple Ash. A small, fast-growing, and short-lived tree, it has generally weak wood with little use commercially, except for the burls, which have beautiful coloring and grain patterns. Creamy white to dark brown to yellow, red, and even vivid pink in places, the hard burls make for beautiful turnings. They don't come cheap though, and the irregular wood requires attention to fill voids and turn it without breakage. For the pen shown, due to the special attention the burl requires and the high-quality 10k gold parts, I would charge $30. Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
Osage Orange and 24k Gold Slimline Pen
This Osage Orange and 24k Gold Slimline Pen is made with Artisan brand parts for premium function, balance, feel, and appearance. The Osage Orange tree grows in the American Midwest, and was prized by the plains Native Americans for its worth as a bow wood. Its hard, straight grain made bows of such quality that Native Americans would travel for a week to harvest the wood. In the early 19th century, you could trade a horse for a Osage Orange bow. The wood's color is a vivid yellow-orange, and it turns smooth and hard.
The styling of this pen is straight and elegant. Other options are available with the same components. Price as shown: $25.00. Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
The styling of this pen is straight and elegant. Other options are available with the same components. Price as shown: $25.00. Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
Carob and 10k Gold Slimline Twist Pen
These Carob and 10K Gold Slimline Twist Pens are made with the Artisan brand components, for durability, quality, and a finely balanced feel. I added practical styling for the textured grip one one of them that gave it a nice fit in the hand. Made from Carob, an evergreen shrub with edible bean-like pods (which some believe was part of what John the Baptist survived on in the wilderness), you may know carob better for the chocolate substitute that is derived from the beans. The wood can vary in color from orange-brown as shown to red or pink creamy colors. The carob tree is the only tree in the Holy Land that can outlive the olive tree.
The pen parts are 10k gold plated for durability, and supplied with a Cross style refill that features a premium Swiss-made carbide writing tip for smooth, consistent writing. The pen has a great feel in your hand - balanced and solid. Price as shown: $30.00. Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
The pen parts are 10k gold plated for durability, and supplied with a Cross style refill that features a premium Swiss-made carbide writing tip for smooth, consistent writing. The pen has a great feel in your hand - balanced and solid. Price as shown: $30.00. Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
Walnut and 10k Gold Slimline Pen
This Walnut and 10k Gold Slimline Twist Pen is made with the Artisan brand parts, including durable 10k gold plated ring, tip, and clip. The wood is figured black walnut, which I thoroughly enjoy turning. It feels like cutting hard smooth chocolate, and finishes beautifully. Artisan Slimline pens have a nice balanced weight and good quality ink refills so they feel good to write with.
I like making pens. My brother-in-law asked me if they're hard to make. I didn't think so till I explained the procedure to him and he said "whoah." There are a lot of steps, and you need specialized tools to do the job, so it's nice and technical.
Check out Craft Supply or Woodcraft, or Ebay for pen blank materials - there's an amazing selection out there. There are also other pen styles. These are twist pens. There are capped pens, fountian pens, pencils, a whole slew of things available. Email me with what you like and I'll give you a price. For the pen shown, I would charge about $30.00. Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
I like making pens. My brother-in-law asked me if they're hard to make. I didn't think so till I explained the procedure to him and he said "whoah." There are a lot of steps, and you need specialized tools to do the job, so it's nice and technical.
Check out Craft Supply or Woodcraft, or Ebay for pen blank materials - there's an amazing selection out there. There are also other pen styles. These are twist pens. There are capped pens, fountian pens, pencils, a whole slew of things available. Email me with what you like and I'll give you a price. For the pen shown, I would charge about $30.00. Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.
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