Wood Pencil: Bloodwood and 10k Gold Slimline

Made from 10k gold components for durablility, cut from bloodwood for beauty, and flared at the ends for style and comfort, this is my favorite pencil I've made yet.

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, unless it's smoking hot, in which case it smells like coconut and sweet incense. 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.

The pencil parts are 10k gold Artisan Slimline parts for quality durability. It uses 0.5 mm lead. Price as shown: $30.00. Order with a matching pen for a wood pen and pencil set.

Wood Pen: Bloodwood and 10K Gold Slimline

Made from 10k gold components for durablility, cut from bloodwood for beauty, and flared at the ends for style and comfort, this is my favorite pen I've made yet.

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, unless it's smoking hot, in which case it smells like coconut and sweet incense. 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.

The pen parts are 10k gold Artisan Slimline parts for quality and smoothness when writing. The refill is pressurized to write upside down, and includes a tungsten-carbide tip - feels as good or better than any other ball-point pen out there. Price as shown: $30.00. Order a matching pencil for a Pen and Pencil Set.

Turned Wood Pen and Pencil Set - Beaded Slimline

This Turned Wood Pen and Pencil Set is made from Walnut and Kingwood, and uses 10-k gold components for durability - should keep its original appearance for years of normal use. The components are the Artisan Slimline Beaded Twist Pen and Click Pencil components.

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. 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 Artisan brand components are quality stuff - they work smoothly and feel great in your hand. The set is also available in the standard Slimline look, without the beaded gold components, in 10k gold, 24k gold, or chrome. Sold individually, the pen and pencil would each be sold for $35.00. Buy them together and you can get the set for $55.00.

Wood Roller Ball Pen - Dyed Box Elder Burl

This pen was a bit of a departure from tradition for me - so far all my pens had been only from natural woods, finished to their natural color. 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. This pen is from a dyed box elder burl where they impregnate it with a colored dye. The dye didn't completely permeate the wood, though, which led to striking contrasts and a dramatic, beautiful pen. In addition to green, the dyed box elder burls are available in yellow, red, black, blue, purple, brown, and magenta.

The pen components are durable 10-k gold plated, Artisan brand roller ball. These are cool pens - there's a spring inside to keep the writing pressure on the tip optimized for comfort and clean writing. This pen, or one like it, is available for $45.00, $55.00 for the same thing with fountain pen components instead of rollerball.