The collection of pens I’ve turned on my lathe. Pens can become incredible works of art with beautiful wood grain and unique characteristics. Each pen has its own personality and can vary depending on the species of wood or the style of pen.
This pen was turned for a facebook group pen exchange. It is Curly Koa from Hawai’i. The pen kit is the gun metal Gnurl GT which is one of my favorites.
A set of pens I turned recently. From L to R: Monkey Pod, Tiger Myrtle, Cocobolo, Spalted Tamarind, Hawaiian Koa, Bethlehem Carob, Pistacio
These pens were made from a broken skateboard. I stripped off the grip tape, cut it into workable strips, glued it into smaller blocks then turned it into these beautiful pens giving them a 2nd life. While they may not rail slide or ollie any more, they’ll make for incredible writing devices that have a long and interesting story behind them.
This is my all-time favorite wood. It comes from central america and has a redish orange color with dark grain patterns. Pen Kit: KnurlGT Antique Brass
This pen was made from a burl (a knot/growth on the side of a tree) from a Eucalyptus tree. The burl gives an incredible grain pattern but often has many voids. I filled the voids with a crushed turquoise stone then finished it with 20 coats of Cyanoacrylate (Super Glue). Pen Kit: Executive
This pen is very unique. It is made out of authentic Bog Oak from The Fens in England. It is between 4,000 - 6,000 years old. Thousands of years ago, this wood was buried in peat bogs which preserved them from decay. Bog oak is in the earliest stages of fossilization. If left untouched for millions of years, it would form into coal and lignite. Its dark brown color is an effect of the tannins in acidic water which stain the wood. During the nineteenth century, many used bog oak to carve jewelry and other carved decorations. Pen Kit: KnurlGT
This pen was made using wood from a used Jack Daniels Oak Barrel. These barrels were used to age the whiskey to perfection over the course of 7 years. Each barrel is used only once before it is removed from the whiskey aging process. Pen Kit: Executive
This pen represents the purple heart military decoration awarded by the president of the United States for those wounded or killed while serving their country. The pen showcase a laser-cut wooden replica of the esteemed Purple Heart award, a heart-shaped medal within a gold-toned border. Within the heard appears a profile of General George Washington, with the coat of arms of General Washington displayed above the heart. A portion of the proceeds from this pen were donated to the Wounded Warrior Project. This pen was given to a purple heart recipient located in Arlington, South Dakota. Pen kit: Manhattan
A scroll saw is an amazing tool. It is the size of a sewing machine and has tiny blades that look like small wires with teeth. The blade can be fed through tiny holes to make inside cuts where really no other saw can go. The possibilities are endless with what you can make with a scroll saw.
This is made from Walnut, Maple and Padauk along with a mystery wood for the face. I think it might have been hickory or maybe ash but it was pulled from my scrap bin so I don’t recall what it was. Patriots are far from my favorite football team (Go Packers!) but a friend is a die-hard fan, so I thought he’d like it.
A 4’ wide x 3’ tall map of the United States made from 19 different species of wood. Each state cut out on the scroll saw then put back together. Which state are you from? There is a hidden puzzle to the woods used in the different states, can you figure it out?
Tribute to the late Stan Lee. This was made using maple, ash, wenge, aspen, walnut, and padauk wood. Original artwork by graphic artist Brad Van Geest.
This Bucky Badger logo was made using Walnut, Aspen, Padauk and Maple wood. On Wisconsin!
This celtic knot cross is made from walnut.
A group of fellow woodworkers put out a "street art" scroll saw challenge. This was my entry. The original art was done by Oakland CA based tattoo artist Beth Emmerich. It was made with a combination of the following wood types: wenge, walnut, maple, ash, padauk, purpleheart, yellowheart & aspen.
This bowl was turned from a ugly chunk of maple. After turning and applying the finish the beautiful wood grain with the dark lines (called spalting) and worm holes started to show. Spalting is actually a fungus that grows in decomposing wood. It can make for amazing contrast between the natural grain of a lighter colored wood and the dark patterns created by the spalting.
These shaving brushes are made from all natural handle materials and a variety of badger hair, boar’s hair or synthetic material brushes. Wet shaving is an art and considered by many as a time to slow down the busy days and lifestyles that we are accustomed to and focus on not slicing your carotid artery.
There are so many opportunities to create hand crafted items that are useful in and around the kitchen. Here are a few examples of work that I’ve made that found their way into the kitchen area.
This table is made from pine with a java stain for the top and an egg shell paint for the legs.
This salt grinder is made from Bubinga wood with a very durable high gloss finish made from Cyanoacrylate (super glue).
This ring holder is meant to sit next to the kitchen sink and hold rings while doing the dishes. it is made from Cocobolo wood.
This napkin holder is made from walnut and aspen wood. The idea is the wood piece in the center weighs down the stack of napkins so they don’t blow away with a breeze. Or like us, when your toddler tries to grab the entire stack to wipe up a drop of water. This makes it easier to pull one napkin at a time.
Is there anything better than a wood cutting board? This is a collection of the different cutting boards I’ve made over the years. There are many different shapes and sizes, but I took great care in selecting wood with a closed grain to help reduce the ability for bacteria to collect in hard to clean places. All cutting boards are finished with a mix of food safe mineral oil and beeswax.
This 16” x 12” cutting board is made from Maple, Walnut, and Zebrawood. It includes matching Maple chopsticks and a zebrawood chopstick rest. Finished with walrus oil.
This 12” diameter chopping board is and inch and a half thick and made from hard maple which is typically found in Northeastern north america. The W inlay is food safe art resin and the finish is Walrus brand cutting board oil. This oil is made from Coconut oil, mineral oil, beeswax, and Vitamin E. No Walrus’ were used.
This cutting board is made from walnut, maple and bloodwood. The argyle pattern was an interesting process to keep all the pieces together during the glue-up process. Finished with Walrus oil’s cutting board oil which is food safe made from Mineral oil, coconut oil and beeswax.
This Bamboo cutting board has space for 4 ramekin dishes. We use this for our make-your-own taco nights to store the cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. The design came from David Picciuto’s cutting boards book if you’re interested in making your own.
This started off as an off cut chunk of maple I picked up at my local hardwood dealer. It’s maple end-grain which is much better on the knife blades.
This end-grain cutting board is walnut and maple and arranged in a brick wall pattern.
This board is made from walnut with a brass handle across the top.
This sushi serving tray is made from Maple and walnut.
This Maple cutting board has a Padauk strip across it. Padauk is a beautiful reddish orange natural wood from Africa and gives this board a bit of a visual kick. This is going in Casey’s Kitchen. I engraved that on the board so nobody could ever steal it… that is unless their name is also Casey.
This end-grain cutting board is made from Maple and Walnut and finished with Mineral Oil for a food safe finish.
A collection of other projects I’ve made that don’t fit any other category.
This was a test piece to see if I could make an inlay using my CNC machine. The face is for fellow woodworker Todd Allaria. Maple inlay on Walnut coaster.
Cutting names out of wood is one of my favorite activities on the scroll saw. While a very simple action, it seems to make the recipient very happy to see their name.
Smoking is Bad! Don’t do it kids. These ash trays are for those adults that chose to occasionally enjoy a cigar.
This cigar ashtray is made from Black Walnut with the “H” inlay made from maple. I used a food safe finish made from beeswax, mineral oil and coconut oil. I struggled with the idea of putting the cigar rest on the right side or the left side of the bowl. Does it even matter? I was thinking a left handed person would feel more comfortable with putting the cigar down on the left side and a right handed person would prefer the right side.
Maple in the front, Zebrawood on the left and Mahogany with a removable cast iron insert on the right.
This dense wood should be able to handle smoldering ash from a smoked cigar. It is finished with an all natural hand rubbed 100% Tung Oil finish.
This is the prototype. I wanted to see how hardwoods would stand up to the hot ash of a smoked cigar. The finish is an all natural 100% tung oil finish that should offer some protection to the wood, but not introduce harmful chemicals to the body of the cigar when resting against the side.
This ash tray should withstand snuffing out the hot embers of a burning cigar. The ashes can be easily dumped from the cast iron insert. This Mahogany ashtray is finished with a wipe on varnish.
What is a better combo than a cigar and a classic single malt scotch whiskey?
