BARREL OPTIONS
Our wood is mostly from North American forests. This is what we try to keep in stock. Sometimes other attractive species are available and are noted here. If there is a particular species you are interested in please let us know. We have suppliers that have just about anything.

Please note: The pictures below are only representative of each species. No two pens will look exactly alike.

Stabilized Woods:
Wood that has been infused with a plastic resin making it far less likely to crack, split, or break. Makes it easier to use burls and spalts that otherwise might not turn as well. Stabilized woods will polish to a permanent, very smooth, satin finish.

	Afzilia Xylay: Crocodile scale like figure in the grain.  Hard, polishes well.  Can you say "Afzilia Xylay" ten times fast?  Heck, can you say it one time fast?  (Laos)
	Ambrosia Maple: A tiny beetle bores tiny holes in freshly fallen wood and introduces two fungi: ambrosia fungi, which the beetle eats, and a second which colors the wood a black gray color.
	Birdseye Maple: Tiny eyes, looks like a burl but is not. Very rare. No one knows why eyes form. Virus, genetic, birds, parasites? Who knows? Figure it out and win a free Wood Pens and Turnings key chain.
	Carob: A tree of historical significance in the Holy Land and Mediterranean cultures as a food source (pods) and for its wood. Now grown in California. Beautiful brown, gray, and pink color.
	Claro Walnut: Dark and rich with some eyes. Boardroom material. (North America)
	Curly Koa: From Hawaii.  Subtle striped pattern changes in the light.  Light to dark brown, sometimes with darker veins.  Very attractive.
	Figured Cherry: Nice grain pattern (North America)
	Figured Maple: Nice grain pattern (North America)
	Masur Birch: Cream-white to beige in color.  The highly decorative flecked and swirling figure is caused by the larvae of the agromyzia carbona beetle attacking the cambium, causing pith flecks.  Thanks again to our friends in the insect world.
	Screwbean Mesquite: Looks spalted but is not.  Very hard.  Interesting light and dark contrast.  (North America)
	Silk Oak: Native to Australia.  Used in landscape for lumber.  Very interesting lace pattern to wood.  Now grown in CA and FL.  Makes a right nice pen, mate!
	Wormy Maple: Not to be confused with Ambrosia Maple.  This wood has real worm holes and stabilized remains of real worms in it.  Black/natural, black/gold, black/wine, and black/teal colors available.  (Click on text for a preview of each.)  The worms are always black and are no extra charge.  Unique, nice conversation piece.  (North America)

 

Burls: A burl is a diseased outgrowth of the tree producing swirling grain, knots and sometimes bark inclusions.

	Amboyna Burl: Considered the "Cadilliac of Burl."  Lots of eyes and swirling grain.  Polishes nicely.  May contain lighter-colored sapwood.  Can be a little more expensive.  (Southeast Asia)
	Black Ash Burl: Lots of eyes, medium brown. (North America)
	Birch Root Burl: Swirling grain, dark brown. (North America)
	Boxelder Burl: A relative of maple. The burl is creamy beige with lots of eyes. (North America)
	Buckeye Burl: A member of the horse chestnut family. Fruits are toxic unless you are a squirrel or a Native American with the right knowledge.  This is Mother Nature's Test Kitchen.  Can be beige, brown, gray, black, blue, or some or all of the above.  May include eyes, knots, bark, stones, voids, or some or all of the above.  Makes a nice pen, but has a lot of variation.
	Cherry Burl: Pinks, grays, blacks and reds. Looks great with black titanium or rhodium.
	Madrone Burl: A little more subtle than other burls but still has eyes and swirls.  Reddish brown.  (Pacific Northwest)
	Maple Burl: Eyes and interesting grain pattern. (North America)
	Mesquite Burl: Nice swirls and some eyes. Medium to dark brown. (American Southwest)
	Myrtle Burl: Almost looks like marble. Greenish gray color.  (North America)
	Redwood Burl: Reddish with eyes and interesting grain. (North America)

 

Spalted Wood: This is wood that has started to decompose. Bacteria and fungi cause the different colors and the distinctive black spalt lines. Can contain worm holes.

	Spalted Northern Ironwood: Very hard and dense. The unspalted wood is very bland. The spalt adds a creamy brown color.
	Spalted Hackberry: Gray spalt lines, some worms possible. (North America)
	Spalted Maple: Good color variation and spalt lines. (North America)
	Spalted Pecan (cross cut): Good spalt lines. An occasional worm. Very attractive. Related to Hickory. (North America)
	Spalted Pecan (straight cut): Spalt lines are horizontal.  An occasional free worm.  Still related to Hickory.
	Spalted Tamarind: Distinct black spalt lines on yellowish wood.  (Laos)

 

Non-Stabilized Woods:
Non-stabilized woods are not treated at all. They are sanded to an extremely fine (12,000 grit) and polished to a high gloss with a friction polish before being given a protective wax coat. This finish will dull some with time and use, but can be improved with a light paste wax and light hand buffing. Never buff by machine.

	Bethlehem Olive Wood: Harvested from olive wood trimmings in the Holy Land. Creamy beige with brown stripes. Certificate of authenticity included.
	Bocote: Brownish with contrasting black lines, polishes well. (South America)
	Canarywood: Yellow to orange or both.  If canaries only grew on trees.  No actual canaries were harmed harvesting this wood.  (South America)
	Cocobolo: Exotic South American hardwood.  Oily, polishes beautifully. Orange with black bands.  Darkens over time.
	Desert Ironwood: Very hard, rare, so dense it will not float (yes, I tried it), or stabilize. Polishes very well. (Arizona)
	Granadillo: Beautiful wood from Mexico and Central America. Reddish brown. Polishes very well.
	Honduran Rosewood: Hard and dense, reddish tinge with some darker lines.  Polishes well.  (Central America)
	Honduran Rosewood Burl: These are gorgeous.  Red tinge with lots of swirls and eyes.  Some have gold covered overtones.  Limited availability.  (Central America)
	Macassar Ebony: Brown with prominent black bands.  From India and the East Indies.  Very hard and dense.  Used for decoration, musical instruments, and furniture.
	Mopani: Beautiful gold, brown color.  Hard and very dense with tight grain.  Some light black flecks and lines.  Used in fine furniture and musical instruments.  Makes a great pen or a lovely flute.  (Africa)
	Kingwood: Dark stripes, nice contrast. Polishes well. (South America)
	Teak Burl: Golden brown with eyes and swirls.  High oil content.  Polishes well.  (Southeast Asia, Laos, Thailand)
	Thuya Burl: Small but nearly perfect eyes.  Eyes can be isolated or in groups.  Resin used to make varnish.  Valued for medicinal purposes in ancient Greece and Rome. Fragrant with high oil content.  (North Africa)
	Tulipwood: Polishes nicely. Pink and cream colors. (South America)

Not Wood (But Not Knot Wood)

Not everyone’s idea of a nice pen is one made of wood. In an effort to please those individuals and promote world harmony we have added some alternative materials which we feel produce some stunning pens. Same craftsmanship and quality, just not wood.

	Bamboo: Actually a grass. Laminated and cut into blanks. We offer a lovely caramel color.
	Water Buffalo Horn: Not taken from live animals. Stabilized, produces beautiful pen. Dark brown with some light streaks. We have to charge extra for these. Raising water buffalo in Connecticut is expensive.

	Strata: For those of you who can't quite decide on a single blank.  Variety of hardwood species laminated together.  May contain holes that were repaired.  Also good for those of you who tried to get through school by selecting "E: All of the above" on exams.

 

 

Tru-Stone: Contains real crushed stone in a resin matrix.  More difficult to turn but when polished produces a gorgeous result.  For that very special pen.  We currently offer eight varieties. 

	Azurite Malachite: The two stones are often found mixed together creating beautiful patterns.  Azurite (beautiful deep blue) and Malachite (banded light and dark green) are basic carbonates of copper.
	Black and Red Jasper: Jasper is fine-grained variety of chalcedony and is found in all colors: red, brown, pink, yellow, green, gray/white, red, blue, and purple.  It often contains material and mineral oxides.  Jasper was a favorite gem in ancient times.
	Bloodly Basin Jasper: Great name; cranberry with dark blue veining, gorgeous.  If it can't be wood, let it be Bloody Basin Jasper.
	Banded Malachite: Malachite is formed when copper minerals are altered by other chemicals.  Often it forms in a mass with concentric bands of light and dark green.  Relatively soft, it is carved and polished into jewelry and ornaments.  Massive samples from a huge deposit were used to make the columns of St. Isaac's Cathedral in Leningrad.
	Chrysocolla: Attractive blue green stone.  Chrysocolla forms near copper-rich ore bodies.  Pure chrysocolla is soft and fragile.  However, chrysocolla often is "agatized" in chalcedony quartz and it is the quartz that provides the stone with its polish and durability.
	Dino Bone:  Refers to agatized dinosaur bones which have been fossilized and in which the cellular structure of the bone has been replaced with quartz, leaving the structure intact.  The color is due to the impurities in the sediment.
	Tibetan Turquoise: Turquoise with gold veining.
	White Turquoise: White marble with black/gray veining.  Very classical look.

 

Plastic: Actually acrylic, celluloid, and inlace acrylester if you must know. The colors currently available are shown below. If you have a particular color or pattern in mind, let us know. We can probably find it. These materials are used by manufacturers to produce some of the world’s finest pens.

	Antique Gold: Molten gold in black.
	Blue Swirl: Thin white lines in navy acrylic.
	Crocus: Lavender with thin white lines.
	Crushed Shell: White in a black matrix. All the joy of crushed shells without the mess.
	Holiday Swirl: Red and green in a white matrix. Ho ho ho.
	Jersey: Actually a misnomer. Jerseys are mostly brown (kind of like a cherry burl). Guernseys are brown and white, while Holsteins are black and white. The correct answer is Holstein. We'll make you a nice pen no matter what you call it. Moo!
	Infrared: Red swirl embedded in navy blue.
	Onyx: Not much to say except it’s really black. With fancier pens will produce a stunning result.
	Pink/Green: Completely self-descriptive.
	Polar Ice: Ice blue in white.
	Purple Haze: Purple with white lines.
	Red Marble: Deep red, almost wine; very dark.
	Retro Gold: More like black and orange. Boo!
	Scarlet Black: Really red with really black swirls.
	Tangerine Swirl: Orangey with white swirls.
	Tobacco Marble: Deep brown with beige swirls.
	Tortoise: A classic, black and brown in a matrix.
	Toucan: Yellow, red, and green.
	Trippin: Blue pattern in beige acrylic; whimsical.

PLATING OPTIONS:
(Note: not all available for all pens.)

	10K Gold: Hard nickel and gold alloy. Attractive and durable.
	Black Chrome: Shiny black. Looks good with lighter woods.
	Black Titanium: Black (lovely gray). Very hard and durable.
	Copper: Soft metal. Extra layers of plating added for durability.
	Gold Titanium: Gold color; very hard and durable.
	Rhodium: Rare, very hard, very durable, bright silver color.
	Satin Nickel: Durable silver colored. Softer look.

 

END CAP OPTIONS:
(Note: not available for all pens.)

 

	Postable (Threaded) End Cap: Cap is placed on the end of the pen when writing.
	Smooth End Cap: Cap is not attached to the pen when writing.