#148

NOW SOLD

'Birchills' Oak and Chrome Ballpoint Twist Pen

EUROPEAN OAK - Quercus robur

Usually straight-grained, the heartwood of European Oak varies in colour from light tan to brown. Quarter-sawn pieces show attractive flame figuring. The wood is fairly hard, heavy and dense, clean but with the occasional knot. European Oak is a beautiful timber and with an oil finish, the grain will turn a deep golden brown.

This particular piece of oak (probably English rather than European) is just a little bit special though. It comes from the rear cabin side gunwales of Narrowboat Birchills. I was given a few off cuts by the superb craftsmen who were carrying out a little light refurbishment to this historic boat, in fact the guys had cut the whole back cabin off!

Birchills is an historic, ‘Joey’ boat with a small day cabin, built in 1953 by Ernest Thomas of Walsall, ‘Birchills’ it is one of the last wooden day boats made and was used to carry coal to Wolverhampton Power Station. This boat is double-ended and the mast and rudder could be changed from one end to the other. This enabled its use in narrow canals or basins where there was no room to turn the boat around.

The rotten parts of these rebuilt boats are usually used to stoke the fires that steam the new planks for bending to the hulls shape so half a day later this flakey gunwale would have been burned. I wasn't sure how deep the rot would have gone and how deep I would have to delve into this piece to find stable wood. The pens I make from historic boat materials have been thoroughly tested by me to make sure that they will give pleasurable daily use.

The pen was turned on 30th September at Flecknoe (The Old Olive Bush Pub in the village is well worth the visit) which is between Braunston and Napton on the small stretch of the Grand Union Canal that links the North and South Oxford Canals.  It is a lovely peaceful location, one of our favourites!

1. Birchills Oak and Chrome Ballpoint Pen
2. New back cabin in the background, old in the foreground. If you zoom in you can even still see the old boat name.
3. The curved gunwale piece
4. Cut through to search for some solid wood
5. Cut down to managable pan blanks
6. Turning down before drilling and a little acclimatising.