The Pen Makers Boat: April 2015

#243

NOW SOLD

White and Black Acrylic and Gun Metal Ballpoint Pen

Whenever I start to make a pen from an acrylic blank I always remember the negative points. Acrylic turning is messy, I really try to clear every last scrap of it up; it can also be smelly; the sharp little chips get everywhere and it can blunt the turning chisels really quickly. By the time the pen shape is turned and I start the messier job of wet sanding through about fifteen different grades I'm usually trying to convince myself that maybe its better to just concentrate on turning wooden pens.

Then the final grades of sanding and polishing start to reveal something special and I really like acrylic again... until the next time.

This pen was turned on April 3rd 2015 just about one hundred yards from the excellent Fountain Inn at Tipton. It was made on the canal side just a couple of days before the thoroughly enjoyable Tipton Boat Gathering.

#242

NOW SOLD

NB Birchills 24ct Gold Twist Ballpoint Pen

(25% of which will be donated to the Black Country Living Museum for the continued upkeep of NB Birchills and their other historic boats)

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 flaky 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.

That old flaky gunwale went on to make a few very nice pens and I was lucky enough to be given some more wood by Ade at A P Boat Building in Alvecote. This time a piece that appears to be from the old red cabin hatch surround.

#241

NOW SOLD

NB Dane Elm and Chrome Ballpoint Twist Pen

(25% of which will be donated to The Narrowboat Heritage Foundation for the continued upkeep of NB Dane)

EUROPEAN ELM - Ulmus procera

European Elm has is a light to medium brown, sometimes with a hint of red. With an oil finish, it can turn a beautiful golden brown colour. Unless, of course, it's been kept at the bottom of a canal for an awfully long time.

Narrowboat Dane was built by the Mersey Weaver and Ship Canal Carrying Company and used as part of their fleet. She was built in November 1946 and first registered on January the first 1947. Ade from A P Boatbuilding is currently restoring her on behalf of The Narrowboat Heritage Foundation, the work being done is rebottomed with new chine planks, kelson, stem post and soon to receive two new bow planks, gunwales, decks, new back cabin and engine room. The pens that I will be making from Dane are all from a heavy lump of Elm bottom plate.

#240

NOW SOLD

NB Dane Elm and 24ct Gold Plated Ballpoint Pen

(25% of which will be donated to The Narrowboat Heritage Foundation for the continued upkeep of NB Dane)

EUROPEAN ELM - Ulmus procera

#239

NOW SOLD

NB Dane Elm and Gun Metal Twist Ballpoint Pen

(25% of which will be donated to The Narrowboat Heritage Foundation for the continued upkeep of NB Dane)

EUROPEAN ELM - Ulmus procera

#238

NOW SOLD

Indigo Spirit Stained American Ash and Chrome

Ballpoint Pen

PART OF THE RAINBOW COLLECTION

EUROPEAN ASH - Fraxinus excelsior

Creamy white to a light tan in colour, European Ash is a tough, straight-grained and flexible timber with a coarse but even texture. It works well with both hand and machine tools, and stains, saws and finishes well. It can have olive coloured streaks running through the boards. With an oil finish, it can turn golden brown but it also takes spirit stains extremely well too.

I started this range of pens as my display needed a splash of colour and it is not always practical to turn acrylic pens on the canal side. The debris from wooden turned pens causes no harm at all and blows around with all the leaves and stove wood chippings. The acrylic waste is obviously more chemical based and as such I am only happy making them on wind free days when I can collect and bin as much as possible.