#244

NOW SOLD

Violet 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. This pen actually looks a lot more aubergine than the photo.

This pen was turned on 15th April at Tixall Wide on the edge of Cannock Chase. When this stretch of the Staffs . & Worcs. Canal was built, the landowner at this point insisted that the canal be made very wide here so as to resemble a lake and not an ugly narrow canal!