NB Dane Oak and Gun Metal Ballpoint Twist Pen
(£2.50 from the sale of this pen will be gifted to The Narrowboat Heritage Foundation, the Custodians of NB Dane)
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 planking of Narrowboat Dane. I was given a few off cuts by the superb craftsmen who were carrying out the extensive refurbishment to this historic boat.
The rotten parts of these rebuilt boats are usually used to stoke the fires that steam the new planks for bending to the hull's shape.Luckily these pieces of elm were too important to burn and have been properly stored. 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.
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 planking of Narrowboat Dane. I was given a few off cuts by the superb craftsmen who were carrying out the extensive refurbishment to this historic boat.
The rotten parts of these rebuilt boats are usually used to stoke the fires that steam the new planks for bending to the hull's shape.Luckily these pieces of elm were too important to burn and have been properly stored. 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.
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 re-bottomed 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 and a replaced side plank made of oak.
After a post market treat of a curry out at Kudos Indian restaurant in Fazeley we once again pulled pins and headed for the first length of our journey to Mercia Marina in Willington to trade at Derbyshire's first ever floating market.
We were looking forward to this one as it had the added benefit of all the marina facilities. We would be plugged into 240v electrics for the first time this year and Debbie had warned that the washing machine would be doing overtime!
First we had to get back to Fradley Junction and drop down through the busy locks and a run across glorious countryside to Alrewas and down onto the main Trent River for a short run past fast flowing weirs to stop at Burton-on-Trent for a good few days and make the last of the pens up that I was behind with and do lots of preparation for the next lot of turning using the electric hook-up at Mercia marina.
The preparation that I needed to do involved - sawing some of the historic narrowboat wood into manageable sized pieces - turning these to rounds - marking/cutting/drilling/ them to accept the pen mechanisms and then stabilising some of the softer pieces with wood hardener. Once that was done it’d be time for gluing the brass tubes in place - cleaning the overspill from the insides and lastly barrel trimming the ends to get everything to fine machined angles.
In amongst all that I managed to get some pens finished, pen #532 was made at Burton-on-Trent on 19th May 2016
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