NB Dane Oak and Gun Metal Ballpoint Twist Pen
(A donation 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.
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.
Pen #595 was turned on 13th July at the Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham
We left Chester headed for Birmingham the day after Chester floating market and a lovely evening in the pub with fellow trading colleagues. Luckily we had a dry run up through the locks for I think the first time. As we rounded the corner to the second lock a boat coming our direction let us know there was another boat waiting to share the lock with us around the next corner, lo and behold it turned out to be our friends Scooby and Rita, a very pleasant surprise and we shared the rest of the lock flight with them.
We had quite a long way to go over the next few days and the plan was to clear the Shropshire Union Canal as soon as possible. We would normally spend at least a couple of weeks through the pleasant Shropshire countryside but three days later we had cleared Junction and were half a mile away from the bottom lock of the Wolverhampton 21 flight.
We just made it to the bottom lock early the next morning as a sleepy looking holiday boat crew came onto their back deck to ready themselves for the flight. Unfortunately the Wolverhampton flight of 21 locks are narrow so we weren't able to share, we did manage it in a great time though and we’d cleared the top lock well before 10:30. A short while later we were moored for the night in Tipton and treated ourselves to a Sunday night curry at one of the best value Indian restaurants that we've been to. Next stop was Birmingham City Centre where we would spend a few days before heading out through Bournville and tackling the Lapworth and nasty Hatton flights to get to Saltisford Arm in Warwick which was going to be a stop-over for a week while we went down to Poole to visit our daughter.
You can follow my pen making here on this blog and our travels on another blog here
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.
We left Chester headed for Birmingham the day after Chester floating market and a lovely evening in the pub with fellow trading colleagues. Luckily we had a dry run up through the locks for I think the first time. As we rounded the corner to the second lock a boat coming our direction let us know there was another boat waiting to share the lock with us around the next corner, lo and behold it turned out to be our friends Scooby and Rita, a very pleasant surprise and we shared the rest of the lock flight with them.
We had quite a long way to go over the next few days and the plan was to clear the Shropshire Union Canal as soon as possible. We would normally spend at least a couple of weeks through the pleasant Shropshire countryside but three days later we had cleared Junction and were half a mile away from the bottom lock of the Wolverhampton 21 flight.
We just made it to the bottom lock early the next morning as a sleepy looking holiday boat crew came onto their back deck to ready themselves for the flight. Unfortunately the Wolverhampton flight of 21 locks are narrow so we weren't able to share, we did manage it in a great time though and we’d cleared the top lock well before 10:30. A short while later we were moored for the night in Tipton and treated ourselves to a Sunday night curry at one of the best value Indian restaurants that we've been to. Next stop was Birmingham City Centre where we would spend a few days before heading out through Bournville and tackling the Lapworth and nasty Hatton flights to get to Saltisford Arm in Warwick which was going to be a stop-over for a week while we went down to Poole to visit our daughter.
You can follow my pen making here on this blog and our travels on another blog here
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