#872 Now Sold

NB Dane Elm and Gun Metal Premium Twist Pen

(A donation from the sale of this pen will be gifted to The Narrowboat Heritage Foundation, the Custodians 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.

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 #872 was turned on 19th September 2017 at Whittington on the Coventry Canal.

You can follow my pen making here on this blog and our travels on another blog here

http://nb-lois-jane.blogspot.co.uk

oh and please like us on Facebook too here
https://www.facebook.com/ThePenMakersBoat

#871 Now Sold

NB Dane Elm and 24ct Gold Plated Premium Twist Pen

(A donation from the sale of this pen will be gifted to The Narrowboat Heritage Foundation, the Custodians 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.

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 #871 was turned on 19th September 2017 at Whittington on the Coventry Canal.

You can follow my pen making here on this blog and our travels on another blog here

http://nb-lois-jane.blogspot.co.uk

oh and please like us on Facebook too here
https://www.facebook.com/ThePenMakersBoat

#870 Now Sold

Bog Oak and 24ct Gold Plated Fountain Pen

BOG-WOOD

Is a material from trees that have been buried in peat bogs and preserved from decay by the acidic and anaerobic bog conditions, sometimes for hundreds or even thousands of years. The wood is usually stained brown by tannins dissolved in the acidic water. Bog-wood represents the early stages in the fossilisation of wood with further stages ultimately forming jet, lignite and coal over a period of many millions of years. Bog-wood may come from any tree species naturally growing near or in bogs, including oak, pine and yew. It is a rare form of timber that is claimed to be comparable to some of the world's most expensive tropical hardwoods.

This particular bog-wood is oak and came from the Norfolk Fens, it has been carbon dated at 4280 years old.

Many thousands of years ago East Anglia was densely forested by gigantic trees. Approximately 7,000 years ago a rise in the sea level caused the rivers to back up and flood the fens, consequently the trees died standing and then fell into the silt of the forest floor. Due to cultivation of this productive land these trees have come to the surface.

Pen #870 was turned on 18th September 2017 at Whittington on the Coventry Canal.

You can follow my pen making here on this blog and our travels on another blog here

http://nb-lois-jane.blogspot.co.uk

oh and please like us on Facebook too here
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#869 Now Sold

Cross Cut Pippy Yew and Chrome Premium Twist Pen

YEW (Taxus baccata)

Mature trees can grow to 20m (65 ft). The bark is reddish-brown with purple tones, and peeling. The yew is probably the most long lived tree in northern Europe, it can reach 400 to 600 years of age. There are ten yew trees in Britain that are believed to predate the 10th Century.

The leaves are straight, small needles with a pointed tip and coloured dark green above and green-grey below. They grow in two rows on either side of each twig.

The flowers are visible in March and April, the male flowers are white-yellow globe like structures and the female ones are bud like and scaly, green when young becoming brown and acorn like with age.

Unlike many other conifers, the common yew does not actually bear its seeds in a cone, instead each seed is enclosed in a red, fleshy, berry like structure known as an aril, which is open at the tip.

The yew is commonly found growing in southern England, it is often used as a hedging plant and has long been planted in churchyards.

Yew hedges are incredibly dense, offering protection and nesting opportunities for many birds. The fruit is eaten by birds such as the blackbird, mistle thrush and small mammals such as squirrels and dormice. The leaves are eaten by caterpillars.

Yew trees have long been associated with churchyards and there are at least 500 churchyards in England which contain yew trees older than the building itself. It is not clear why, but it has been suggested that yew trees were planted on the graves of plague victims to protect and purify the dead, but also graveyards were inaccessible to cows, which would die if they ate the leaves.

Yew trees were used as symbols of immortality, but also seen as omens of doom. For many centuries it was the custom for yew branches to be carried on Palm Sunday and at funerals. In Ireland it was said that the yew was 'the coffin of the vine', as wine barrels were made of yew staves.

Yew timber is rich orange-brown in colour, closely grained and incredibly strong and durable. Traditionally the wood was used in turnery to make long bows and tool handles. One of the world's oldest surviving artefacts is a yew spear head, found in 1911 at Clacton-on-sea in Essex. It is estimated to be about 450,000 years old. 

"Pippy" is a form of defect - or character - in the wood where it looks as though the wood has a case of the measles with little spots dotting throughout the grain.

Pen #869 was turned on 18th September 2017 at Whittington on the Coventry Canal.

You can follow my pen making here on this blog and our travels on another blog here

http://nb-lois-jane.blogspot.co.uk

oh and please like us on Facebook too here
https://www.facebook.com/ThePenMakersBoat

#868 Now Sold

Bog Yew and Gun Metal Premium Twist Pen

BOG-WOOD

Is a material from trees that have been buried in peat bogs and preserved from decay by the acidic and anaerobic bog conditions, sometimes for hundreds or even thousands of years. The wood is usually stained brown by tannins dissolved in the acidic water. Bog-wood represents the early stages in the fossilisation of wood with further stages ultimately forming jet, lignite and coal over a period of many millions of years. Bog-wood may come from any tree species naturally growing near or in bogs, including oak, pine and yew. It is a rare form of timber that is claimed to be comparable to some of the world's most expensive tropical hardwoods.

This particular bog-wood is yew and came from the Norfolk Fens, it is believed to be over 5,000 years old.

Many thousands of years ago East Anglia was densely forested by gigantic trees. Approximately 7,000 years ago a rise in the sea level caused the rivers to back up and flood the fens, consequently the trees died standing and then fell into the silt of the forest floor. Due to cultivation of this productive land these trees have come to the surface.

Pen #868 was turned on 12th September 2017 at Hopwas on the Coventry Canal.

You can follow my pen making here on this blog and our travels on another blog here

http://nb-lois-jane.blogspot.co.uk

oh and please like us on Facebook too here
https://www.facebook.com/ThePenMakersBoat

#867 Now Sold

Australian Blackwood with Blue Spirit Stain and Chrome Rollerball Pen

AUSTRALIAN BLACKWOOD (Acacia Melanoxylon)

Although called Blackwood, the name is somewhat of a misnomer, as its wood is not at all black. The name of the wood may refer to dark stains on the hands of woodworkers, caused by the high levels of tannin in the timber.

The sapwood may range in colour from straw to grey-white with clear demarcation from the heartwood. The heartwood is golden to dark brown with chocolate growth rings. The timber is generally straight grained bit may be wavy or interlocked. Quartersawn surfaces may produce an attractive fiddleback figure. The wood is lustrous and possesses a fine to medium texture.

The species has been introduced to many countries for forestry plantings and as an ornamental tree. It is declared noxious weed species in South Africa and is a pest in Portugal's Azores Islands. It was also recently listed by the California Invasive Plant Council as an invasive weed that may cause limited impact. Its use as a street tree is being phased out in some locales because of the damage it often causes to pavements and underground plumbing. In some regions of Tasmania blackwood is now considered a pest.

The wood is very good for many uses including furniture, tools, boats, boxes and wooden kegs. It is of about the same quality as walnut and it is well suited for shaping with steam. The bark has a tannin content of about 20%. It may also be used for producing decorative veneers. 

Plain and figured Australian Blackwood is used in musical instrument masking (in particular guitars, drums, Hawaiian ukuleles, violin bows and organ pipes).

The piece of Australian Blackwood used to make this pen was very yellowy in colour, a blue spirit stain was applied, which combined with the yellow of the wood appears green.

Pen #867 was turned on 12th September 2017 at Hopwas on the Coventry Canal.

You can follow my pen making here on this blog and our travels on another blog here

http://nb-lois-jane.blogspot.co.uk

oh and please like us on Facebook too here
https://www.facebook.com/ThePenMakersBoat

#866 Now Sold

Rare Elm Burr with Spirit Stain and Chrome Premium Twist Pen

A burr (American burl) is a tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner. It is commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small knots from dormant buds.

A burr results from a tree undergoing some form of stress. It may be environmental or introduced by humans. Most burr grow beneath the ground, attached to the roots as a type of malignancy that is generally not discovered until the tree dies or falls over. Such burrs sometimes appear as groups of bulbous protrusions connected by a system of rope-like roots. Almost all burr wood is covered by bark, even if it is underground. Insect infestation and certain types of mould infestation are the most common causes of this condition.

Burr yields a very peculiar and highly figured wood, one prized for its beauty by many; its rarity also adds to its expense. It is sought after by people such as furniture makers (mainly used as veneers, artists, and wood sculptors. The knots and twists in elm Burrs are usually a few per foot or so, however these pens have many more to make a spectacular premium quality dressing for only the best of the pen mechanisms that I sell.

Seasoning burr can be a long drawn out process that can take many years and there is no guarantee that there will be any usable timber once it is sawn.

Pen #866 was turned on 12th September 2017 at Hopwas on the Coventry Canal.

You can follow my pen making here on this blog and our travels on another blog here

http://nb-lois-jane.blogspot.co.uk

oh and please like us on Facebook too here
https://www.facebook.com/ThePenMakersBoat

#865 Now Sold

NB Birchills Oak and Gun Metal Premium Twist Pen

(A donation from the sale of this pen will be gifted to The Black Country Living Museum, the Custodians of NB Birchills)

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 and roof hatch 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.

Pen #865 was turned at Alvecote on 28th August 2017 on the Coventry Canal.

You can follow my pen making here on this blog and our travels on another blog here

http://nb-lois-jane.blogspot.co.uk

oh and please like us on Facebook too here
https://www.facebook.com/ThePenMakersBoat

Y

#864 Now Sold

NB Dane Elm and Gun Metal Rollerball Pen

(A donation from the sale of this pen will be gifted to The Narrowboat Heritage Foundation, the Custodians 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.

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 #864 was turned on 27th August 2017 at Alvecote on the Coventry Canal.

You can follow my pen making here on this blog and our travels on another blog here

http://nb-lois-jane.blogspot.co.uk

oh and please like us on Facebook too here
https://www.facebook.com/ThePenMakersBoat