#905 Now Sold

NB Birchills Oak and Gun Metal Fountain 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 #905 was turned on 9th November 2017 at Linslade on the Grand Union 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

#904 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 #904 was turned on 9th November 2017 at Linslade on the Grand Union 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

#903 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 #903 was turned on 9th November 2017 at Linslade on the Grand Union 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

#902 Now Sold

Padouk and Gun Metal Ballpoint Twist Pen

PADOUK - Pterocarpus soyauxii

Padouk has a very unique reddish orange coloration, and the wood is sometimes referred to by the name Vermillion. Unfortunately, this dramatic color is inevitably darkened to a deep reddish brown color. Heartwood color can vary, ranging from a pale pinkish orange to a deep brownish red. Most pieces tend to start reddish orange when freshly cut, darkening substantially over time to a reddish/purplish brown

Padouk is moderately heavy, strong, and stiff, with exceptional stability. It also has a beautiful aroma when turned and sanded. It is closely related to Amboyna.

Pen #902 was turned on 8th November 2017 at Linslade on the Grand Union 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

#901 Now Sold

London Plane and Chrome Twist Pen

London Plane - Platanus x acerifolia

Similar to maple, the wood of London Plane trees is predominantly comprised of the sapwood, with some darker heartwood streaks also found in most boards. Though it is not too uncommon to also see entire boards of heartwood too. The sapwood is white to light pinkish tan, while the heartwood is a darker reddish brown. London Plane also has very distinct ray flecks present on quartersawn surfaces giving it a freckled appearance and it is sometimes even called “Lacewood,” though it bears little botanical relation to the tropical species of Lacewood.

The London plane has especially fine properties as a large-growing, shade-providing urban tree. It copes well with heat and cold, wet and dry, compaction of the soil and the pollutants generated by cities. Its shiny leaves are washed off by rain and its bark flakes off in small patches to expose new bark underneath. It was widely planted in London in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The London plane probably came into being in the mid-seventeenth century as a natural hybrid of the Oriental plane, (P. orientalis), and the Western plane, (P. occidentalis), rather than being cross-bred by horticulturists. It soon became popular.

It is not known how old a London plane may become because none is known to have died of old age. The oldest trees of this species date from 1660's and the tallest London plane has achieved 48.5 metres in height; the tallest London planes in London have reached 30-35 metres.

Pen #901 was turned on 8th November 2017 at Linslade on the Grand Union 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

#900 Now Sold

NB Dane Elm and Chrome Fountain 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 #900 was turned on 8th November 2017 at Linslade on the Grand Union 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

#899 Now Sold

NB Dane Elm and Chrome 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 #899 was turned on 7th November 2017 at Linslade on the Grand Union 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

#898 Now Sold

 Pippy Yew and Gun Metal Fountain 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 #898 was turned on 27th October 2017 at Bugbrooke on the Grand Union 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

#897 Now Sold

Bog Yew and Gun Metal Rollerball 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 #897 was turned on 27th October 2017 at Bugbrooke on the Grand Union 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

#896 Now Sold

NB Birchills Oak with 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 #896 was turned on 24th October 2017 at Bugbrooke on the Grand Union 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