My wish is to be able to spend more time at my lathe but as I have got a serious back pain problem that rules every minute of my life, I do get very frustrated with being unable to progress my love of penturning, however, I simply cannot spend longer than a half hour to an hour at a time in my workshop due to the pain and resulting loss of concentration.
I make lots of different pen styles whether you prefer a ballpoint, roller ball or the much loved king of writing instruments the classic fountain pen, also a few mechanical pencils for all you budding architects and artists out there. Once you know what style of writing instrument you are looking for then you have a very difficult choice of choosing the material for the main body of the pen. I love to make them from exotic timbers brought in from around the globe, mainly using the burr (burl) or crotch of the tree where you find all the awesome grain patterns.
Alternatively there are the wild vivid colours of acrylic if you want the pen to stand out and be a real head turner to the more conservative acrylic colours such as dark blues, blacks, burgundy etc… far too many to list here, check out the acrylic page to see just a little of what I use.
After the rutting season in Scotland there are lots of antler that has been naturally shed by the reindeer laying about in the hills and moors where they roam freely. I always have some in stock to turn pen or pencil barrels from, they make great gifts especially when the bottom half of the pen is made from a .308 bullet casing and the antler as the top half, hunters love them. Asian water buffalo is yet another natural material that pens are often made from by myself, again I always have plenty in stock but it really stinks out my workshop when it is turned down on my lathe, even Sasha my dog gets up and leaves the workshop as it is so bad! PHEW !!!!
My finished pens are much saught after around the world, unfortunately due to my health I have had to turn away many orders, also several craft gallery`s and shops who had seen my work were wanting to sell my pens have had to be turned down as keeping up with demand would create too much stress and make we unwell again. Sorry folks.....!
