Black Gold & Ironwood Closed End

[davinci27]

Black Gold & Hillside Ironwood Closed End

So this is my first closed end pen. It is an Ironwood and Black Gold blank from mesquite man. It's on jr Gent titanium kit and includes a custom finial. If you look closely, you will see the black gold continues up onto the finial. I'm still working on the photography, bu it is slowly getting better. Comments and Criticisms welcome

 

[igran7]

Very nice, especially for your first closed end. That blank is outrageous!

 

[angelofdeath]

that pen is awesome looking. great job with your first closed end.

 

[MesquiteMan]

Nice job, Ben. Just to be clear, though, that is not Ironwood as most think of it. It is what I call Hill Country Ironwood and is not related to Desert Ironwood that most think of with the name. Hill Country Ironwood is also know as Bluewood Condalia, Edwards Bluewood, Edwards Plateau Capul Negro, Edwards' Bluewood, and Brasil. I used the name Hill Country Ironwood because it comes from the Texas Hill Country and is what the local ranchers refer to as simply Ironwood. It is also harder than woodpecker lips and has a specifil gravity greater than 1, meaning it will not float. Here is more info on it if you are interested: http://uvalde.tamu.edu/herbarium/coho.htm

 

[davinci27]

I remember seeing in the original post that it wasn't desert ironwood. I didn't even think about it. I know Ipe is sometimes called brazillian ironwood, so I just assumed this was a similar situation. I will say l love the tone of this wood. It's a very deep brown once it's finished. and I think the titanium kit matches the blackgold pretty well.

As for the hardness, you are right it was pretty tough. I think Elmostro's Pecan root has it beat though. I only had to stop to sharpen once on the hillside Ironwood, it took three sharpenings to make it through the pecan root.

Ben

 

[MesquiteMan]

Ben, basically any wood that has a specific gravity of greater than 1 is an ironwood.

 

[akbar24601]

Very nice! Good job on the closed end.

 

[PaulDoug]

Well, why float a pen anyway!?! Beautiful job putting that pen together. I'd like to see more pictures of it.

 

[CSue]

Ben, that is one beautiful pen! And I like your idea about the mandrel and shims. (Can I say that here?)

Very nice work!

 

[toolcrazy]

Very, very nice pen.