Cast Mescalbean Burl Majestic

[MesquiteMan]

Here is what I consider the best pen that I have ever made! I have been offered $300 for it and have turned it down! It is Mescalbean (Sophora secundiflora) Root Burl that was cast with gold swirl Alumilite resin to fill in the missing wood.

Mescalbean, also know as Texas Mountain Laurel, is a shrub that grows in Central Texas. It produces red beans about the size of a kidney bean that is so toxic, one bean will kill a human. Archaeological evidence shows that Mescalbean was used by Native Americans as a hallucinogenic and is considered by many to be the predecessor to Peyote! Mescalbean wood is not available commercially and to my knowledge, I was the first person to use it for pens and woodturning in general.

This is a black titanium Majestic that I purchased in the PSI Father's day special. I really like this kit a lot.

Thanks for looking. As always, the pictures do not even come close to doing the pen justice.

 

[neon007]

WOW!! I love it. A deadly pen, if we lick it maybe we could have visions of pens dancing in our heads

 

[TBone]

Curtis, that is an amazing pen. You continue to discover new ways to create masterpieces. If it looks better in person...WOW

 

[fiferb]

Beautiful!

 

[angboy]

So are you keeping it for yourself then? It looks great!

 

[Jim15]

A beautiful pen.

 

[GaryMGg]

That is definitely pure showcase! [8D] Fantastic looking craftsmanship on an awesome piece of wood.

 

[Dario]

Curtis,

I love this pen and can't wait to turn the sample you gave me []

 

[Rifleman1776]

Words fall short describing the beauty of that pen. You combined an amazing wood with a complimentary material to give a simply stunning appearance. Then it was all married onto a luxury kit. Hard to say what it's retail worth is. Great work.

<br />

 

[LanceD]

Outstanding !!

 

[GoodTurns]

simply gorgeous []

 

[Penmonkey]

Beautiful pen!

 

[rovercat]

Great looking pen.

 

[ahoiberg]

great job curtis. fantastic idea on using the mescalbean. i guess livestock that eats it can be thought of as dead and then just snap back to life after their "trip".

 

[MesquiteMan]

Thanks guys for the nice comments!

Ahoiberg, thankfully, the beans are VERY hard and you need a hammer to crack them open. As kids we used to call them burn beans. We would take one and rub it real fast on the concrete to build up heat then stick it to a someone's arm. It would burn like heck and sometimes even leave a mark!

 

[Draken]

Wow, beautiful pen! Makes me even more excited to get the Cast Mescalbean Burl blank that I won in last month's trivia contest (http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=25506). How does it turn, and any special precautions so I don't lose it on the lathe? Also, the finish on it looks great! What did you use?

 

[Malainse]

Very nice !!!!

 

[MesquiteMan]

Draken,

The blank I sent you will be almost as spectacular as this one. Yours actually has a little more resin which really adds to it. As for turning, the wood is VERY dense and hard but turns like plastic. You will hardly feel the difference between the wood and the resin. Also, I use Alumilite exclusively and it is not brittle at all. You should not have any trouble with it blowing up on you. Be sure to take the time to smell the wood as you turn it. To me it smells GREAT. Also, be sure to color your tubes. The resin part is somewhat transparent and you might be able to see the tubes.

The finish on this pen is CA. The wood is VERY oily and it is difficult to get a good CA finish. One trick that I do is to clean the wood with accelerator right before applying my first coat. This seems to help the CA stick better. The wood is so dense and oily that it also works well with just a good buffing and a coat of wax.

Be sure to post a pic of how the pens turns out when it is done!

 

[papaturner]

Awesome,outstanding,beautiful,remarkable,they all fall short.You did yourself proud.You`re quiet the craftsman.

Perry

 

[johncrane]

Curtis!
that's a really beautiful pen and l would keep it for sure.
[]

 

[rcarman]

Beautiful does not describe the pen and finish. Really, really nice. Thanks for sharing.

 

[sah6139]

All I can say is WOW[8D]

steve

 

[fstepanski]

Very nice Curtis, looks FANTASTIC! need shades [8D]

 

[DKF]

Very, very nice!

 

[Draken]

Originally posted by MesquiteMan
<br />Draken,

The blank I sent you will be almost as spectacular as this one. Yours actually has a little more resin which really adds to it. As for turning, the wood is VERY dense and hard but turns like plastic. You will hardly feel the difference between the wood and the resin. Also, I use Alumilite exclusively and it is not brittle at all. You should not have any trouble with it blowing up on you. Be sure to take the time to smell the wood as you turn it. To me it smells GREAT. Also, be sure to color your tubes. The resin part is somewhat transparent and you might be able to see the tubes.

The finish on this pen is CA. The wood is VERY oily and it is difficult to get a good CA finish. One trick that I do is to clean the wood with accelerator right before applying my first coat. This seems to help the CA stick better. The wood is so dense and oily that it also works well with just a good buffing and a coat of wax.

Be sure to post a pic of how the pens turns out when it is done!

Thanks for the info Curtis. The blanks arrived yesterday and look great! I do appreciate the bonuses you threw in as well. Now the hard part, deciding what style to use with these blanks. And you can be sure there will be photos posted once I'm done!

I don't use CA as a finish. I wonder how well Enduro or lacquer would work with these blanks. Until I saw the blank in person, I thought the resin was the lighter area (sapwood), not the darker areas due to the description of the resin being Gold Swirl.

 

[gerryr]

Sorry, I don't like the Majestic, but that is one stunning piece of wood.[]

 

[huntersilver]

Wow nice pen!

 

[huntersilver]

Any issues with the dust, or allergic reations?

 

[skiprat]

I don't know which I prefer the most, this one or the Algarita Root.
They are equally fantastic[]

 

[MesquiteMan]

Originally posted by huntersilver
<br />Any issues with the dust, or allergic reations?

I have not had any issues at all and I have made 15 or so pens with the wood as well as a number of small bowls. I do have very good dust collection at the lathe, though.

 

[eskimo]

That is truly an outstanding pen. I've not seen that wood before, but it may be the most impressive piece of wood I've seen used in a pen. Great job.

Bob

 

[babyblues]

Awesome! That is one classy lookin pen.

 

[dlddr]

i wish i had some mescalbean []lol