A Gift for Our New Pastor

[Edgar]

I made this desk set for our new pastor who was installed on Feb 2. I couldn't show it before now because the fountain pen was my entry in the Intermediate Pen Contest.

The rollerball and the base are BOW and the fountain pen is Nazareth olive wood. The Martin Luther seal is a refrigerator magnet from Zazzle - I used a forstner bit to drill a recess hole for the magnet. The pens are Tritons from Exotic Blanks.

I imported the pen blanks from Jerusalem & I realize there is some controversy as to whether they are truly Holy Land olive wood, but there is no doubt about the base. I bought about 20 pounds of olive wood from an Armenian Christian wood carver when I visited Bethlehem in 2012. I had a private guide to take me around the West Bank & I got him to take me to the workshop of a Bethlehem carver to see if I could buy some wood. It was the first time anyone had made such a request, so it took a little while to get my point across and he had to ask around, but we finally found the shop of a very nice man who had a nice pile of wood that he had cut himself. I decided to leave a little bark on the base for character.

c&c welcome
Edgar

 

[longbeard]

Those look great. They should be well received


Harry

 

[Hendu3270]

Very nice pens Edgar, and very cool, being able to bring back the wood.

 

[OZturner]

A Magnificent Desk Set Edgar,
Excellent choice of Kit, and Timber,
Superb Fit and Finish.
A Wonderful Gift to welcome your New Pastor.
I am sure that he will be pleased with this gift, and the warmth of the welcome it extends.
Congratulations,
Brian.

 

[Dan Masshardt]

I'd be privileged to receive such a gift.

My fellow pastor is going to Israel this month. I told him to hunt some olive but I doubt he'll be diligent enough to get it, not being a woodworker.

 

[robutacion]

Well, I admire the pens and the wood they were made of, regardless from where it come from. You're done a great job on those 2 pens and all the bits of Olive wood you used, have a nice grain, that's what matter, to me so, congrats...!

I betcha, the work-shop had a pleasant smell when you finish the project, huh...??? :wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George

 

[Band Saw Box]

Outstanding desk set. Suck great grain in all the pieces, the blanks are a great fit with the kits. Great fit and finish.

 

[kyaggie]

What a beautiful set and I'm sure the new pastor will be thrilled with it!

Mike

 

[Jim15]

Beautiful work.

 

[tgsean]

Fantastic and a great set, wonderful gift awesome grain. Love this timber

 

[mikespenturningz]

Wow Edgar those are just great. Love the base too.

 

[Whitehat1994]

Beautiful pen and base set and a wonderful and adventurous story to go with it!

 

[Indiana_Parrothead]

Wow Edgar those are really nice, I am sure your new pastor will be happy with them. I am working on some pens for our pastor. They are not going to be near as nice as the ones you made.

I made a trade with Fred (PtownSubbie) for some CNC blanks, they are black Alumilite with cutouts of the church logo then re-cast in pearl red Alumilite, these will go on Sierra Elegent Beauty. Knowing that pastors are not the greatest paid people, I am actually making 8 of them and giving them all to him. He can then give them out as gifts as he sees fit. I'll post some pictures once I get them all done.

Mike

 

[Tom T]

Beautiful as all have said.
Great pastor gift. Very thoughtful.
Pastor need encouragement as many people only bring them there problems not there joys.

 

[Dan Masshardt]

Beautiful as all have said. Great pastor gift. Very thoughtful. Pastor need encouragement as many people only bring them there problems not there joys.

That's why pastors need time to turn pens. ;-)

 

[Tom T]

And you turn them so good.

 

[Edgar]

Thanks everyone for all the kind comments.
Pastor Tim was thrilled with the set - the look in his eye when he opened the package was all the thanks I needed.

A little more about my adventure...
The first lead we got for a woodcarver to visit was the shop of Munir Twemeh. He is probably the most renowned of all the carvers in Israel - his carvings are true works of art (and carry an appropriate price). As it turns out, I had just purchased one of his Holy Family carvings. The store had many of his carvings, but I was attracted to this one because it depicts Jesus learning his father's woodworking trade.

It was a real thrill to meet Munir & see his shop (a small structure on the roof of his home). He only had a few small pieces of olive wood on hand that day but he directed us to the home & shop of another carver which is where I found the pile of cuttings from which I was able to select some wood. While at the second shop, I bought the Nativity Scene directly from the carver - at probably about 1/3 the price that I would have paid if I had bought it at a store. His name is on the bottom of the carving but it's hard to read & difficult to pronounce, so unfortunately, I can't relate his name right now.

The base of Munir's carving is about 8" square and it stands about 10" high. Each of the figures is individually carved & glued onto the base. The Nativity carving is from a single olive wood limb, about 3" in diameter & 6" tall.

My iPhone photos don't do these carvings justice, but you can get a pretty good idea of the detail & quality of these carvings. Needless to say, they are prominently displayed in our home.

Silly me - I took over 2000 photos on the trip, but I was so excited about meeting these men, seeing their shops and looking for wood that I totally forgot to take any pictures of them or their shops.

 

[Pitoon]

very nice job on the set!

Pitoon

 

[yorkie]

Someone's going to heaven

 

[OZturner]

Truly Gifted Carvers,
Thanks Edgar.
Brian.

 

[Fishinbo]

That's one classy and elegant gift set. Beautiful blank and awesome finish. It will be cherished forever. Beautiful work!

 

[OOPS]

I haven't made many desk sets personally. What I found most interesting was the beauty and simplicity of the desk portion of the project. I normally think of using a larger base, but yours takes up much less space without sacrificing the overall impact of the piece. This set is really impressive and now will get me thinking about my future desk set design. Thanks for posting this piece, as it has certainly stimulated my thoughts.

 

[plano_harry]

Wow Edgar, those are really beautiful and have a great story - which makes a great pen. The bark adds so much to the look.