altaciii
Member
A few of years ago, just after I started turning pens, I was surfing the net looking at all the possibilities in pen making. I went to many sites and saw quite a few very nice looking works of functional art. Most of the pens were the same with mostly the same woods and a few had little additions here and there by the turner to make the pen different in some way or another. For the most part all were made with the same kits available at that time. However, there was one pen I saw, on a site from a turner in Norway, that just put the final dot on my ambition to make beautiful pens. This pen was an emperor style large pen, that may have had some impact on my infatuation with the hobby but what caught my eye was the wood. This wood was a very rare wood from China and at the time was the finest pen I had seen to date. I told myself and my son in law, who happened to see the pen also, that one day I was going to create a pen of such beauty. I feel now that I have. This is a Jr. Emperor in 22k gold and rhodium that I have had stored for 8 months just waiting for the right wood to mate it with. Huanghuali, from Dave at Rarest woods. When these blanks came up I really had no choice but to purchase them. Others have said they were not worth the price, I, for one, disagree. Its sister was sold to a collector client of mine before it was turned and the final price was well worth me taking the financial risk. As was stated before, if you don't ask for it you won't get it. The pen comes with certification and pictures of the piece it was taken from. I can't say enough about the quality of the wood I got from Dave but these blanks certainly took me back to that pen. The pen was sanded to 12k mm then seven coats of ca/blo and then again to 12k mm. There is a lot of nice figure in the piece and a lot of chatoyance that cannot be seen by the cameras lens. Needless to say, my client was quite pleased. All comments, good and bad, are welcome. Thanks for looking.
