Tagua nut

[wood-of-1kind]

A platinum Sierra made from TAGUA nut:

"Tagua nuts come from the ivory palm and share the characteristics of ivory: they are white, very hard, and take a polish well. They are particularly suitable for turning to make chess pieces, finials, and drawer pulls.
They hold carving detail well and are superb for decorative plugging. They can be sawn into slices and cut into intricate shapes on a scroll saw. Although very hard, they take stain well. The nuts vary from 1 1/2" to 2" long with a fairly flat void in the center."

 

[PaulDoug]

Never thought of these nuts for pens. Turned out real nice. Another "I want to try". My basket just keeps getting fuller!

Did you put a finish on that or is it just polished?

 

[Ligget]

Lovely work Peter, great pictures too![]

 

[Tanner]

Now that's different! Nice job in using alternative materials!!

 

[rjwolfe3]

I like the pen

 

[Rifleman1776]

Because of size, I never considered for pens. Yours looks great. Did you fill the inclusions with shiny stuff? Hard to tell from pictures.

 

[airrat]

Looks good, I was wondering the same thing as Frank. Did you have to glue sections together or just fill inclusions?

 

[wood-of-1kind]

Originally posted by airrat

Looks good, I was wondering the same thing as Frank. Did you have to glue sections together or just fill inclusions?

Frank, Tom the inclusions or "veins" were filled with tagua shavings and CA mixtute. All tagua nuts have veins and it is necessary to fill these natural voids to prevent "catches" and blow outs.

Thanks to all for your nice compliments. Glad that others may wish to try these "nutty" pens[)]

 

[toolcrazy]

That is cool. I really like it. Very nice work.

 

[karlkuehn]

That is a really nice pen, I like the shape a lot! Those veins are really interesting! Good job, I can't imagine that was easy to work with.

 

[Dalecamino]

Very nice pen ! Thanks for sharing Peter ![8D]

 

[Darley]

Very nice pen Peter, never though about Tagua nut good fill with CA, got some but not bigger enough to make a Sierra, where did you get those large nuts? BTW nice pen stands too are you doing your own stands?

 

[wood-of-1kind]

Originally posted by Darley

Very nice pen Peter, never though about Tagua nut good fill with CA, got some but not bigger enough to make a Sierra, where did you get those large nuts? BTW nice pen stands too are you doing your own stands?

Hi Serge,

Tagua nuts are available from Lee Valley Tools. They allow me to select from a basket display in their store. I rummage through it and select any larger nuts longer than 2.25".

The silver and chrome "stands" are actually discarded parts from cologne (perfume) bottles. The clear lexan is also something that I put together.

 

[Tea Clipper]

Great job Peter! Now you're a big shot with the featured photo too, congrats!

 

[JohnLifer]

Looks great, but just remember to keep the nuts/pen cool. They can discolor from age and heat. (Will turn a pretty ugly brown) And they tend to harden over time.
Just my experience.

 

[Boomer]

Cool idea. One thing about this site everyone is always thinking of ways to create something different with all sorts of materials. Nice Job

 

[scoutharps]

Ooo! I want one!

 

[angboy]

Beautiful pen! I can't believe the things I've been missing out on seeing!