lejones1445
Member
Sorry, I know this will be long.
In 1869 the U. S. Gov't built a lighthouse near Windmill Point, VA at the mouth of the Rappahanock River near the Chesapeake Bay. The lighthouse was torn down in 1965 and the owner of a nearby marina obtained part of the lighthouse as salvage with the intention of building a gazebo on the marina grounds from the salvaged wood. The project never happened and through a succession of owners, the owners in the late 90's decided to discard the wood. My friend, David Simons, who grew up in the area and knew the story of the old wood was able to obtain a 4' x 3" x 3/4" piece before the wood was destroyed. David saved the old piece of wood in his mother's garage on a shelf too high for her to reach. Fast forward to Christmas 2014. I made several pens for David and members of his family as gifts. David was so impressed that he asked if I could make another pen from the old board. The wood, believed to be cypress, was in pretty good shape considering its age (est. 150 yrs.) and exposure to the elements although a little soft. With some careful turning I succeeded. I then went to David and suggested a project to share this piece of history. The attached photo shows what we came up with: 50 pens all serialized and presented in a nice display box with an etched glass top and notarized documentation telling the story of the wood. The Nautical style pen kit from PSI was a good match for the historical source of the wood. The second photo is a picture of the original lighthouse circa 1929. Oh, yeah -- the sales price? $195 and so far we have sold 29 units.
In 1869 the U. S. Gov't built a lighthouse near Windmill Point, VA at the mouth of the Rappahanock River near the Chesapeake Bay. The lighthouse was torn down in 1965 and the owner of a nearby marina obtained part of the lighthouse as salvage with the intention of building a gazebo on the marina grounds from the salvaged wood. The project never happened and through a succession of owners, the owners in the late 90's decided to discard the wood. My friend, David Simons, who grew up in the area and knew the story of the old wood was able to obtain a 4' x 3" x 3/4" piece before the wood was destroyed. David saved the old piece of wood in his mother's garage on a shelf too high for her to reach. Fast forward to Christmas 2014. I made several pens for David and members of his family as gifts. David was so impressed that he asked if I could make another pen from the old board. The wood, believed to be cypress, was in pretty good shape considering its age (est. 150 yrs.) and exposure to the elements although a little soft. With some careful turning I succeeded. I then went to David and suggested a project to share this piece of history. The attached photo shows what we came up with: 50 pens all serialized and presented in a nice display box with an etched glass top and notarized documentation telling the story of the wood. The Nautical style pen kit from PSI was a good match for the historical source of the wood. The second photo is a picture of the original lighthouse circa 1929. Oh, yeah -- the sales price? $195 and so far we have sold 29 units.
