I just returned from a 10-day business trip to Trinidad. I finally had a free day on Saturday, so I asked my driver to take me to a local sawmill to see if I could collect some small scraps of local wood.
We met the owner and told him what we were looking for. He took us over to a big pile of wood that he called his scraps, handed me a piece of chalk and told me to mark what I wanted and he would cut it for us. I selected a few boards, marked off lengths that I thought would fit in my suitcase & he cut them for us.
When he was finished, I asked him how much I owed him and he just waved his hands & said "no charge". So I reached in my pocket and handed him a Sierra pen made from a nice piece of Koa. He was quite surprised & very appreciative. As we were driving away, I saw him showing the pen to his wife with a huge smile on his face. Made my day.
Top to bottom we have Mora, Crapau, a very white wood and a couple of pieces of Balata. These are all about 2" x 3" x 20-22" - probably enough for at least 150-200 pen blanks, but I'll use most of it for larger projects.
I forgot what he said the white wood is, so I may have to ask my driver to go check with him sometime. It looks a lot like American Holly.
I also gathered a few pieces of interesting driftwood from the beach near my hotel.
I'll have to take an empty trunk along next time.
We met the owner and told him what we were looking for. He took us over to a big pile of wood that he called his scraps, handed me a piece of chalk and told me to mark what I wanted and he would cut it for us. I selected a few boards, marked off lengths that I thought would fit in my suitcase & he cut them for us.
When he was finished, I asked him how much I owed him and he just waved his hands & said "no charge". So I reached in my pocket and handed him a Sierra pen made from a nice piece of Koa. He was quite surprised & very appreciative. As we were driving away, I saw him showing the pen to his wife with a huge smile on his face. Made my day.
Top to bottom we have Mora, Crapau, a very white wood and a couple of pieces of Balata. These are all about 2" x 3" x 20-22" - probably enough for at least 150-200 pen blanks, but I'll use most of it for larger projects.
I forgot what he said the white wood is, so I may have to ask my driver to go check with him sometime. It looks a lot like American Holly.
I also gathered a few pieces of interesting driftwood from the beach near my hotel.
I'll have to take an empty trunk along next time.