The Granster, a Rollester custom design

[BoonareeBurl]

I dreamt up this design for a custom Rollester and Joe Tuinstra @Joebobber turned it into a reality. The wood is mud-cured osage orange. Many thanks to Joe for being such an enthusiastic and skilled turner. He's always ready to turn my next idea into something special.

Happy New Year,

G

 

[carrzo]

Wicked nice take on the Rollester, which I love and i think are a bit underrated. I find the rounded cap makes it eay to slide into a pocket. Curious about how comfortable this is to write with - and your decision to go clipless. Great work!

 

[Scotty]

Mud cured?? Tell me about that please.

 

[leehljp]

Mud cured?? Tell me about that please.

Mud cured: Generally it means buried in the mud or moist ground for years until the wood stabilizes itself. And if the wood is left long enough, the tannins turn OO wood green in color. I have several pieces of green Osage Orange, If I get a chance today, I will get a picture of the green mud cured OO that I have. (If I can find it).

There are a few woods in North America that do not generally rot easily like most woods. White Oak, black walnut, mesquite, cypress and osage orange (maybe a couple more) are not prone to rotting when in moist environments in different circumstances, but burial for years or a century (or more) produce beautiful colored wood that you can't find in normally cut/harvested wood.

Speaking of being resistant to rot: Tree trunks that have been burned on the outside in forest fires but not burned more than the outer bark or softer outer layers, and if the interior did get quite hot - these woods tend to be resistant to rot also, in addition to being resistant to insects.

 

[sorcerertd]

That's cool. This gives me an idea, too. I'll bet you could epoxy a customer cover onto that cap.
The color on that wood is beautiful. Actually, so is the pattern. The visible medullary rays really give it a lot of character.

Mud cured: Generally it means buried in the mud or moist ground for years until the wood stabilizes itself. And if the wood is left long enough, the tannins turn OO wood green in color. I have several pieces of green Osage Orange

Interesting. Are we talking bentonite clay (which is typically green, or just the natural tendency of OO in whatever dirt?

 

[leehljp]

That's cool. This gives me an idea, too. I'll bet you could epoxy a customer cover onto that cap.
The color on that wood is beautiful. Actually, so is the pattern. The visible medullary rays really give it a lot of character.


Interesting. Are we talking bentonite clay (which is typically green, or just the natural tendency of OO in whatever dirt?

The natural tendency of OO in mud, not dirt which is dry. The areas where this happens naturally have different kinds of soil, but it happens when submerged in a wetland near or in or the edge of a lake to stream so that it remains wet over a long period of time - 10 - 20 - 30 years or so.

I haven't delved into it scientifically but I think it is dark or blackish muddy liquid mixing with yellow tannins resulting in greenish colors in the wood.

 

[BoonareeBurl]

Wicked nice take on the Rollester, which I love and i think are a bit underrated. I find the rounded cap makes it eay to slide into a pocket. Curious about how comfortable this is to write with - and your decision to go clipless. Great work!

Thanks! I agree that the Rollester is underrated. And you're right about the rounded cap.

I decided to go clipless because I wanted a thicker barrel in the style of Hakase and other large fountain pens, and I prefer to see more of the wood (or other material, though I'm partial to wood). Also, I pretty much never use the clip on any of my pens as I tend to carry them in my pants pocket.

For now, with one exception, these custom Rollesters are not daily writers. @Joebobber did such a beautiful job that they're in my permanent collection for presentation/exhibition only!

Thanks again for the kind words and glad you like the design.

G

 

[BoonareeBurl]

That's cool. This gives me an idea, too. I'll bet you could epoxy a customer cover onto that cap.
The color on that wood is beautiful. Actually, so is the pattern. The visible medullary rays really give it a lot of character.


Interesting. Are we talking bentonite clay (which is typically green, or just the natural tendency of OO in whatever dirt?

Thanks! Interesting idea about the cover, too. If you end up experimenting, please share!

G

 

[BoonareeBurl]

The natural tendency of OO in mud, not dirt which is dry. The areas where this happens naturally have different kinds of soil, but it happens when submerged in a wetland near or in or the edge of a lake to stream so that it remains wet over a long period of time - 10 - 20 - 30 years or so.

I haven't delved into it scientifically but I think it is dark or blackish muddy liquid mixing with yellow tannins resulting in greenish colors in the wood.

I have some very dark green pieces, too. This one was actually pretty dark before Joe turned it, and I expected it to come out more green than yellow. But I love it!

Thanks,

G

 

[egnald]

Very Cool Design. - Dave

 

[BoonareeBurl]

Very Cool Design. - Dave

Thanks, Dave!

G

 

[BoonareeBurl]

Wicked nice take on the Rollester, which I love and i think are a bit underrated. I find the rounded cap makes it eay to slide into a pocket. Curious about how comfortable this is to write with - and your decision to go clipless. Great work!

Sorry, I forgot to address how this pen feels to write with. I really like it because I tend to prefer a thicker grip. Note that the pen is definitely heavier toward the tip because it doesn't have the Rollester hardware on the other end. I like the balance overall.

Thanks,

G