I had this piece of holly, far from blemish free complete with a worm hole. Contemplated just throwing it away, but decided to plod ahead with it. This turned out to be one of my favorite pens to date. All the imperfections just gives it character, to my eyes. This is also my first time using glu-boost. After applying it, I barely needed to micro mesh. I did but very sparingly, especially the courser grits. The pen, very much has an antler look to it. This one is not getting sold. It's a keeper.