toddlajoie
Member
I was honored to be asked to make a pen as a gift for Grand Master Lim, Hyun Soo, who is visiting this week in New Jersey and Maine to give seminars in Korean Hapkido and Kuhapdo. Our school's master has been learning directly from Grand Master Lim for many years, and always presents him with a gift when they get together. His wife asked if I would make a pen as a gift, and of course I was honored to have the opportunity. This was just last Friday, so we were limitted by what I had on hand for materials, so I brought her a variety of the woods and acrylics that I had and a bunch of sample pens for her to choose from. She was originally thinking about ebony, but as I did not have any, and had heard so many people mentioning cracking issues, I recommended against it, suggesting African Blackwood as an alternative. I also suggested a great looking piece of stabilized Black Ash burl, as something that was more native to our area, and would be considered exotic in Korea. She preferred the Cigar style, and asked that I make one of each. I did the Black Ash first,and thought it came out spectacular in a Hybrid Cigar. I brought it in to work to show my boss, and take some photos. I had a few problems with the CA finish on the African Blackwood (my own fault...) and because of that, it was not finished until just a bit before I was going to see her, so I was unable to get photos of it. I thought that there was no question that the Black Ash was a much more impressive pen. She agreed, but wanted to take both, for her husband to decide. Unfortunatly I did not get a chance to take a photo of the African Blackwood pen, done in a Chrome Ultra Cigar, but I think it looked quite nice. I won't know for sure which one he decided to give him until tomorrow when we attend the seminar, but either way, I was thrilled to be able to do this...
