looks good. The curl is just barely noticable (at least in the pic), which I think adds something to it, makes on look twice at the pen to get a better look at it.
Is curly ash a separate wood from just plain ash? Or is it ash that is simply curly? Not trying to be funny, that comes naturally. [)] Reason I ask, is that I cannot get a smooth finish with ash on small objects, the grain is simply too open. Yours looks nice and tight and a good finish. Nice pen, BTW.
Frank, yeah its the same stuff as far as I know. I use ash a lot for making furniture and I like it better then oak if it has some of darker sapwood, without it, it looks and works a lot like oak. Its an open/coarse grain wood and feels that way even after you finish it. Some people use a sanding sealer on it and I'm sure it helps. But I like it the way it is and don't bother with it.
I don't really care for it for making pens, but wanted to try the curly stuff. I've have made a few pens from cross cut oak and it looks much better that way. Its to bad too, because I have an endless supply of oak and ask both. []
OH, and yes, the curly does seem to be much tighter grain and turns better then the normal ash and oak.
R.T., Does the curl look any better in person, or is it a little weak? I think I'll send you a little package and see if we can get some stronger curl. Maybe I didn't pull very good blanks from the pile?
Rich, I thought I pulled the best looking one from the bunch. It looked liked it had nice curl, but once it was turned it did get weak. It does look a little better then the pic. But don't worry about it, you gave me extras anyway. I'll still use them, they don't look bad. You just never know what the finished product is going to look like until you turn it, the next one might be better. [] Thanks!