I've been roughing down some really nice Spalted Maple. The curls are incredible, maple with the streaks of black running through them. I'd love to see some one cast these curls into a pen blank.
Sounds like a great idea. Why not use it as an excuse to give casting a try -- it's not that hard (OK, I've been unhappy with my results more than half the time so far, so maybe it is that hard )