Drum roll please.......
I was in Lowes the other day looking at flooring, and happened to notice samples for solid bamboo flooring. They had several colors, cost $.98 each. The color you see on this pen is the color that i bought it in. This one i cut diagonal on the grain. The down side is, they are only 1/2" thick, and for some reason the bit wanders when drilling.
They also have other hardwood flooring samples, 3/4" thick, $.98 ea. On the flip side Home Depot also had samples, oak and maple, that were FREE.
I have a piece of natural color bamboo that im gonna make another pen out of, i wanna see if i can find a shorter 7mm bit to help reduce the bit flex, and subsequent wandering.