Cygnet Hand-Crafted Pens

Another commission. The thin stripes turned out nicely. I’ll have to try that again.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Eventually I will try to post little video clips of some of these pens, because until you can turn this wood in the light and see how the cat’s eye effect of the grain shimmers you can only get an idea of how beautiful this wood is. The second picture gives the best idea of what I’m talking about. That’s true for most of the pens that are turned diagonally or on the end-grain. I’ll see what I can do as far as posting clips that are large enough to be worth seeing and small enough that they won’t take a half hour to download.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

I just bought a half dozen pieces of this. It’s quarter sawn Mexican Redheart with some beautiful twist to the grain. If I can get more I will, so if you’d like something particular out of this wood let me know. For instance I’d be happy to make a pen/pencil set out of it.

One thing to mention about Mexican Redheart: If it’s exposed to UV rays the red color will gradually fade to a brown or tan. It’ll still look great, but if you want to keep the red color, then it’s best to keep it in a sleeve or box when not in use.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

The innards of this pen are what make it a Tycoon. The threads are very smooth, the weight is satisfying, the hardware in general is just that extra bit more… solid. Hence the extra cost. Personally I think it’s well worth it. Suffice to say that no matter who you are you will feel the difference.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Simple and elegant. Beautiful grain in a very fine hard wood. A perfect executive gift.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

I love finding pieces of wood that are scrap to most other people. This piece of boxwood was cut off the end of a beautiful, clean board and had such a wonderful twist to the grain that I grabbed it immediately. You can see a bit of a crack in the photos. That is the down side to using twisty wood like this, but I have to live with that. I think it’s well worth it. I put a shell finish over all, so I guess I consider things like that “features” rather than “flaws”. Maybe that’s my inner PR person talking?

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Time was that I would have thought that acrylic is simply a manufactured material without inherent character. This is decidedly not true. I have almost as much fun picking through pieces of acrylic as I do with pieces of wood. Every once in a while in the midst of a stack of miscellaneous pieces you’ll find one that has particularly nice movement inside it. This one to me looked like a great satellite photo. My wife says it’s ocean. I guess that’s not so much a disagreement as a difference in scale. 3 feet away can look similar to 3 miles away in the right weather.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

I like how this one turned out. Maple isn’t a typical wood for me to use. It’s quite understated lets the cocobolo and acrylic really stand out.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

This falls under the category “feature” in my book. When I see a knot in a piece of wood I can’t help but wonder what kind of grain is inside it. This is actually split through in the middle part and you can see brass in one spot. If that bothers you I’d be willing to make you a pen out of pure, clean wood, but if you’re like me a piece like this can be more beautiful than the flawless piece. I’m sure this is all just a metaphor for the nature of humanity, but I’ll leave that for someone else.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Actually this is Zebrawood, but as soon as I showed it to my wife Gail she said, “Bengal Tiger!” I’d been thinking along the lines of a royal sash, so… it’s a Royal Bengal. I’ll definitely play with this combination again.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

I had thought this piece of Cocobolo simply had some marks on the side of it. I was pleased to see that they were actually running through the piece. I guess it’s just who I am, that these are the finds that make me happy. I have probably two more pens worth of this, so I will likely make another set of these.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

I love curly maple. Curly anything is beautiful. Unfortunately most curly maple has “curls” that are too big for my uses. The kind of wood that would make a gorgeous dresser or table, but a piece small enough to make a pen out of wouldn’t show any wave. This happened to be a nice tight piece. I’ll have to try another photo, but in the lower shot you can see a bit of the movement in the wood. The inlays are Chakte Viga, Cocobolo, Mexican Redheart, Mahogany and Katalox.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Koa is a favorite wood of mine. A Hawaiian wood, it is used fairly often for guitars and ukeleles. The two electric basses that I play both have Curly Koa tops. If you are familiar with the stone Tiger Eye you know what this stuff looks like in person. It seems like you are looking right into the wood. I will definitely be making more items out of Koa, at least when I have gotten enough of Cocobolo, my current addiction.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

This is a combination of cocobolo and acrylic that turned out quite nicely.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.

Sorry, this product is sold. If this was your favorite let me know. I would be happy to make something similar.