A Chrome Gatsby Dressed in Stabilized Buckeye Burl

Buckeye is native to the Eastern United States and typically grows to 50 to 75-feet tall with a 1½ to 2-foot trunk diameter. Buckeye is one of the softest and lightest hardwoods native to the United States.

A burl is taken from a rounded outgrowth, like a wart on the tree. It is filled with small knots from dormant buds resulting in the grain growing in a twisted manner. Buckeye burl has eye-catching reddish brown knots swirled with gray.

This pen has mystery, flair, and elegance plus a smooth twist mechanism.

Accepts Parker-style ballpoint refills.

Information on buckeye from the Wood Database.

Sliderturning

This past summer, my dad started watching YouTube videos on pen turning. After a while, I started to get interested, too. We both decided this was a hobby we would enjoy.

So then my dad started looking at lathes. In the process, he found a woodturning class at Rockler that allowed teens to participate with adult supervision, so he and I signed up. My mom did not get to turn as someone had to be my adult supervisor, which mostly involved standing next to me watching me turn.

We made ice cream scoops. It was fun and confirmed that we were going to enjoy this hobby.

So then we bought a lathe. We chose the Nova Comet II. We cleaned out the garage to make a space for it and started turning.

My first turned object on the Nova Comet II was this automatic pencil: