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The Wood and Timber That I Use So much tropical rain-forest is being destroyed by mankind's rapacious appetite for timber. My wood always comes from sustainable sources, or is recycled from other uses; for example, old and otherwise unwanted furniture can make lovely pens and perfume applicators. Black Palmira A dense Asian palm, one of the few palms suitable for turning, this has a structure like compressed bundles of quills which show as black and dark brown against the paler brown of the timber. Cocobolo This is one of the tropical rosewoods. Cocobolo is probably the most beautiful exotic wood, ranging from a beautiful rich dark red to a rich dark brown, with a figuring of darker irregular traces weaving through the wood. The natural oils give the wood, which is highly durable and strong, a natural lustre. It comes from the Pacific areas of Central America. Grass Tree Stump or Root This is an Australian tree, called Balga by the Aborigines, meaning 'black boy' because of its appearance after a bush fire. The trunk doesn't form tree-rings but is a collection of the more durable basal parts of old leaves glued together by a resin that the plant produces. Light-weight and very slow-growing, about 1 foot every 30 years but living for several centuries, hence a more expensive wood. Some people don't regard this as a true wood. Island Walnut Paldor The heartwood is greyish brown with infiltrations of darker lines irregularly distributed. This wood is often sold for high-class furniture and gun stocks. Now difficult to obtain. It comes from Vanuata, a Pacific Island near the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Tonga. Kingwood Aptly named, this king of the woods is a straight-grained, exotic hard wood from South America. It has variegated colours with a background of rich violet brown shading almost to black, with streaks of black, brown, violet, yellow and sometimes golden yellow in the grain. Mallee Burr Mallee is a member of the eucalyptus family, and comes from Australia. Available in brown or red, it has darker birds-eye spots giving an attractive patterning. Depending on how you look at it, you may see butterfly-wings, patterns resembling the coat of a giraffe, clouds. Masur Birch The spectacular pith flecks and line patterns used to be thought to be caused by a beetle larva attacking the cambium layer of the tree, but now it is known to be caused by a genetic disorder which has been researched and isolated for commercial growth. It comes from Northern and Eastern Europe. Oregon Myrtlewood Also called Pepperwood and Bay Laurel, this is native to South Western Oregonand North Western California. It can reach 120', taking 120 years to do so. It is a hardwood which takes many finishes well, and its colour is influenced by the minerals in the soil in which it grows. Pau Amarello This tree is abundant throughout Central and Southern America. The wood is used by the indigenous peoples to dye fabrics and for handicrafts; the fruit is used to make a juice and wine. It is also has healing properties and is used to treat toothache and hernias. Pink Ivory Nothing to do with elephants or walruses, this heartwood is one of the rarest on earth; it ranges from pale pink to dark red in colour, and is very fine-grained. Native to Mozambique, also southern and south-eastern Africa. Purple Heart This is the the heartwood of a South American hardwood. Brown when first cut, it turns purple when exposed to the air and sunlight. She-Oak An Australian wood varying in colour from golden orange to burgundy, it grows primarily on the south coast of Western Australia. Very occasionally it forms a much-prized bird's-eye lace grain. Spalted Beech Spalting is caused by a fungus which gets into beech trees as they go through the natural process of decay, causing the black lines which make this so distinctive and sought-after. After drying, this process is halted and the fungus is eradicated. Tiger Myrtle Burr This is a rare and exotic wood from Tasmania, related to the European beech. The Man-made Materials That I Use. I use a variety of man-made materials for colour and dramatic effect - polyester, resin, corian - which go under trade names such as Polygem and Crushed Velvet. These are hard-wearing and should last for many years. I also have some semi-precious stones such as jaspar and coral which are crushed then mixed with resin to create a very strong bond; some natural pigments are then added to create vibrant and interesting colours and swirls within the material. Iridium Some of my pen-nibs are iridium-tipped. Iridium is a rare earth metal, more common in space than on earth. In fact, most iridium found on our planet has been deposited by meteor-strikes, so when you use one of these pens, you are writing with star-dust. Swarovski Crystals Swarovski Crystals are not naturally occuring crystals like Rock Quartz, but are man-made in a factory in Wattens. Because of their high density and purity, combined with superior cutting and polishing, Swarovski crystals have exceptional brilliance and colour.
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