1130 Euro Coffee Bean and Black Palm
Euro II Twist Pen
Coffee Bean and Black Palm with chromium trim
Refill: Parker-style
Length - 5.6", Max diameter - 0.59", Diameter 1" above tip - 0.40", Weight - 1.4 ounces
$100
This was a challenging pen to make but well worth the effort. The upper body of this pen is a white polyester resin that has been embedded with real coffee beans. It smelled like I was brewing a pot of coffee the entire time I was turning this piece. Unfortunately I had to coat the piece with cyanoacrylate after shaping it to protect the coffee beans and prevent them from staining. This tones down the aroma considerably.
The lower body is Black Palm (Borassus flabellifer), which is native to Southeast Asia and also know as Palmyra or Toddy Palm. This large palm grows over 100 feet high and may live for over 100 years. It produces a sweet sap, called "Toddy", that can be used to make several drinks, including wine. It is not certain whether the term "hot toddy" originally referenced this sap. This is a dense, stringy wood and is difficult to turn. The pieces want to keep breaking off in large strands. A light touch and reinforcement with glue allowed me to complete the piece. I then finished it with 12 coats of cyanoacrylate and polished it to a high gloss.
To showcase these great body segments, I used a variant of the classic European style pen. This Euro II pen has a slightly larger diameter that allows the use of Parker-style refills. Chromium trim nicely highlights the coffee beans and Black Palm.
Click on image to enlarge (#1130)