Bamboo Rod - a Fly Fisherman's Pen

[drgoretex]

Before I started making a lot of pens, I used to make fishing rods - specifically those used for fly fishing. One of the skills that I learned in rod building was that of 'thread-wrapping'. This is a technique used to reinforce the ends of the parts of the rod, as well as to secure the line guides onto the rod. Occasionally, I would go all-out traditional, and build fly fishing rods out of bamboo (either hexagonal split cane, or two-strip rods with a square cross-section. Here are a few examples of this (sorry for bad pics. As you can see, I love using green with lighter coloured bamboo):




So ever since I started making custom 'kitless' pens, I have had a few ideas floating around in my head about how to use bamboo and some of this thread-wrapping in making a fountain pen. Ideally, I would want my pen to be hexagonal, like the split-cane rods, but I'm still working out how best to to do that. In the meantime, I decided to jump in and make one out of bamboo, rounded to a straight rod, and thread-wrapped at the joint, as one would do for a fly fishing rod. When using light coloured ('blonde') bamboo, I tend to use this green thread as a good match. Here I have added a black thread trim.




I decided to go with inset ends again on this pen, as I have with my 'Bamboo' style pens, just to add a bit of visual interest.



The pen is stabilized and sealed inside and out with low viscosity cyanoacrylate, and final finished with 'Tru-Oil', taken down to a matte finish. It is fitted with an 18K fine nib.



I must have bamboo in my head. I am currently working on a pen made out of a small bamboo stalk. Will post this shortly.

Thanks for looking - comments welcome!

Ken

[Tony Rex]

Real pretty. I must compliment your workmanship and creativity with the theme mate. The bamboo endgrain however, I personally think is less desirable. It evokes 'sharp' and 'splinter' from the raw material. But that's totally subjective. Sailor cover their susudake endgrains, but to be fair, unlike this they're made from stalk. Easily remedied anyway.

Tony

[tandaina]

Very cool!

I had the opposite reaction. I saw the end grain and realized it was REAL bamboo, and really liked the texture of it. So there ya go.

[SerenityElite]

Awesome!!!...As a pen builder I can promise you that there will be no splinter rough endgrain on one of his pens, he is truely a master.

[anthonyd]

I also like the exposed endgrain. It gives me a Zen like feel, a feeling of old Japan. Well done!

Tony

[Jon Szanto]

I love this pen, for other reasons: I am frequently employed as a timpanist, and most of the mallets I favor are custom models made on bamboo shafts. The perfect material for strength, weight, and liveliness. Your pen carries over the natural beauty I've come to love in my mallets, and I heartily endorse this message and/or product!

Here's an example of what I was referring to (these aren't mine, but similar):

Attachment 4938

[drgoretex]

Thanks for the kind words!

I can understand why some would want to hide the end grain, but I have to say, I am not one of them. I love the look of the bamboo cross-sectional fibre, and would hate to hide it. To each their own, as they say... :-))

Ken

[Steph]

Nice pen, Ken. It reminds me of the traditional Chinese brush pens with which young students learned and practiced calligraphy.

[KrazyIvan]

I like the end grain look. Very nice.