Bethlehem Olive Wood Cigar Pen

Olive wood from the Holy Land (yes that Bethlehem). I’ve read about other projects made with this wood, and how it smelled like olive oil when turned. As soon as a piece finally made the rounds in the 3rd tour of the pen traders box (I love being a lumberjock!). I snagged it.

Olive wood from ancient trees grown in the Holy Land is one of the worlds rare and beautiful woods. These aromatic blanks are cut from the prunings of live trees then hand selected for figure and color. Olivewood has long been associated with history and religion in the Holy Land.

This was a dream to turn. So smooth, so easy to turn, no snags, catches or rough grain. This pen barely needed to be sanded, it probably didn’t, but I did anyway just as a matter of course. Hands down one of my favorite woods to turn. The shavings came off in ribbons and smelled like extra virgin olive oil. mmmmm.

The pen was lightly sanded, (not that it needed it) and finished with it’s own oil that dripped off while turning. Kidding, I saved that to put over our pasta. ;)

The pen is really finished with several coats of friction polish. The hardware is platinum and black titanium – the most durable metals you can get for pens in terms of wear and corrosion resistance. This pen will look good for nearly as many years as these ancient trees took to grow.

This is the 26th project in my 30 projects in 30 days challenge

cross posted on Facebook: B C Woodworking
this? and other projects, for sale on Etsy: B C Woodworking

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/