We sell lots of pen blanks to pen makers.
I often get asked by customers, do I cut the blanks I sell.
We get some cut by specialist cutters who chase particular species of timber, like burls from the semi arid regions of Australia.
I also cut lots of blanks myself, especially the Tasmanian and NSW species.
I go around buying scraps or offcuts from timber cutters who specialise in highly figured timbers. Offcuts from veneer flitches, or musical instruments makes wonderful pen blanks.
I get them in short length of about 600mm to 1200mm long, as you can see from the photos, these offcuts use to end up in the firewood pile.
I then cut them into strips of 20mm x 20mm, then down to pen blank lengths.
In these photos, the species are Tasmanian Blackwood (offcuts from someone cutting guitar backs and sides) and Birds eye Huon Pine and Tiger Myrtle (offcuts from the veneer flitch).
