The Beetle-Kill Pen

(Click any pic for a larger image)

I started making wooden pens over 20 years ago and one of my favourites was made from beetle-killed Lodgepole Pine.

In BC, the infamous 'mountain pine beetle' would eventually infect over 18 million hectares of forest-lands.  In the dead trees, the beetles usually left a distinctive greyish-blue stain streaked through the cream-coloured heartwood, in addition to a brown pitch stain.  

This is a section of beetle-killed pine 2X4 from the local Home Depot.  Note the 3 distinct colours.

So I wanted to make a segmented pen, highlighting these colours.  Here it is with a matching case.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One person who looked at this photo, noticed there is an alien hiding in the grain.  Can you see him? 😉