Pete Simmons
06-03-2005, 6:18 PM
Some odd things can be a fine piece of wood. This pen is made from a Protea Pod.
Protea are part of the Banksias family. There are 75 Banksia species, and all but one occur naturally only in Australia. Banksias were named after Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820), who, in 1770, was the first European to collect specimens of these plants. He was the surgeon on Captain Cooks ship and after discovering banksias in Australia he expected to find them in Hawaii but didn't. Ironically, about thirty years ago many varieties of Protea, including Banksias were introduced to Maui. South western Australia contains the greatest diversity of banksias. The Banksia flower heads are made up of hundreds (sometimes thousands) of tiny individual flowers grouped together. The fruits of banksias (called follicles, or pods) are hard and woody and are often grouped together to resemble cones (which they are not, true cones are produced only by conifers). The fruits protect the seeds from foraging animals and from fire. In many species the fruits will not open until they have been burnt or completely dried out. The fruit of the Protea Integrifolia obtained from a friend in California, is what I used to make this pen. Beautiful to look at but very hard to work with. The core center wood of the pod is as hard a wood as any I work with. They also take a lot of filling of the holes ( CA glue and Protesa dust ) so much that at times I think I am a Dentist.
The white veins are not clear in the picture but they almost look like flames you might see on the side of an auto.
http://www.woodpenman.com/images/podgent.jpg
Protea are part of the Banksias family. There are 75 Banksia species, and all but one occur naturally only in Australia. Banksias were named after Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820), who, in 1770, was the first European to collect specimens of these plants. He was the surgeon on Captain Cooks ship and after discovering banksias in Australia he expected to find them in Hawaii but didn't. Ironically, about thirty years ago many varieties of Protea, including Banksias were introduced to Maui. South western Australia contains the greatest diversity of banksias. The Banksia flower heads are made up of hundreds (sometimes thousands) of tiny individual flowers grouped together. The fruits of banksias (called follicles, or pods) are hard and woody and are often grouped together to resemble cones (which they are not, true cones are produced only by conifers). The fruits protect the seeds from foraging animals and from fire. In many species the fruits will not open until they have been burnt or completely dried out. The fruit of the Protea Integrifolia obtained from a friend in California, is what I used to make this pen. Beautiful to look at but very hard to work with. The core center wood of the pod is as hard a wood as any I work with. They also take a lot of filling of the holes ( CA glue and Protesa dust ) so much that at times I think I am a Dentist.
The white veins are not clear in the picture but they almost look like flames you might see on the side of an auto.
http://www.woodpenman.com/images/podgent.jpg