# Prehistoric Pen



## kulte

Hello:

I've been lurking for a while and doing some reading through various sections of the forum.  I have a question about having a pen made and given the materials I thought it would be best to post here, but if this post should go to "Individual Classifieds" then please Mods move it there.

I am interested in a having a "prehistoric pen" made from some sort of fossilized material.  I've read here that folks can make pens out of mammoth ivory and that may be what I end up with, but I would like to explore other materials.  Please excuse the fact that I have no idea how to turn a pen, what can and what can't be done, etc. so my questions may be rudimentary.

Can pens be made with the orthoceras or crinoid marble?  What about amber with insect inclusions?  If none of that can work, how about a resin with trilobites, microfossils, or the like inside?

Also, would fossilized material make a pen too heavy to be comfortable or practical? 

I'd love suggestions.

Thanks!

--D


----------



## ctubbs

I have some blanks coming from Exotic Blanks with a bit of history.  The wood comes form trees that were burried 50,000 years or so ago.  They are the Ancient Kauri from Newzeland I believe.  You can probably find a local turner to build one of these to your specs.
Charles


----------



## USAFVET98

Pm sent


----------



## 1080Wayne

Can take a theoretical crack at your questions , but have no practical experience on those materials .

The easiest materials are the woods which have been preserved for thousands of years under various conditions . They range from Irish or other European bog oak or yew , generally dated between 1500 - 5000 years , fir buried by mud the last time Mt Olympia blew it`s stack about 4000 years ago , bog white oak and hickory from WV supposed to be about 14000 years old , the kauri mentioned above , and of course the petrified or agatized woods of 80-90 million years ago . All but the last are easily turnable on a wood lathe . I imagine the petrified stuff has also been done , but would  require diamond tooling , have a very high failure rate (I have sawn and tumbled it) and a very high price . The marbles I suspect would require treatment similar to the petrified wood , but probably would be less apt to have cleavage planes because there wouldn`t be a pore structure . It might be possible to get by with carbide tooling .

Most of the weight of a pen is in the metal components . The weight of wood of say 0.5 sp gr in most pens will range from 1.5 to perhaps 5 gms with the overall weight of those pens ranging from about 20 - 65 gms . Going to a rock with a sp gr of 3 (I haven`t checked marble or petrified wood) would add 7.5-25 gms to the pen weights . 

Some people don`t like the weight of anything more than a basic slimline , others prefer a larger , heavier pen . The overall balance of most pens shouldn`t change too much with a denser material .

Hope this helps a bit .  

If I had a chunk of amber large enough for a pen , I for sure wouldn`t make a pen from it !

Casting of microfossils should be possible , but remember that the thickness of wood on most pens may be only 40-80 thou , which doesn`t leave a lot of room for a 3D object . One of the members here has been reducing his scorpion population by converting it into pens , so it can be done . Significant levels of microfossils would be best done with carbide tooling .


----------



## hewunch

Here is a pen I made from Mammoth Ivory. I purchased the Ivory while in Alaska earlier this year. It is for sale and I would be happy to talk with you about it if you like.


----------



## titan2

Gee, a 450 million year old orthocera would be something.....

I have a few that I bought a while back for just the same thing....the way they are brough up and then cut/shaped and polished, would make it a bit of a challenge.  With the specimens that I have I'm looking at making them a stick pen......now, if I can find the right one, I might go a bit further but that's down the road aways!

Good luck.


Barney


----------



## Chasper

Both materials can be machined, I have a bowl turned from orthoceras, the black shale variety that comes from Morocco. and I've made knife handles out of crinods in limestone, local material from the Cincinnati Arch.

The problem is that a lapidary lathe operates a little differently that the wood and metal lathes that most of us use.  They use grinders to remove material and they cool the work with circulating water.  I've wanted to do things like you are describing for years but haven't been able to justify an expensive lapidary lathe.

Amber would probably turn just fine on a wood lathe, it is very difficult to sand and polish, it turns gummy with the slightest heat but it could probably be done.  Micro fossils or even very small trilobites could be embedded, I've got a match box full of tiny fossilized sharks teeth I plan to embed with I get a chance.

I think the answer to your request is, "yes, it can be done," but I don't personally have the tools to do it.


----------



## spnemo

I am currently trying to work out a process and tooling for making a petosky stone pen.  I just need to come up with a way to drill it without cracking the stone.


----------



## Sylvanite

spnemo said:


> I am currently trying to work out a process and tooling for making a petosky stone pen.  I just need to come up with a way to drill it without cracking the stone.


Check out Petoskey Stone Pen.  If memory serves, Petoskey Stone is around 350 million years old.

Regards,
Eric


----------



## kulte

Thanks for all the responses!  Very educational.

To summarize, it seems that turning a pen from anything petrified is not a trivial task, so I may have to think about mammoth instead.  I did get a few folks who PM'd me with some beautiful work that I'll be looking into shortly.   

I really appreciate the time everybody took to explain the complexities to newbie. Forums like this are a pleasure to participate in. Best wishes for the holidays!

--d


----------



## Russianwolf

warning on the ivory..... I have a lovely Mammoth Ivory Aero Ballpoint. It now has an equally unlovely crack running nearly the entire length. It's one of those materials.

The oldest workable prehistoric material is Ancient Kauri. Mammoth Ivory and the WV bog woods are next in my knowledge base and the Irish Bog woods are third in terms of age. 35-50k for the Kauri, about 10k for the ivory and WV wood, and 5-7k for the Irish/UK bog woods.


----------



## Mickey

I'll second Russianwolf. I completed a high end Emperor pen out of mammoth ivory with a  Limited Edition FP kit from CUSA and it looked fantastic. It has now been about a year and it has only recently cracked in three places (major cracks) on the cap end and one crack on the barrel. Ruined! I have close to $300 invested in it. I'm trying to decide if I should disassemble and remake with a different material or just keep it the way it is.


----------



## hewunch

Russianwolf said:


> The oldest workable prehistoric material is Ancient Kauri.



There is ancient cypress too. Same time frame as Kauri.


----------



## pianomanpj

Just as a possible design idea... 

How about a closed-end pen made from one of the ancient woods, but have a hole drilled through near the finial end and have a piece of amber cast into it. Would look lovely held up to the light! (I can't do this as I have no pressure pot. :frown

Just my two cents! :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:


----------



## Tanner

I did a couple mammoth Ivory pens for a Friend a couple years ago for having the Super Bowl party at his house.  He is a Paleontologist.  The pens are doing just fine.  He says he wipes them down with mineral oil a couple of times per year.  He said neets foot would also work.  Here is one of the pens.


----------



## jskeen

I could swear I saw somebody post a pen done from bristlecone pine a while back.  The oldest LIVING organism on earth.  Can't remember the timeframe but it's freakin old.  Might be a possibility.  



Mickey said:


> I'll second Russianwolf. I completed a high end Emperor pen out of mammoth ivory with a  Limited Edition FP kit from CUSA and it looked fantastic. It has now been about a year and it has only recently cracked in three places (major cracks) on the cap end and one crack on the barrel. Ruined! I have close to $300 invested in it. I'm trying to decide if I should disassemble and remake with a different material or just keep it the way it is.



I would disassemble the kit and seal the cracks with some powdered sugar and thin CA, then sand down and refinish.  That material cracks, there's no workmanship issue with that fact.  As long as the tube don't show through and the finish is smooth, I wouldn't even consider it damaged, just normal wear and tear, carefully repaired.  If you are going to throw them away, by all means throw them my way!


----------



## Dai Sensei

here is one I turned from Coral, but the methodology is the same for any rock material


----------



## Lulanrt

I have WV bog woods if you need some.


----------



## kismetturner

*mammoth Pen*

Is there anyone that could help me with making a mammoth tooth pen. This will be my first time any help will be greatly appreciated.


----------



## firewhatfire

I currently have one made from Oosic that I made last year.


----------



## firewhatfire

Carbide drill bits and turning tools.  Don't get the material hot or it will crack or shatter.  Wrap tooth piece in gauze and drizzle with thin CA to assist in keeping the material together.   Drill 1/8-1/4 inches only before letting it cool completely. Step drill also.  Start small drill bit and work up to size.   Turning is the same process, jot material crack or shatters.



kismetturner said:


> Is there anyone that could help me with making a mammoth tooth pen. This will be my first time any help will be greatly appreciated.


----------



## jalbert

Here is a pen I made using bog oak, bronze, and dinosaur bone. It was a gift for my brother and was intended to have an ancient theme. Sorry the pictures aren't the best. I never took pics of it, and I had my brother send me some quick ones.
This was the first time I had ever used fossilized material, so I wasn't quite sure how to work it. I found that using a diamond cut off wheel in a dremel tool while the dinosaur bone was spinning in the lathe was the easiest way for me to shape the cabochons that I set into the finials. Dust collection is a must, as the dinosaur bone sent off some quite nasty dust. I had a shop vac hose set up right behind the spinning work piece so make sure the dust didn't find its way into my lungs. I hope this helps anyone who is curious about using fossilized materials!

-John


----------

