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Maple Slimline Desk Pen with Custom Engraving Area
Shown in natural maple with Slimline ball-point pen w/ gold/brass trim.

This desk pen was made from domestic maple hardwood and has several coats of a clear durable wipe-on polyurethane finish applied. The base was cut from a larger piece of stock using a method called "Picture Framing". Picture framing allows you to be selective in picking out just the right areas of the woods grain and use it as an effective feature. The result here creates an attractive cathedral effect in the wood-grain behind the engraving. To see how Picture Framing works, check out the technique at JEB's WOODs.com.

Optional materials... This desk pen is just shown as an example. It can be ordered in your choice of domestic or exotic woods or in a variety of acrylics. Email me for details on the available materials.

Pen Styles... As with most of my other products, this Desk Pen is fully customizable, so if it's not quite what you're looking for, it can be tailored to suit your needs. You can change the size of the base, or order it with a different or multiple pen options (ballpoint, roller-ball or fountain).

Custom Engraving... I created the shape of this Desk Pen base in order to have a nice large area for a custom engraving. It has a 2 1/2" wide x 1 1/2" high area that can be use for your name or business, or someone else's if you intend to give it as a gift.

Type of engraving... If you're not familiar with engraving, most of it these days is done via a from computer aided lasers. These have several advantages-- one they are very precise, and two, you can engrave on a variety of materials. So on desk pens, instead of the old style bases that had to have a brass plate to engrave onto, now you can engrave directly onto the base material. And besides the benefit of the laser being very precise, and can be applied to a variety of materials, because they are run from a computer, it allows you to use ANY design you can create and/or scan into a computer. Here I added my own logo as an example. If you have something in mind but need help creating it, I can help you put it together.

Color or not to color... The laser does the engraving with a very directed stream of light that is very hot, and the result you get depends on the media you choose. On wood, like this maple, you get a burned effect, so on most light to medium colored woods you can get a nice contrast between the engraving and the various colors of the natural woods. Then you just need a few coats of a clear wipe-on polyurethane to help further enhance the contrast of the wood, wood grain, and engraving.

If you choose to use acrylic, rather than having the dark burned void, the laser will simply leave a void, so with most acrylics it's usually a good idea to use what's called a "colorfill" to add contrast to the engraving. There are a variety of specific "colorfills" made specifically for this purpose, but standard paint can also be used, so your choice of colors is nearly limitless.

Click each photo for larger views.

Pen Specifications:
Material:
Maple with clear finish.
Length: 6.50".
Diameter: .36".
Style: Twist Ball-point.
Refill type: Cross.
Base Specifications:
Material:
Maple with clear finish.
Size: 3 " w x 5 " d x 3/4" thick.
Engrave area: 2 1/2" x 1 1/2".
Funnel: .53" dia. x 3.25" long.
Swivel: solid brass.