SOLD OUT - thanks all, possibly more in the future
This is an opportunity to own a genuine piece of The Tree.
"The Tree" is arguably the most famous single woodworker-lumber tree in history, and especially prized for acoustic guitars. For those not familiar , please see these links (and google "The Tree Quilted Mahogany")
Olson Guitars PDF writeup
Tale of Two Trees
The Legend of The Tree
Guitar Aficionado article
I'm not doing this as a business by any means. This all started because I intensely wanted one for myself and didn't want to commission anyone to make one for me. - I took up the hobby of pen turning and built out a complete hobby shop for it.
I contacted a very well-known luthier (and AGF member) who had previously supplied me with some pieces of The Tree for another project.
He had a small stash of cutoffs and drops which were perfect for this. We made an arrangement and I started making some pens.
The first set I made were for him and are shown in the pictures below and in the next message. Included in there is a Brazilian Rosewood pen I turned for him as well (sorry that was the last piece of that material I just included it because I thought it was so gorgeous to see).
Anyway, these are hand-turned and every one is unique. I have enough for about a dozen more and figured acoustic guitar aficionados like myself would be interested.
Because each is unique, the profile/shape, figuring and grain will all be different. But from the pics you can see what to expect.
I just sold two used designer pens (a Burberry and a Delta Dolcevita) for hundreds.
Hand-turned pens from hobbyists turning kits like these sell for $30-$60 (and that's normal wood).
I am not pursuing profit on this - it is not a business. I love guitar wood and thought folks here might also. I am only selling them for a price to recoup some costs.
They take about an 2-3 hours to make (most of that is in finishing). The hardware kits average $10 depending how fancy you want to get. The Tree wood is exceedingly rare and so expensive.
So I am selling these for $75 each on AGF. Even at low wage rates of $15/hr I'd just break even with my costs for labor hours, supplies, kits and The Tree wood. I am going to sell any leftovers on eBay under the collector pen section for probably $150 each.
If you would like me to make one of these, please send me a PM or reply to this post. Every one is different but you can put some basic customization (do you like a slender pen or more bulbous grip, chrome, satin or 24K gold plated hardware, etc.)