Phyllostachys aurea "Koi" Bamboo Parker Pen

Description

I love bamboo.
If bamboo strikes a chord with you too, read on.
Bamboo enthralls me with its gracefulness, vitality, wide variety of leaf shapes and patterns, and majestic cane forms and markings.
It is this last feature that led me to make pens and pencils from bamboo.
I noticed that whenever bamboo wood was used in crafted utensils, the maker removed the most beautiful and engaging part of the cane, the epidermis or bark.
The epidermis was part of what drew me to bamboo.
So I decided to try making writing instruments that emphasized that facet of bamboo.
These ballpoint pens and automatic pencils are the unique results of those efforts.
This pen is made from a bamboo cane of
Phyllostachys aurea
"Koi". This is an unusual variant of "Golden Bamboo" that has lighter colored wood and a green stripe in the groove (sulcis).
Sometimes this bamboo forms what is called Buddha Bellies.
This is a difficult section of cane from which to make a pen or pencil, but the results are special and beautiful.
Except for sealant on the shaped areas, the surface of the pen is as it was in nature. The epidermis has been aged but is otherwise untreated. This makes the pencil particularly comfortable to hold and to write with. If you have ever held bamboo in your hand, you know what I mean.
The more you handle it, the more your natural skin oils burnish and improve the wood.
The mechanism is a Penn State Industries' Slimline© pen. It uses readily available Parker Ballpoint refills.