Thanks for the compliment! What amazes me when I work with this recon stone is when I find pictures of the actual stone. There really is "Bloody Jasper" stone and it's red with black lines in it!

On another note, this summer should be fun with the lathe! I've purchased more pen blanks than I know what to do with! Some are Honduras Rosewood burl, Desert Ironwood (plain, high contrast, and one piece of burl), red heart burl, a couple Austrailian burl pieces, some Cocobolo burl, and several others! Maybe I should get a respirator for some of these. I've noticed that some types wood's sanding dust bothers my nose more than it used to. I have read that the more people get exposed to certain types of wood dust (namely Cocobolo and other rosewoods), the more likely a person is to develop an allergy to it. I'd rather not spend much time sneezing and blowing my nose every time I make a pen.