Cholla cactus pen

The cholla cactus pen is one of the more complex pens that we make.

The cholla cactus (pronounced "chol-ya") grows out west and is green and lush when alive, covered in prickly needles. But, when it dies and bakes in the hot desert sun, the green foliage disappears and the skeletal remains of the cactus turn hard and dry.

We purchase cholla cactus from a supplier in Arizona. We cut the pieces into lengths suitable for pens and infuse them with various colored acrylics under pressure. Once cured, the blanks turn into amazing pens, both slimlines as well as bullet pens.

This is what a mature cholla cactus plant looks like:

This is what it looks like after baking in the Arizona sun:

And this piece has been infused with red acrylic and turned into a bullet pen tailpiece (the hardware has not yet been installed):

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