The Pen Pedler

Unfortunately, I neglected to take pics of the piece of apple wood before I turned it. Something that I will try my best to remedy before next time. After spending some time on the internet browsing through many various styles of shoe horns, most of which seemed rather blah and boring. Go ahead and try it check Google’s results for shoehorn images, or Amazon’s. Not very inspirational at all. This was supposed to be an epic shoehorn after all.

So I started thinking about Queen Elizabeth I of England, and her 18 shoe horns. One of the first things that I associate with royalty is the scepter. With that in mind, I started turning the handle of the shoehorn.

The two bumps on the top and the bottom of the handle will be removed. They are there for the lathe to hold on to while turning. After I got the shape that I liked, the handle was sanded starting with 220 grit. Next, it is wet sanded with oil starting with 400 then 600 and finally 800 grit. It is amazing how smooth and buttery it begins to feel.

On the right, you can see how as you oil the wood the natural color and grains of the wood start to really become apparent. The center section has a satin gloss finish to it, and then all the way to the left. You can see the high gloss finish. By the time the finishes are applied the wood does feel like butter. As you hold it is hard to imagine that it really is a piece of wood.

So this started off as just one of those really odd requests, and has turned into something really fun. In discussing the shoehorn a great story of friendship and the random inside jokes that long term friends share emerged and left me with a feeling of excitement and gratitude to be included. This was to be an “epic” shoehorn, and as such I set out to see what I could find for inspiration.

You know what I found, shoehorns can be pretty boring. It’s true, it is basically a thin piece of material that helps you get into a shoe. The Wikipedia page for shoehorns is rather short. Originally the shoehorn was made from the horns, imagine that, or hooves. Later there were some that were made of metal, wood, even paper. So how do you set out to make an “epic” shoehorn?

I started with a local wood, apple. Now, while apple isn’t native to Northern California, there is this wonderful place called Apple Hill. Apple Hill has been a fall and winter season destination for the greater Sacramento area for 50 years. While the peak season for Apple Hill is the from Halloween through Christmas, you can go there all year long and enjoy the great locally grown produce, and scrumptious treats. While visiting there this summer, I was able to procure some seasoned apple wood from the trees that were being replaced, and the journey of the epic shoehorn began with elements of our local culture.