Thoughtfully Sourcing Materials

In honor of Earth day, we wanted to share a little bit into how we source our materials. 

Each pen made by Roots & Jones tells a unique story with multiple layers. I originally penned this article with a writing instrument I handcrafted from bamboo. You might think that's cool, but there’s more to the story. The bamboo came from material leftover when we laid flooring in our family lake house. The wood was simply cutoff scrap, fuel for some future bonfire. Instead, I got an opportunity to make something new and functional out of it, so every time I use that pen I remember the satisfaction of laying new floors and spending time with my family. 

One of our greatest pleasures in the whole pen making process comes when we turn what others consider scrap into upcycled functional objects of beauty. To make a pen all you need is a small block of wood no bigger than three quarters of an inch wide and 5 inches long.  Essentially, your wooden kitchen table could make about 500 of these pen blanks. We source blanks from various industries such as furniture makers and hardwood flooring manufacturers.

Some of our more unusual pens come from leftover charred white oak bourbon barrel staves. A bourbon barrel does more than just serve as a liquid container for up to 12 years. The charred oak gives bourbon both color and flavor. We live and work right on the historic Bourbon Trail, where the limestone branch water flows and multi-billion dollar companies distill some of the world’s most sought-after whiskey.  In Kentucky, there are more barrels aging in warehouses than there are people. We’ll do our best to take care of the barrel surplus. But since one barrel can yield as many as 700 pens, we could make everyone in the world a bourbon barrel pen and never put a dent in the leftover barrels they keep rolling out.

The most beautiful pens we make come from exotic woods. No disrespect to the forests of the US, but if you look deep into the woods of Asia, Africa, and Central/South America, you will see unique hardwood color, grain and depth of astonishing beauty.  One of my personal favorite experiences has been traveling to some of these places to find wood to bring it back – specifically from Brazil. My wife is from Brazil and thanks to her we have discovered a local lumber yard where we can pick up their scrap. The workers there must think this American is out of his mind, sifting through their trash. Most of what I find they give me for free. Obrigado!

We could write a book about all of the wood varieties we use and the stories behind each one. We’ll save that for another time. Meanwhile, just remember, every Roots & Jones pen comes to you as an upcycled individual creation – each with its own story – and worthy of the best stories you can write.

Ryan Jones

Roots & Jones Co-Founder