Bull pens> Bridgewater man creates ‘write’ stuff from moose antlers

John Barker has his own form of recycling.

The Bridgewater man takes old deer or moose antlers or logs and creates stylish pens and mechanical pencils out of them.

The moose antler pen is his most popular item (lilac wood is second), which he can’t understand.

“People will buy the antler pen even though the wooden pen is prettier and tougher,” said Barker, 56.

Barker is an upholsterer by trade. He had worked for nine years as a teachers assistant, overseeing the woodworking shop at Central Aroostook High School in Mars Hill. He has also run a portable sawmill.

Barker came into the natural-pen business quite by accident two years ago. His daughter Amanda took a position with the Land Use Regulatory Commission. He wanted to get her a nice desk set for her office, but was taken aback by the prices.

“I was looking at the catalog, and figured, `I can put those things together,”‘ he said. “A decent desk set would have cost a couple hundred dollars, and now I’ve got a few thousand wrapped up in it. So it was a bad deal.”

In addition to pens and pencils, Barker also creates desk sets, ornaments, tops, bookmarks and weed pots, all of which he displays in a wooden case, labeled “John Barker, Artificier,” in his shop. He runs both of his businesses out of the same small outbuilding, so it’s a good thing that creating the pens requires a small space.

Barker’s process starts with raw material. People who know of his business bring in antlers or wood in exchange for a finished pen. He has the wood and antlers drying on racks in upstairs rooms.

On display in another room upstairs are Barker’s handcrafted wooden jigsaw puzzles, a project now on the back burner. All the puzzles have some pieces shaped like the subject matter involved. For example, if the puzzle is about cats, there will be a piece shaped like a cat. Included is his signature piece, a Land Rover.

The main station of Barker’s pen operation is a lathe. On the doors of a white cabinet affixed to a nearby wall, he has diagrammed the dimensions of the various pen kits he uses, as well as a list of available materials.

When Barker finds a chunk of material that he thinks will make an attractive pen, he cuts it down to a block that is about 4 inches long and 1 wide and high. He drills a hole at the center, and glues a small metal tube inside, which will eventually house the pen’s filler. He then turns and shapes it on the lathe, then buffs it to a shiny finish.

The antlers are much more difficult to work with than wood, which is why the moose or deer pens cost about $10 more apiece.

“It’s a hard material, a stinking bunch of stuff,” Barker explained. “I have to cut it with a mask on. It takes longer to turn on the lathe. Also,most of the antler will be porous, so I have to fill in the holes with glue. If I destroy it, I feel worse than I do with a piece of wood.”

Barker will also tackle custom jobs. His most difficult one was when a woman brought in a green maple branch, and wanted a pen made before she left two days later. He managed to make one, and he’s never heard back from the woman about how the pen held up.

The pens are meant to be a business, but they have worked out to be more like a hobby.

“I’m not a salesman, so I lose out there,” Barker said. “I have gone to a few craft fairs, but I need to be getting [more] motivated.”

For more information, call John Barker at 429-9546 or e-mail him at john.barker@ainop.com.