A good looking pen with a superb finish Peter, the wood has a very close resemblance to
Mesquite Burr ..
Jim, I have never seen Mesquite timber in Australia. One of the living experts using Mesquite timber is Curtis Seebeck who has used this tree milled by him on his property to built an out of the world beautiful house for himself on his land. I will ask my legend treefeller soon (I expect to see him visiting me with timber) who knows more about Aussie trees than anyone I have met.
I have heard of a likeness to Tasmanian Blackwood. This tree is easily identified by the shimmer it creates when finished as a silk tie ,a certain chatoyance.
Peter.