got the pens ordered, they will take from 2 to 3 weeks to get here. china's a long way off. go to ebay and do a search for snakewood, find a seller named ' victorioussales '. the wood he is selling is very old and dry, you will have to buy some of the larger pieces and cut around the cracks, or if they are small fill with sg. look close at the photos and thet will help you spot the pieces with the larger cracks. as with any with snakewood its a crap shoot. good luck. later chuck