Merrimack resident Craig Lapiana, an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, does some amazing work crafting writing pens out of pine cones.

Offer him the brittle skeleton of an old cactus plant or a piece of Brazilian rosewood and he’ll do the same. Designing and crafting hand-turned pens from blanks of exotic wood, stone, mokume metal, corncobs or pine cones is a hobby – and a business. The pastime is one he adopted upon returning home from an overseas deployment in 2005.

Lapiana enlisted in the Army upon graduating from Nashua High in 1985. He retired from the military after a 20-year hitch. Upon his return from active duty in West Germany, he joined the National Guard. Late in his Army career he became the unit commander among the 54 men and women of the National Guard’s 210th Engineer Detachment, which in 2004 was mobilized for active duty in Afghanistan.

Rocket attacks were commonplace during his tour and one of his unit’s primary missions was to wire off areas infested with explosive mines. The task frequently required going into areas that were not cleared. The 210th had skills related to carpentry, plumbing and electrical work.

Road maintenance, construction and engineering support at Bagram Air Force Base were ongoing tasks until Lapiana’s return home. His unit also helped rebuild destroyed schools.

Nowadays, in addition to pursuing his passion for woodworking, he manages a software development group for IBM.

Woodworking commenced at a brisk pace when he returned to civilian life. He said he originally intended merely to sharpen his skills, but the activity grew into a steady diversion. Wood lathes, chisels, routers and other tools multiplied in number and festooned a spacious work shop, behind the garage.

Soon, he realized he found enjoyment in the act of making something useful and beautiful from scratch. He said there was a satisfying feeling of creativity in seeing a pen, or a kitchen utensil or a piece of furniture, made start to finish.

“The process is a blend of knowing what to do with what you have,” Lapiana said. “There is an element of suspense in selecting the perfect piece of wood, spinning it on a lathe, adding the components and winding up with a unique finished product.”

The pen styles he constructs are universally recognized. A customer may request a “cigar” pen or a “junior gentleman” or a “slim-line” or a “click” pen. Components usually include an end cap and nib of a ball point, roller ball or fountain pen. If the pen is made of two parts – the “upper barrel” and the lower barrel – the sections are divided by a center band and/or coupler. Each metal component is plated with a range of materials including 24k gold, titanium gold, chrome and the most expensive, rhodium-platinum.

“Woodworking was a healthy way to get back into civilian mode after returning from the war,” Lapiana said. “I make the pens and I also make kitchen utensils and craft tools with turned handles that are really comfortable to hold. My wife and my mom are craft people, too. But we each have our own gift which is truly a blessing.”

His wife, Tracylyn, and his mom, Mary Lapiana, who also lives in Merrimack, have their specialties. Tracylyn uses vintage buttons to create one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry. His mom is adept at making jeweled clasps for neck scarves. Lapiana’s two teens from a previous marriage, Anthony, 14, and Victoria, 16, may climb aboard the creative bandwagon, some day.

The three versatile Lapianas participated in a recent Merrimack High School crafts fair. Each of them exhibited their handcrafted best and between them presented more than 100 items. Lapiana was the only craftsman with pens.

“You find a nice, long, straight, pine cone,” Lapiana said. “You don’t want one that’s bent because the next step is to grind away everything except the center rib, the backbone. That’s the section I use to make the body of the pen.”

He donned a pair of protective glasses fitted with lenses made of shatterproof plastic and flipped a switch that activated a grinding machine on his work bench. Sparks flew as he laid the edge of a steel chisel against the grinder’s spinning stone. It only took seconds to renew the chisel to razor sharpness. Lapiana was ready to work.

“Life is short,” Lapiana said. “I always thought I might try woodworking when I got older but I found myself wondering during my deployment, ‘Why wait until I turn 60? Why not start refining my skills, now, using the talents God has given me?’”

Examples of Lapiana’s work can be seen online at www.OliveWoodStudios.com or by visiting www.ChefwareKits.com.