Jim Gollnick smiles as he works on custom wood pens at his home shop in Ceres, Calif. For more than a decade, Gollnick has been sending a handcrafted piece of home to troops overseas.

MODESTO, Calif. — For more than a decade, Ceres, Calif., resident Jim Gollnick has been sending a handcrafted piece of home to troops serving overseas.

Gollnick, 70, creates elegant pens made of pink ivory wood, tulipwood, walnut, cherry and other woods. He’s even made pens out of old .50-caliber machine gun casings.

The hobby started as a favor to a friend who collected pens and always wanted to learn to make them. A retired machinist, Gollnick got the tools and materials needed to teach his friend the craft.

“I kind of got suckered in from there,” he said.

Gollnick has made more than 2,000 pens for military personnel and veterans and hundreds more for friends and family.

He likes giving pens to the troops because it is “something small that they can carry in their pocket that fits in their uniform.”

QUESTION: How do your pens get to military members?

ANSWER: I have a network of chaplains and some military people who make good use of the pens.

One that comes to mind is a chaplain, now in Afghanistan, who goes to the outposts to minister and seeks out the soldiers there that do not have contact with home.

There are many who do not have family. They get first pick of my pens. Our son-in-law is currently serving in Afghanistan and also passes them out. It’s good for morale.

I make Purple Heart wood pens — usually reserved for recipients of the Purple Heart — with a center strip of the Purple Heart wood and a strip of rosewood on each side.

QUESTION: How do you get inspiration for each pen?

ANSWER: A pen needs to be functional, and that limits the creativity one can use. It’s not like making Christmas tree ornaments for decoration. I have a “signature” item on most of the pens for the troops. I put in a small red, white, blue stripe band in the pen.

QUESTION: What kind of feedback do you get from the people who receive your pens?

ANSWER: I have a collection of letters and e-mails from happy pen recipients. Several Medal of Honor recipients have my pens. I’ve had about 75 responses.

I also hear from those handing them out how much they are appreciated.

Jim Gollnick takes a close look at one of his olive wood pens under construction at his home shop in Ceres, California. For more than a decade, Gollnick has been sending a handcrafted piece of home to troops serving overseas. (Elias Funez/Modesto Bee/MCT)