Another Simple Segmented pen

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jttheclockman

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The back has been feeling better these past few days so I decided to get back in the shop and completed one of my projects I had on the work bench. I will add this to my series of black and aluminum pens. Have shown those here before.

This pen is a Sierra Vista chrome kit with black acrylic and aluminum knot. Spun and polished to a nice shine. Thanks for looking and any comments or questions are always welcomed.

Will be working on a few more designs for this series.
 

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skiprat

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'Another simple segmented pen'?? :wink: Yeah right !!!

JT, As you well know, there is a lot of effort and skill in making something look simple!!:wink:
Starting with a perfectly squared or perhaps perfectly round blank, selecting the best angle for the cut, matching the material with the kerf, re-squaring the blank (or rounding ), cutting the black to get the cross centered, drilling the blank accurately down the middle and without generating too much heat to wreck the glue and then turning it down to virtually B2B pucker zone so it doesn't look like a pregnant salami, .............simple??? Hardly!!!:cool:

You still got it old man!!! :biggrin:
 

skiprat

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Very very neat, I like the chunky aluminium. How did you stop the drill wandering when it hits the metal?

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Derek, if the blank is made accurately like John has done, then the four pieces of aluminium form a funnel that keeps the drill centered as the drill contacts all 4 at the same time. :wink:
 

DJBPenmaker

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Very very neat, I like the chunky aluminium. How did you stop the drill wandering when it hits the metal?

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Derek, if the blank is made accurately like John has done, then the four pieces of aluminium form a funnel that keeps the drill centered as the drill contacts all 4 at the same time. :wink:
I see, thank you. Going to try that. Should be fun. I've done similar in wood, but thought that a decent thickness of aluminium might be a problem.

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OZturner

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Glorious Pen, John T.
Superb Celtic Cross, In a Fantastic Black Acrylic Blank.
The Combination of the Aluminium, against the Black Is Perfect.
I love the thin Black Line where the Aluminium Section Cross,
Did you also Dye your Adhesive Black? Great Effect.
Magnificent Fit and Outstanding Finish, all Assembled, on the Ideal Chrome Sierra Vista Pen.
Congratulations,
Brian.
 

jttheclockman

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'Another simple segmented pen'?? :wink: Yeah right !!!

JT, As you well know, there is a lot of effort and skill in making something look simple!!:wink:
Starting with a perfectly squared or perhaps perfectly round blank, selecting the best angle for the cut, matching the material with the kerf, re-squaring the blank (or rounding ), cutting the black to get the cross centered, drilling the blank accurately down the middle and without generating too much heat to wreck the glue and then turning it down to virtually B2B pucker zone so it doesn't look like a pregnant salami, .............simple??? Hardly!!!:cool:

You still got it old man!!! :biggrin:


Boy Skip you made that sound hard. I guess I was lucky. Thank you for explaining to Derek about drilling and you are very correct.

Glorious Pen, John T.
Superb Celtic Cross, In a Fantastic Black Acrylic Blank.
The Combination of the Aluminium, against the Black Is Perfect.
I love the thin Black Line where the Aluminium Section Cross,
Did you also Dye your Adhesive Black? Great Effect.
Magnificent Fit and Outstanding Finish, all Assembled, on the Ideal Chrome Sierra Vista Pen.
Congratulations,
Brian.


Thank you Brian. I have to say you and a few others are very very in tuned. I did use some black paint in the epoxy just in case the glue line did show some. It was a tight fit but you can not make them too tight because you do need to allow for glue or else the joint will get starved and fail. The thing though with dyed or colored epoxy when it gets thinned it is transparent to a point. I am dealing with this on another blank that I have on the bench to try. I failed with this one twice before because I am casting the blank. Hopefully third time is a winner. Remains to be seen.

VERY GOOD! You DO make pens! :biggrin:


Thank you Hank. Yes I do still turn a pen or two. Have a few more ideas to hope get done.
 

TonyL

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Beautiful finish - I find black the least forgiving. Do you mind sharing your finishing/polishing process? Thanks either way - very nice work!
 

jttheclockman

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Beautiful finish - I find black the least forgiving. Do you mind sharing your finishing/polishing process? Thanks either way - very nice work!

Tony I basically do the same polishing technique I use with all my pens, wood (with a CA finish) and acrylic. I had to do do a bit more sanding with this blank because I could not get the skew to corporate properly. I believe it was because the change from hard material to softer material in the acrylic was causing grabbing. So I started with 600 grit wet paper (automotive paper) and took up to 2000 and then switched to MM Then I polish out with my Micro Finish pre wax and wax. I have shown those before here. I have been using that product ever since I started making pens and have not changed. On rare occasions I will take it to the buffer.

Have to say I am not that particular with loops looking for micro scratches when it comes to my finishes. I feel if it is good enough for these blind eyes it is good enough:biggrin:




Very, very nice John.....what was the thin material you used as a "shadow"


The thin aluminum is 1/16" aluminum. This it just right with the tablesaw blade I was using. It left just enough room for the epoxy to bind. I use System III T88 epoxy on all my segmenting blanks. I really did not feel pressured when turning this. I felt very confident drilling and turning. I did knock off the corner before turning. I used a round carbide cutter to do most of the cutting and switched to my skew to get as close to final dimensions. Then finished it off with the sandpaper as mentioned above. With these kits I try to leave just enough of a bulge to conform to the kit shape because it is wider on the top than the nib. I did mix some black testors paint in the epoxy just in case there were any slight gaps. There were none but the colored epoxy did help in disguising the joints sort of.

Hope that answered the questions.
 

TonyL

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Tony I basically do the same polishing technique I use with all my pens, wood (with a CA finish) and acrylic. I had to do do a bit more sanding with this blank because I
could not get the skew to corporate properly. I believe it was because the
change from hard material to softer material in the acrylic was causing
grabbing. So I started with 600 grit wet paper (automotive paper) and took up to
2000 and then switched to MM Then I polish out with my Micro Finish pre wax and
wax. I have shown those before here. I have been using that product ever since I
started making pens and have not changed. On rare occasions I will take it to
the buffer.

Thank you John....beautifully designed and finished.
 

jttheclockman

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Looks nice on the front page! :biggrin:



th



Talk about a surprise. Thank goodness I was sitting down:) After 12 years of being a member I finally can join the ranks of the famous. I for the very first time get to feel what it is like to have one of my pens front page worthy. Thank you Jeff. I feel honored. I can now cross one more thing off my bucket list:) This is a WOW moment. Feels good.
 

JohnU

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Very elegant looking. Everything about that pen - material, color, parts, and craftsmanship-really compliments each other. A fine work of art. Congrats on the front page!
 

jttheclockman

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Very nice. If everything goes according to plan, I will learn to do a celtic knot pen this weekend at the Chicago chapter of penturners meeting this Saturday.


Bob,they are easy to do once you get the basics down. Key factors are match the inlay material with the size kerf your saw blade cuts. Use strong glue, I like epoxy. And keep alignment exact. I like to use a perfect square blank to start with. Just takes out some of the wonking things that can happen when gluing. Also most knots you can get away with not cutting all the way through the blank, thus allowing for easier alignment when gluing in inlay. There are types of knots that you must cut all the way through and i will be showing a couple in the near future. Good luck.
 

jttheclockman

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Wow my one and only front page pen got another like. Did not think anyone looks at that any more thanks iamrohn
 
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