Black TN Baron

[Old Griz]

Here for your critiques is a Black TN Baron made from Black/Silver Marble Lucite material that is used to make pipe stems... got it from the same place that Tony bought his... I also got tortoise, burgundy, tan/white and a rod of cumberland ebonite...
As soon as I get some much needed stuff done for my May/June crafting booth I will start to play with some of those...
This stuff turns real nice.. it comes in 18" lengths and is about 7/8x1".. polishes real sweet too.... used MM to 12000 wet then Hut Plastic Polish and Ren Wax...
For some reason the picture came out more blue looking.. might be a result of the flash.. was too lazy to set up the photo booth for just this one... Picture shows both sides of the pen... it is a shame that the chatoyance can not be seen in a photograph, this material shimmers even nicer than some of the acrylics I have turned..

 

[Tom McMillan]

Wow, that's nice Tom!!! Costwise---how does it compare to the acrylic blanks from suppliers??

 

[dougle40]

Beautiful Tom . Where do you get that stuff ??

 

[Old Griz]

Here is where I got the lucite... the cost was $9.00 for a 7/8x7/8x18" rod... some colors are a little more and the cumberland rod is $20 for a 3/4x3/4x20" rod... I ordered on Monday and it was in MD on Thurs, can't beat the service...
http://www.pipemakers.org/rods01.html ... the pics of the rods do not do them justice.. go here to get a real good idea of what they look like turned.. http://www.pipemakers.org/lucite_colors.htm
For the Baron and the Jr Gent you only need 4" if you are careful, so I figure I can get 4 blanks out of one rod... at $9/rod that comes to $2.25/blank... not a bad price and some colors we don't see in acrylics..

 

[JimGo]

Tom,
They look really cool!

Will you be using your May/June crafting booth to show off your wares in the DC/Balt area?

 

[Old Griz]

My May/June booth is in Hagerstown, MD at the local indoor farm market... it is only open from 6AM-Noon on Saturday... but over Nov-Dec I could not keep my higher price ($50+) pens in stock.. was wonderful... I averaged over $250/day and more near the end as Christmas came closer...
If you are in the area Jim, please come visit... I don't think it is all that far from you..

 

[WoodChucker]

Great looking pen, Tom! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Vincent]

Wow, that's really nice. The colours of the lucite go really well with the TN Baron.

 

[Tropical]

Great looking pen. I really like the blackness. I bet it is awesome looking in one's hand!

 

[Fleabit]

good job

 

[Deere41h]

Tom....Those are really nice. I can see why you can't keep your better pens in stock. Those have to be hot sellers.

 

[PenWorks]

You got that stuff quick and turned it quicker! Good choice, really looks good. So how does it feel in your mouth. LOL You should turn a small briar wood bowl, you can screw on the end and double as a pipe. I called for some more black ebonite,and they are out for a couple months. Good job Tom.

Anthony

 

[Gary]

Wow...those look great, Tom!

 

[Gregory Huey]

Tom
What a outstanding pen. Great job as always. By the way where in MD are you from? I live up in Fallston (Bel Air).

 

[pipemaker]

Anthony,

The black ebonite is far from the ideal material for pen making.
Although it turns nicely and polishes to a high gloss, it is notorious for oxidation, and is really a high maintenance material.

It is basically hard rubber and carbon combined under heat and pressure. UV and almost any light source, moisture, perspiration, and anything even mildly acidic will cause oxidation (bloom) to appear on the surface, sometimes in a surprisingly short amount of time.

The reason pipemakers favor it for stems is it's soft mouth feel, resiliency, and ability to be easily shaped.

Most pipe smokers who favor this type of stem are willing to put up with the frequent buffing and waxing this material requires.

The Cumberland ebonite, on the other hand shows virually no evidence of oxidizing, and I have some examples that are over 50 years old that look as good as new.

Hope this helps.

 

[DCBluesman]

Mike--Don Ward (it's_virgil) is trying some TSW on ebonite to see if it reduces the oxidation. Hopefully he'll see this post and give us an update.

 

[pipemaker]

Lou,

If it works, he can make a killing refurbushing pipe stems.