Blue Dragon Flames

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omb76

omb76

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Jan 1, 2009
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Cartersville, GA
I fought with this pen for atleast 4 hours today!! First mistake I made was to use too much paint when painting the holes of the blanks and tubes, after drying the tubes wouldn't fit. Had to re-drill the holes to clean out the paint and re-sand the tubes then re-spray. Went to trim the blanks to size after drilling to ensure the tubes were centered, cut on the wrong mark and viola, blank is now too short. :eek: What was that my dad used to say about measuring before cutting..... :confused: Did some sanding and glueing and blank is repaired and the correct length again. Used a barrrel trimmer and pushed the tube out of the blank and had to re-glue. Finally got it on the lathe, turned, sanded, MM and polished and found a chip in one of the flames. Cleaned the dust out of the chip, filled with med CA, sand / polish again and looks great. I think that was it....

The blank is one of Jeff Powell's wonderful creations that I got from Exotics paired with a Platinum Jr. Gent II. I can't believe how cool this pen is! :cool: After all the difficulties I had with it, I still can't wait to get another one! By the way, the problems that I had were entirely my own doing, not because of the blanks.
 

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workinforwood

workinforwood

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Looks awesome! I see the repair (maybe?), it's in the pen right before the final. Being a fountain pen, you could have gotten away with it being an 1/8" shorter...assuming I'm even right about where it got short! I'm glad it all worked out great for you. I like making them, and the versatility they give you where you have several possible kit choices that you can use the blank for. It never was necessary to paint the inside of the blank. Next time just spray paint the tubes, let them dry for a good 24 hrs so the paint is hardened up and then 5 min epoxy them in. Every blank batch is different, some are more transparent than others, but rarely are any of them so transparent that the inside of the blank need painted. I try to keep my blanks right on the edge of solid colors, so you can see into them still, but not too much into them..which means the painted tubes more accent the colors than anything else in most cases. If there is a more transparent spot..the painted tube is insurance that you can't see through...so keep painting those tubes..but don't worry about being too extreme about it.
 
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JohnU

JohnU

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Jan 31, 2008
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Ottawa, Illinois
Wow, I really like that pen! You can't go wrong with Jeff's blanks. I've made some for friends and family with great reception. They really stand out. The colors in this pen just scream "look at me!". Beautiful work, both of you.
 
omb76

omb76

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Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Messages
711
Location
Cartersville, GA
workinforwood said:
Looks awesome! I see the repair (maybe?), it's in the pen right before the final. Being a fountain pen, you could have gotten away with it being an 1/8" shorter...assuming I'm even right about where it got short! I'm glad it all worked out great for you. I like making them, and the versatility they give you where you have several possible kit choices that you can use the blank for. It never was necessary to paint the inside of the blank. Next time just spray paint the tubes, let them dry for a good 24 hrs so the paint is hardened up and then 5 min epoxy them in. Every blank batch is different, some are more transparent than others, but rarely are any of them so transparent that the inside of the blank need painted. I try to keep my blanks right on the edge of solid colors, so you can see into them still, but not too much into them..which means the painted tubes more accent the colors than anything else in most cases. If there is a more transparent spot..the painted tube is insurance that you can't see through...so keep painting those tubes..but don't worry about being too extreme about it.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jeff! Of course you would notice the spot being the creator of the blank. :) I was trying so hard to not mess this up because I knew the potential it had. Did all the measuring etc that was recommended. I figure I added additional character by segmenting the blank as well! :biggrin: It's really hard to see even in person. I'm never sure about which blanks should be painted so I usually just default to painting them figuring I'll be better safe than sorry. I'll remember your advice for my next set.
 
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