Celtic Knot Acrylic Sierra's

[W.Y.]

I finally got some time in my shop this afternoon and made these two right from scratch.
I believe I am catching on how to make these Celtic knots quite a bit faster and with much better accuracy than my earlier ones.
I could show pictures of them from all sides and the knots are equal and symmetrical all around.
I had bought these solid color acrylic blanks some time ago with the idea of using them for this purpose.
A friend sent me some triple layer pick guard material and I wanted to try it out. .
I know some are going to say it has to be wood and I also love wood but in my area acrylics are about equal for sales as wood is. Ones that are not using acrylics as well as wood could very well be missing out on some good sales. .
As long as it is not wild pattern acrylics that distract from the knot I believe these solid color ones will be as well accepted as my wood ones. .
The top wine colored one is a Sierra Vista and the black one is a regular Vista. Both are basically the same kit except for the Vista is a larger diameter which has the ability to show off the knot a little better.

 

[maxman400]

Those look fantastic, I've been wanting to try that I've just haven't had the time.

 

[akbar24601]

Those turned out great! I love the contrast of the pick guard and really like the acrylics.

 

[mrburls]

William, Those are two sharp looking pens. I think the acrylics look great.

Keith "mrburls"

 

[mickr]

acrylics look terrific and the wine colored one is an eyepopper..both are great

 

[Rollerbob]

Very nice knots, William O!:wink:

 

[rjwolfe3]

Very nice!

 

[GregHaugen]

Those are beautiful! I love the contrast and "definition" of the colors. Well Done!

 

[cinder_ladylocket]

Ohhhhh yaddddaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!! I love that purple baby...send to me and I will keep it hahahaha......great work!

 

[ed4copies]

William,

They are gorgeous!!

OF course I speak "from the darkside", but plastics WILL outsell wood, if you give them equal space and you don't let YOUR prejudices come through.

AND plastic is MUCH EASIER to finish.

Give it a chance and you will be making more!!

You're already GOOD at it!

 

[TomW]

Very, very nice!

Tom

 

[Jim15]

Awesome pens.

 

[W.Y.]

Thanks for all the nice comments.

On my own site it was suggested by a member that I could possibly have a market for those blanks for woodworkers that either want just one pen like that for their own personal use or multiples for sale but want to say that they made (assembled) it by putting their own kit on it. Some don't have the tools to make this sort of thing or don't have or don't want to make up the necessary jigs etc.

Any ideas here what a reasonable price would be for blanks like that all ready to put a kit on them ?

Keep in mind that I would not sell a blank in it's square non turned state . It would be turned and polished with tube installed and all ready to push the hardware for a a specific kit on to it because if someone bought a blank and blew it up by improper turning they would feel bad about it and so would I and I would not want to stand behind a warranty for someone's mistake in turning it.

As most of us here know those knots change in appearance as they are rotated.
Here are the same pens with a quarter turn.

 

[Bree]

Reaqlly good looking Sierras Great work with the pickguard material! One of these days I'm going to start doing something with my PG sheets.
:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

 

[jttheclockman]

Thanks for all the nice comments.

On my own site it was suggested by a member that I could possibly have a market for those blanks for woodworkers that either want just one pen like that for their own personal use or multiples for sale but want to say that they made (assembled) it by putting their own kit on it. Some don't have the tools to make this sort of thing or don't have or don't want to make up the necessary jigs etc.

Any ideas here what a reasonable price would be for blanks like that all ready to put a kit on them ?

Keep in mind that I would not sell a blank in it's square non turned state . It would be turned and polished with tube installed and all ready to push the hardware for a a specific kit on to it because if someone bought a blank and blew it up by improper turning they would feel bad about it and so would I and I would not want to stand behind a warranty for someone's mistake in turning it.

quote]


I do not think it would be a good idea to sell the blank already finished. Half the fun is turning it ourselves and finishing it to the kit we want. You install a sierra tube and that can be used on a few different kits. Look at the way Capt G sells his carbon fiber blanks. He too has done all the hard work but left it round and ready for the turner to do the rest. Having a kit turned down and just install the parts is not pen making. The warrenty thing is a matter of your wording. Just a thought.

 

[W.Y.]

Look at the way Capt G sells his carbon fiber blanks. He too has done all the hard work but left it round and ready for the turner to do the rest. Having a kit turned down and just install the parts is not pen making.

Good point.
Turning from square to round is where most problems would occur . From round to finished size and desired profile should not be a problem for anyone with a lathe .

 

[rpearson]

Outstanding job! Both are great. I really like the shading differences and color of the wine one.

 

[W.Y.]

Outstanding job! Both are great. I really like the shading differences and color of the wine one.

Some of that is just photography the way the light shines on it .

I got the jet black blanks and the purple (wine colored ) and a couple dark green ones . I have not tried a green one yet but should look cool .

I asked for darkest color with the least pattern possible so as to not distract from the focal point which is the knot .
The black ones are solid jet black and the others have a very slight amount of pattern to them.

I am keeping the black one in my own pocket for now until someone likes it more than I do

 

[PaulD]

Outstanding job!

 

[cinder_ladylocket]

Well, anytime you just want to do some up and sell them to me not finished, let me know. I don't have the knowledge or the means to create these and I think it would be a nice addition to my collection. Hint Hint

 

[johnnycnc]

William! Those are SUPER!!
My wife loves the purple one.

 

[PenTurnerfromMaine]

very nice looking

 

[Marc]

I really like those pens. The knots look excellent and display well with the solid color acryllics. I think the contrast with the purple is especially striking.

I still have not done acryllic, but the more I see of them, the better I like them.

 

[W.Y.]

I had two black and two maroon and two blue blanks that I had ordered as close to solid colors as possible according to the distributor I ordered them from . The black is jet black so no problem there and as seen at the start of this thread the maroon one was not a solid color and neither is this blue one that I made this afternoon. . I have been trying one each of those blanks . I will be looking on some sites for various colors that are solid with no pattern for some future ones. The maroon and blue don't take away a LOT from the knot but I think solid colors like the black shows off the knot better. . That is probably why I am keeping the black one for myself for now until someone wants it more than I do.
I don't normally time my projects in the shop but this time I did just for an idea of how much time to figure into a whole pen or if I were to sell a few blanks without the hardware on them .
This one took exactly two hours from the raw square blank through to the installation of the hardware. I was not hurrying at all. Just puttering away at my normal speed .
Keep in mind that I have made quite a few Celtic knot pens and it took quite a few to learn enough little tricks and shortcuts to be able to reduce my time to this. I think my first ones took at least 4 hours to make.