Celtic Knot? Check!

[Live2Dive]

Here is another pen that I can mark off m "bucket list" of pen making. The Celtic Knot. This pen is hand made with Cocobolo wood with Beech wood for the knot. It was a fun pen to make and I have a ton of ideas for other variations.

Click and comment!

 

[Sully]

Very nice job, I want to make one also. I'm looking to get a bigger band saw to make the cuts.

 

[watchman7]

Looks great! Those are fun to make.

 

[StephenM]

Nice job! I'm still failing miserably at it. I thought I had a good one yesterday when the gouge caught and took out a big chunk.

What angle did you set your bandsaw at?

 

[Tage]

Beautiful pen. The knot is perfectly proportioned. Sometimes the inlay material, IMHO, can get too "fat" looking. Yours is perfect. I have made 4 Celtic knot pens. Only the first one came out acceptable (a gift for my son). The next two blew apart (glue failure, switched to epoxy from CA since then). My last attempt a couple of weeks ago didn't blow apart, but the knot isn't symmetrical. It must have slipped on one side when sawing the kerf and I didn't notice until after it was glued up. I was happy to keep it as my user though .

Great work. I really like your photos as well. BTW - tell us about your finish. It looks nice and warm. Is it BLO & CA?

 

[boxerman]

You did a great job on it.

 

[Drstrangefart]

Nice job! I'm still failing miserably at it. I thought I had a good one yesterday when the gouge caught and took out a big chunk.

What angle did you set your bandsaw at?

When I do those, I use thick CA, and I flood the potential gaps with medium CA. And you can keep adding layers of thin CA as you turn, keeping everything intact.

 

[Drstrangefart]

GREAT celtic knot! Looks beautiful, especially on that kit.

 

[IPD_Mr]

If that was your first one, then you are way above the curve.

 

[Live2Dive]

Thanks everyone for the comments. Yes, that is my first celtic knot. I am sure my next dozen will turn out horrible.

To answer a few questions: The angle I set on the band saw was 45 degrees. The finish is 9 coats medium CA, sanded thru 12,000 MM. No plastic polish at all.

When I cut the kerfs, I used thin CA to saturate the cut, and applied medium CA to the beech wood. I spread the blank apart as much as I dared, without it breaking the last bit of wood, to slide the beech wood in. Squeezed it together and got good glue oozing out the edges. A few shots of accelerator and I moved onto the next cut. After all four sides were done, I applied thin CA to each of the visible edges of beech wood. Let the whole thing sit for maybe a half hour and drilled the tube. The whole process (not including the final dry time) took maybe 15 minutes - way shorter than I initially thought it would take.

 

[Powerstroke 7.3]

Wow - that is nice - funny about the bucket list for types of pens to make - I have one too... but it's not a addiction....