Customized Baron

[budnder]

I was originally thinking I'd do a Sedona with this, but the cap trim ring on the Sedona just seemed to clash with the pattern of the cholla. I had some extra red Alumilite that I had dumped into a tube when I cast the cholla... So I switched to a Baron and tried to do something just a bit more rounded on the top of the cap to better math the round end on the body. I back painted the trim ring white, and in retrospect, I think I would have gone black as it's kinda bright. I forgot to back paint the dome on top, but not sure with the silver underneath it would have made much difference. You can kinda see the center stem if you look for it, but it looks ok in person. All in all... I'm happy with the result and learned a few things for next time.

 

[magpens]

Nice work !!! . I like the custom features, and especially the closed end !!

 

[Jim15]

That looks great.

 

[mark james]

I've never been a fan of Cholla blanks until now! To me this is beautiful. I love how the fibers are very visable, but the red fills the recesses.

Very, very nice!

 

[budnder]

Thanks. Yeah the "grain" or texture or whatever it is really pops on this cholla when you hit it with BLO. I also think there's a depth thing that happens, since the Allumilite is somewhat transparent in the voids.

The cholla wasn't anything special - just stuff I picked up in the yard. Finding relatively straight pieces was the exception, though. The piece on this pen was an unusually long straight piece, which is why I went for a kit that needed a longer blank. I washed this cholla out in water and oven dried it, which is not something I did with the other cholla I've done (just blew air in them).

I have a blank ready to turn for a gear shift kit that I'm eager to finish - I imagine the red diamond pattern in the cholla might do really well on that kit.