A few recent pens (& Lots-O-Pics...)

[toddlajoie]

So I haven't posted or taken any photos of my pens lately, just been busy. But with the Trans-Swap wrapping I needed to photo my pen before sending and take some of the one I just got from Carl, so I figured I'd update all of you who I'm sure have been wondering where all my pens have been lately...:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

So the local Woodcraft put all the topical Navigators and Wall St IIIs on clearance. These are simple and quick, people seem to either love it or hate it. Left to right are Brown Coconut WS3, White Coconut WS3, Mother of Pearl WS3, White Coconut Navigator, Brown Coconut Navigator, & Abalone Navigator. There was an Abalone WS3 also, but it was snatched up... Overall, I like the Coconut ones, as the pattern is nice and complete, the MOP and Abalone each have 2 distinct and very obvious seams. You can hide one under the clip, but that leaves he other in the great wide open...

This is my recent collection of personal Jr Gents. They live on my desk and fight over who gets to walk around with me that day... On the stand is Rhodium with CSUSA's Abalone blanks. Serious Bling factor!!! Laying down from left to right is a 2 tone Koa (more later) on a Gold Ti, Exotics Blue Amedeo on a Gold Ti, and my newest favorite, Oak Burl on Black Ti.

Here's an individual shot of the 2 tone Koa. This was my first try with the General's Woodturners Finish, and I really like the feel of it, It's very natural and warm feeling. I did not go for the high gloss look, as I wanted it to be "woody", I tried both applying on the lathe and the rubber sheet with the hole in it method that was posted on here. In the end I did not like either method, so my next venture is to try applying it with an airbrush...

This was a blank I got from Jeff (masterscroller) along with a custom blank I asked him to make (but haven't had the guts to turn yet...) It is a very cool subtle blue dragon on black acrylic with a bunch of silver and color swirls in it. I am a HUGE fan of nearly all of Jeff's dragons, but this is one of the most tasteful examples I've seen for everyday use. It's there, but it doesn't scream "LOOK AT ME!!!"

I keep saying I'm never going to touch closed end palm ever again, yet I just keep stabbing myself in the foot... Tried a double closed end to see what would happen, and I wanted to do a strait angled end. It came out fine (with the usual issues of a CA finish on something that is not completely solidly round...) but when I went to press it together, I realized I really did not want to press on that pointy end, so I sanded down the inserts to they fit in easily by hand and epoxy's them in place, but one must have slipped. so the pen does not quite line up when closed (I was going for having both ends parallel when closed...) Lesson learned, plan to press the parts together. Next time I'll probably make a cushion to match the angle...

From what I've been told, many famous hands have been in this pen. The flowers came from canes made by Tony, sliced and applied to the tube by CaptG, I got the blank from Neil (wolftat), after that, the popularity drops with me smoothing it out, covering with CA and polishing... 3 steps into the house it was gone. I had to steal it back from the wife while she was sleeping just to take the photos...

Our local chapter had a demo by Steve (pensbydesign) on casting, and he gave me these 2 blanks to try out. Postage stamps glued to the Sierra/Wall St tubes and cast in clear alumilite using Charlie's (newLondon88) ResinSaver molds. Dead easy to turn, and they came out spectacular, wish I could take credit for that...

I had also picked up some of Neil's (wolftat again) photochromic blanks at our latest meeting, so I popped together these 2 Virage/Princeton pens using one of his glow in the dark blanks... Sorry, no photos with the lights off..

And last but certainly not least, Keith (mrBurls) recently sold off a bunch of blanks and I was lucky enough to get a few of JohnU's feather blanks. They're made for the Serra/Wall St 2 series, but that set shares the tube with the Virage/Princeton, and I thought I had not seen anyone drop them on those yet, so I put a Gold Ti and Black Ti one together...

Thanks for looking, and as always, I'm open to any and all comments an criticisms!!!

 

[gbpens]

Great variety and some stunning pieces,especially the black palm.

 

[Drstrangefart]

That black palm has to be my favorite. The cut on the closed ends sets it off HARD.

 

[hilltopper46]

Talk about showing off your pens!! As already mentioned - the black palm takes first place, although that polymer clay pen certainly has an appeal...

 

[dplloyd]

I agree with Doc from Roswell. The black palm is NICE!

 

[peterborough66]

Absolutely stunning collection of PEns, where would one aquire one of those Flowered Blanks?, I'm thinking it would make the perfect gift for my Wife.

 

[D.Oliver]

Great group of pens but the oak burl is the one that catches my eye.

 

[glycerine]

Dang, you've been busy!!

 

[PenPal]

Todd,

Incredibly difficult fight for me all of your pens deserve an accolade.

Would love to see one pic of that pen stand once it deserves a place in the hall of fame.

That acres of sand looking background as well soaks up the detail in your pens so many times sadly I like it once on its own. Which came first the chicken or the egg?

The first batch simulates cracked paint creates a neat atmosphere they stand well any scrutinary the Coconuts, Pearl and Abalone the last two need total separation from the others with different lighting to make them pop and sparkle as they no doubt will.

Navs ,Wall Streets slick Pen Kits then the Jnrs hold their own the Abalone trying like the Phoenix to rise above the stand has indeed got class to pass. The Koa looks like the Feather Wood or Pheasant Wood from Hawaii, the separate pic shows it better as it deserves. I see faces and dreams in the Swirl agree with you the Oak Burl although photographing flat is a special treat like the Koa.

Special blank from Jeff can hold its own anywhere on its own, like to see into it more though, Palm is a pain in the bum big time to work however you nailed it producing an outstanding pen, distinctive shaping makes a winner.

Tonies many hands make a lovely pen very brave of you both ie the wife stealer of pens and you retrieving it temporarily to photograph it all worthwhile.

Steves Stamp Pens you turned real nice doing justice to them (lose the rock)

Neils Photochromatics worthy of a place in the Palace of Dreams exciting restfull.

Keith the in between man then Author John U,s Feathers complete a real treat for me this morning here and make their individual statements well.

Thank you for stupifying my mind with possibilities alowing me the privilidge to see your handiwork admiring your recognition of those who contributed as well, so many times it takes me a while to get to turning I miss the thread of making and purchasing it too is interesting.

Your invitation to inspect and review accepted make the pens reign on the throne.

Kind regards Peter.

 

[Carl Fisher]

Lookin' good Todd :biggrin: The stand looks like it's treating you well which I'm glad to see.

Nice pens all around.

 

[toyotaman]

WOW............ What great pens and the photos are just as stunning. I love them all but the blue one in the second picture catches my eye. Thanks alot for sharing.

 

[toddlajoie]

Lookin' good Todd :biggrin: The stand looks like it's treating you well which I'm glad to see.

Nice pens all around.

Yea, I don't have many unusual stands. Just a bunch of 3 pen acrylic stands, so when I had to shoot some, and had just gotten that stand from you, it was like a sign... It is (and will from now on) resting on my desk with your pen perched on it ready to be used when papers come across, but I can't guarantee that there won't be a few dead ringers for it showing up in the near future...:biggrin:

Thanks all for the nice and (poetic!!!!) comments,

 

[Robert111]

I really like that black palm--nice material for that design (and nice pen stand!)

 

[mredburn]

For the glue up of the parts, instead of gluing both in at the same time. Glue one side in and when it is dry and set, then glue the other side in and align it to the first. That way your not trying to control both sides at once. you might also try blue tape when you do the second side to keep it from moving. I really like the palm pen great design and execution

 

[toddlajoie]

For the glue up of the parts, instead of gluing both in at the same time. Glue one side in and when it is dry and set, then glue the other side in and align it to the first. That way your not trying to control both sides at once. you might also try blue tape when you do the second side to keep it from moving. I really like the palm pen great design and execution

Thanks for the tip Mike. I did do each part separately, but the blue tape is probably what was missing. I did the cap first, then threaded the nib into it, put some epoxy in the body tube, lined it up and pressed it in (I had sanded the insert down so it slipped in easily...). Then (and I'm sure this is where I went wrong) I unscrewed the nib to be sure it didn't get glued together if a little bit of epoxy squeezed out. I'm 99% positive that when I did that it twisted just a bit, enough that they don't line up. I don't remember, but I believe I did not have to sand down the threaded centerband to get it in. It would have been easier to line that part up, and less likely to glue the whole she-bang together in the process, but I think it would have been harder to twist that part to line it up once it was fully pressed in.

This one was really done just as a "proof-of-concept" or in other words, done for the heck of it to see what issues come up. I'd done a similar single closed end pen but a curved angle instead of a straight one, so I knew the headache of the CA finish, but my previous one had enough of a flat area to press the parts in. I'm probably going to re-visit this once I get the hang of spraying the Woodturners finish on with an airbrush off the lathe. It just takes too long for me to do a good CA finish on something like this...

 

[Jjartwood]

A quiet man and a gentleman,
lets his work do his talking and it speaks volumes.
Anyone can knock one out of the park,but this many???
real nice stuff Todd,

 

[tkbarron]

Wow, fantastic work!! You could host a pen show with this selection alone.

I think the black palm is seriously cool. I gave up on that wood a long time ago so hats off to you for turning a closed pen out of it. The finish on it is out-of-this-world beautiful!!

The two tone Koa is also cool...almost looks like a feather pen.

Tom