Gemsbok and Axis cigar

[jskeen]

Went ahead and cut off a chunk of this about 4 inches below the point. turned it down, and it was a sheer joy to work. Threw long fine threads up and all over my lathe. very little to no smell. Polished very nicely after MM up to 12000, so I just renwaxed it and left it at that. The gemsbok shows a very subtle structure of parallel irregular lines at just the right angle, and this gives it almost a gunmetal black or pearl black sheen that I can't capture with my camera. , I might have to get this one to a real photographer to show it off.

Paired it up with a very weathered axis antler drop on a pearl silver cigar, and I love it!

Let me know what You think, Good bad or indifferent.

James

 

[stoneman]

VERY nice. I like the shape of the lower barrel as well - sort of has that gemsbok feel to it. While it looks very nice with the pearl silver, it would also have been sharp with black titanium IMHO. Great job! Hemingway would have been proud to write with this one.

 

[bitshird]

Very nice, I think the pearl kit is perfect, I think TI would get lost on the nib

 

[karlkuehn]

Great shape! I too like the pearl/satin kits. They really make the material stand out. Beautiful cigar

 

[Stevej72]

You did a great job on that pen, good choice in kits. I got some Axis antler yesterday that I can't wait to give a try.

 

[Ligget]

Fantastic, the shape is cool too![]

 

[johncrane]

What Mark said FANTASTIC[]

 

[VisExp]

Nice looking pen. It and your previous post of the original horn brought back all sorts of memories of Africa for me. Where did you get the Gemsbok horn?

 

[jskeen]

I really can't remember where exactly I got it, but it was in the states somewhere in a little junk/rock shop/tourist trap. The guy had a whole bucket of them. I originally got it to use the bottom portion for knife scales, back when I was making knives, but never got around to it, partially because I never could think what to do with the top part. Now that I have an answer for that part, I'm going let my dad make the knives and I'll make pens of the rest

 

[Marc Phillips]

Guess I am the weirdo of the group eh... my first thought was "I don't like the shape" ... it just seems like it wanders around the pen without any real purpose... does that make any sense??... Oh well...

Beautiful finish and a great match of kit to material

 

[jskeen]

I do value anybody's honest opinion, and I'm curious, which section do you not like, if it's one or the other. I'm pretty happy with the bottom of this pen, but I've never been totally thrilled with the clip end of any of the cigar's I've turned. the top finial just seems to force too small a diameter at that end of the pen, and tends to make it look unbalanced no matter what I do with it. May just be that I strongly prefer the shape on screw cap pens like the baron, where both ends of the cap are the same diameter.

This was my third cigar, I may line them up and try for some feedback on the upper section profile in another post sometime.

 

[stoneman]

James,
Any idea of about how many usable blanks come from the 30" horn? If it is hollow for 10" - 12" does that mean the remainder would make decent pen blanks? I like the looks of your pen and your description of the lines in the material. I'm trying to decide whether it is worthwhile to look for horns (and at what price). Any thoughts regarding blanks per horn would be appreciated.

 

[jhs494]

Very nice!
I think it's the complete package, nice blank,nice kit choice, and good workmanship.
Great Job!

 

[R2]

Fabulous pen in every respect![8D][8D][^]

 

[Mather323]

Nice cigars, I enjoyed the shape that you used on them, ---nice.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Normally, I do not care for mixed media pens. But, there is enough dark showing in the upper barrel to compliment the black in the rest of the pen. I'll part company with those who like the shape. Looks like it would be very uncomfortable in the hand. On the, already fat, Cigar, the fingers normally grip at your lower bulge. I think the best shape on the lower barrel of a Cigar is B to B. Your work is great, though. For the photography, more diffused light would make a better picture. Just try outside in the shade.

 

[jskeen]

I just got around to actually getting a welding rod and measuring the cavity, and it turns out to be about 23 inches up at a diameter of 1/8". So... the 3 half blanks I have cut off of it are probably all the completely solid ones i'm going to get, and if I'm lucky, I'll get one or maybe two more that can be drilled to fit a 10mm tube. At an average going price on ebay of $25 to $40 plus shipping I don't think I'll be doing many more of these unless this hobby gets a lot more profitable sometime in the future. However, there may be a demand for the top hollow portion with the smaller diameter for game calls, and I know the lower sections can be made into very nice knife scales. Too bad I don't make game calls or knives anymore.