dthayer
Member
Hello!
I finally got some time today to take some photos of my latest batch of pens that I've been working on for Christmas (and other occasions).
The first pen is one that I've done for my boss. He heads up an international team of software engineers so I thought he might like the circuit board blank. I think it goes well with the Vertex kit:
Our son is in Boy Scouts and his troop is located on a nearby Marine base. Both on base and around locally, we tend to run into Purple Heart recipients on a regular basis. As a small token of our gratitude for their service and sacrifice, we decided to keep one or two of the pens like the one below in the car to present to them when we meet one. This is one of the first two that I have made so far. It will be going to the father of one of the boys in our troop.
This last pen was made for a treasured uncle. I'm happy with the way it (finally) turned out but it is the pen that has taught me the most so far. When I initially turned the blanks, I left the cover too bulbous and it just didn't look right. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this until it was all assembled. Well, I just couldn't accept that so after a couple of days of wavering, I decided to disassemble it and try again. In the process of taking it apart, I applied too much pressure and cracked the blank. Once I got it apart, it still seemed well attached to the tube so I decided to continue on with reducing it's size. When I was happy with the shape everything was fine but the crack was still very noticeable so I thought I'd see what happened if I put a few coats of CA on it. I had never done a CA finish before so I was flying blind. After finishing with micromesh to 12000, I was amazed to find out that the crack had completely disappeared! There is one small spot where I don't think I got all the dust off from the first sanding prior to applying the CA but it blends into the pattern of the blank so well, you would never know it's there! Anyway, to say I was VERY happy that it turned out is an understatement!!
Well, that's it for this installment. C & C are always welcome.
Hope you all have a great week!
I finally got some time today to take some photos of my latest batch of pens that I've been working on for Christmas (and other occasions).
The first pen is one that I've done for my boss. He heads up an international team of software engineers so I thought he might like the circuit board blank. I think it goes well with the Vertex kit:
Our son is in Boy Scouts and his troop is located on a nearby Marine base. Both on base and around locally, we tend to run into Purple Heart recipients on a regular basis. As a small token of our gratitude for their service and sacrifice, we decided to keep one or two of the pens like the one below in the car to present to them when we meet one. This is one of the first two that I have made so far. It will be going to the father of one of the boys in our troop.
This last pen was made for a treasured uncle. I'm happy with the way it (finally) turned out but it is the pen that has taught me the most so far. When I initially turned the blanks, I left the cover too bulbous and it just didn't look right. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this until it was all assembled. Well, I just couldn't accept that so after a couple of days of wavering, I decided to disassemble it and try again. In the process of taking it apart, I applied too much pressure and cracked the blank. Once I got it apart, it still seemed well attached to the tube so I decided to continue on with reducing it's size. When I was happy with the shape everything was fine but the crack was still very noticeable so I thought I'd see what happened if I put a few coats of CA on it. I had never done a CA finish before so I was flying blind. After finishing with micromesh to 12000, I was amazed to find out that the crack had completely disappeared! There is one small spot where I don't think I got all the dust off from the first sanding prior to applying the CA but it blends into the pattern of the blank so well, you would never know it's there! Anyway, to say I was VERY happy that it turned out is an understatement!!
Well, that's it for this installment. C & C are always welcome.
Hope you all have a great week!
