Hairy Banksia pod from George

[plantman]

This is another fantastic Banksia blank George sent me from down under. I used a Washington Rollerball pen kit from Rockler in 14K Gold and Black. The tubes and blanks were treated with a Watermellon Alcohol Ink to tint them a metalic red. Finished with 8 coats of thick CA, sanded to 1200, and Polished with One-Step Plastic Polish. This blank was not for the faint at heart!! It had some voids to fill. and the bottom third of the lower blank blew up on me. Luck was with me and I was able to repair the blank. Blank also had a lot of clear spots that worked in my favor to bring out the metalic tubes. Sorry for the bad photos, I used a desk lamp and hand held !! Jim S

Note to George: You don't know how much it pained me to have to cut up this beautiful blank to fit this kit. Great work on the blanks !! Jim S

 

[Jim15]

That is really nice.

 

[robutacion]

It seems that the red, as background for these blanks, suits them well...!

You know, each one of those blanks, carry a little bit of us, that's our plants pods, in our residence, made with local Resin supplier, done in my modest work-shop and put together with these hands of mine however, each one of those blanks, are made to become a pen (dress a pen kit) so, keeping the blank whole, and as pretty as it may look, they are made to be cut in half, drilled and turned, that will expose parts that you can see in the blank by itself so, feel no pain in doing what they are made for, I'm pretty happy with what you have done...!:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George

 

[wyone]

Love the Banksia!

 

[Bob Wemm]

Jim, I think the red background really makes the pen "POP".
Great job.
Yes, they are fun?????????????????

Bob.

 

[Dalepenkala]

Great looking pen Jim! Congrats!

 

[OZturner]

Great Work, Jim.
Glorious Blank, Fantastic Finish.
Congratulations,
Brian.

 

[mark james]

Beautiful! That came out great - I love the colors, and now as George said, it can be appreciated for what it was made for!

Great Job Jim and George.

 

[Janster]

Nice work there Jim. I just finished one also. Only 2 blowouts! 1 in a 4 piece explosion and the other a lone soldier. I did find all the pieces and with some shavings all was patched back together. I made a rookie error and did not paint the tubes:reface:, but in my mind I wanted the Brass to show through as it goes with the TiGold of the components! Nice looking pen (yours) w/the Red accents! Be well....Jan

 

[mikespenturningz]

Wow that pen looks great Jim. Love the red on the background! I have a few of these blanks and am going to have to try that too... Great pen...

 

[plantman]

It seems that the red, as background for these blanks, suits them well...!

You know, each one of those blanks, carry a little bit of us, that's our plants pods, in our residence, made with local Resin supplier, done in my modest work-shop and put together with these hands of mine however, each one of those blanks, are made to become a pen (dress a pen kit) so, keeping the blank whole, and as pretty as it may look, they are made to be cut in half, drilled and turned, that will expose parts that you can see in the blank by itself so, feel no pain in doing what they are made for, I'm pretty happy with what you have done...!:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George

George; You know, I have only looked at these blanks for the beauty they have within themselves, and realy never realized the amount of your personal self's that goes into the making of each blank. Teamwork, time, and knowledge, just to name a few. It is like sending one of your children out in the world and having someone else develope that child into what they can be !! I hope I have raised your child well !! Hope the other half of your team is feeling better soon !!!! Thank you again for giving me the chance to make your child shine. From up over. Jim S

 

[plantman]

Nice work there Jim. I just finished one also. Only 2 blowouts! 1 in a 4 piece explosion and the other a lone soldier. I did find all the pieces and with some shavings all was patched back together. I made a rookie error and did not paint the tubes:reface:, but in my mind I wanted the Brass to show through as it goes with the TiGold of the components! Nice looking pen (yours) w/the Red accents! Be well....Jan

Jan; Hope to see some photos of that pen soon !! Nice thing about these blanks, if you do have a problem, there are so many color and texture changes that the repairs can not be noticed unless you tell someone it is there. Thanks for the comments. Jim S

 

[southernclay]

Jim I've got one of those blanks sitting on my table to try soon. I love the red! You did an awesome job with it.

 

[hobbyist2013]

You did a magnificent job on this pen!Can't wait to see what you get into next!