Hairy Pods

[SteveAxelrod]

The hairy Banksia pod blanks on this Nouveau Sceptre and Majestic Letter Opener were "turned" using a flap disc. Information on the pods and how to best turn them are available in this thread: http://www.penturners.org/forum/f217/dealing-bankasia-pods-115052/ posted by George Valentine (Robutacion). George provided four of these lovely blanks as the first place prize for this summer's ball point pen turning contest. You can buy them at his store: http://www.georges-bits-of-timber.com/. I must be lucky because I didn't follow any of George's advice for preparing the blanks. Maybe because I use high speed acryllic drill bits on my drill press. I regret not painting the inside of the blanks or the tubes because you can glimpse the brass through a few small voids. I've seen another turner paint the tubes different colors like red and cream and it really adds another dimension to the pen.

I love turning natural edged bowls and when I acquired this small blank I immediately began planning to use it to make a pen stand.

For those of you thinking about selling your pens, I found Etsy to be an easy way to get started although it can take some time setting up your "shop". You're welcome to look at mine at https://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtisanalTurnings?ref=profile_shopname but it's still a work in progress. Good photos are a must. An inexpensive light box with two 50W studio lamps and three background colors can be purchased on Amazon for $42. That's what I use along with Picassa (free download) to add the picture frames. I use my LG G5 cell phone to take all my photos.


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[Magicbob]

Very nice

 

[CREID]

Every now and then, a post has a title that makes you just have to click on that post.
Oh, and a cool blank on that pen. Nice job.

 

[elkhorn]

Very nicely done, Steve. They go well with the kits.

 

[bpgoldo]

Steve, great job with these complex blanks. You really matched up the right placement, cut and kit to make a strong statement...."buy me, buy me NOW!"

 

[OZturner]

Beautiful Work, Steve.
Magnificent Blank, from George, and obviously by following his instructions, you Mastered it and with your Kit Choice, Presented an Outstanding Pen.
Glorious Finish, Excellent Fit, Perfection Personified.
Congratulations,
Brian.

 

[robutacion]

I like what you've done, congrats...!

My tutorials on how to handle blanks like those, are there to help and to guide turners through the process, for a beginner, every bit of information is crucial, however, if you are a seasoned turner, you may already use better tools and better techniques for every step required and that mean achieve better results most often but, not always, no one is that perfect, huh...?

One of the most discussed issue about making pens out of those blanks is the problem of the brass to be seen after turned to size, particularly at the bushing ends where the barrel is trimmed/turned to the smallest diameter and therefore removing all or most of the pod parts and you are left with a clear resin with very little thickness.

Even the coloured Banksia hairy pod blanks I make, don't always hide the brass tube and that is the very reason why most people have decided to paint the tube, paint the blanks drilled hole or both and have that situation resolved.

Interestingly, painting the tube/blank dark brown is not always the most "effective or eye opener", I've seen some nice combinations where blank plating colour, and back paint on the tube, has produced amazing results, the most important detail in my view is the type of kit used, the best results are always achieved with kits that give you plenty of "meat" over the tube and doesn't look um proportional when the barrel ends are left a little over sized to minimize any transparency and allow some of the pod material to stay in the cast.

In the end, they always produce amazing pens that most people like and want to have.

Cheers
George