Inlaid cross

[Mike_in_Atlanta]

I am doing my first show in two weeks and since it is a church Christmas craft show I thought I'd make a few pens with an inlaid cross. Here is one of them:

Also my first attempt at photos - seems it is easier to make a pen then take a good photo of it.

 

[R2]

Truly lovely pen! kit goes well with timber.[][][]

 

[Ligget]

WOW, that`s fantastic, love the colour combination![]

 

[toolcrazy]

I like it, how'd you do it?

 

[TAFFJ]

Great Pen! Spread the Gospel!!! How did you do it?

 

[Mike_in_Atlanta]

Making the inlay was really quite simple. After I drilled the blank, I placed it in my cross vise vice in my drill press. I used a 3/32" Dremel router bit to mill the cross all the way through to the hole in several passes. After gluing the tube in place, I filled the cross with aluminum filings and used thin CA to hold them in place. (I have since moved to using aluminum powder from CSUSA as it is more uniform but you have to glue in thin layers.) I then turned the pen normally. I have also used sawdust from bloodwood in maple or BOW with good results.

Mike

 

[fstepanski]

Very sharp pen, nice job.. Thanks for the process description..

 

[gwilki]

You are clearly much better with a Dremel than I am. Great work.

 

[cowchaser]

Nice pen. So you free hand the cross? If I was to try and free hand that it would look like a cursive T I shake so bad sometimes.

 

[toolcrazy]

Originally posted by Mike_in_Atlanta
<br />
Making the inlay was really quite simple. After I drilled the blank, I placed it in my cross vise vice in my drill press. I used a 3/32" Dremel router bit to mill the cross all the way through to the hole in several passes. After gluing the tube in place, I filled the cross with aluminum filings and used thin CA to hold them in place. (I have since moved to using aluminum powder from CSUSA as it is more uniform but you have to glue in thin layers.) I then turned the pen normally. I have also used sawdust from bloodwood in maple or BOW with good results.

Mike

Thanks for the info. Gonna have to try that.

I think what he means by cross vise is, a vise that has 2 handles to adjust or move the vise either x or y direction.
Like this one.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=32997

 

[txbatons]

Very nice looking pen and cross. What a great idea. You've got steadier hands than I do!

 

[Mike_in_Atlanta]

I definitely cannot do it free hand. I took this photo this morning using a blank that already had a tube in it.

I just lower the bit and crank the piece back and forth.

 

[hilltopper46]

Thanks for sharing the idea. This is great. Now I have another reason to buy an x-y drill press vise.

(edited spelling)