WOW !!! WOW !! You have done a wonderful job using my segmented blanks to make those 10 beautiful pens. Good idea for adding the end caps to the desired size. I did not realize that you had purchased that many of my blanks ......what 3 years ago ? Mark can make all these blanks if he so desires. How did you like the one with the Corian inlay ?
Hi Joe. Interesting story. There are four blanks in my stash from you that I did not purchase from you directly, or Exotics. Several years ago I saw another vendor (I will not name - seldom on IAP) who had obviously bought them, and was reselling them. That did not bother me. What bothered me was that they were not giving you credit as the maker. It was implied that they made them. That really pis..d me off - so I bought them all! But I believe I still have 18 more of your blanks.
There was no way I could have made 10 segmented blanks, and finished pens in 2 days, so into my stash I went. To be honest, it was hard to part with the diagonal diamond and the centered diamond ones - those were my favorite - last picture, left to right #1, #3, #4, #7. But, they are gifts from my wife to colleagues as departing gifts. (After 30 years with her company, 9 patents and over 150 invention records - she's being forced to retire).
The corian was spot on for alignment as you constructed. It also fit the Zen perfectly, so no need for end caps to center the pattern. During drilling I cooled the bit down with water, but it went fine. It turned easily, but I did use a fair bit of CA during the turning process just to make sure it held together.
One nice thing about using someone else's blanks; after getting my "feet wet" with segmenting, I really appreciate your accuracy and combination of materials and colors.
These were a joy to make.