Modified Majestic Birdseye and Alt Ivory

[wiset1]

Okay, so being a big fan of turning big pens I have to say that I enjoy working with the Majestic line. What I don't care for is all the decorative bands and caps. I've seen "Brooks803" do an amazing job turning his own caps so I figured why not give it a try.

What you see here is a modified Majestic on Birdseye Maple that has a bit of Curl to it which is nice. I used the Alt Ivory from exotics to turn the bands and cap accents. I can honestly say that taking a Majestic apart is a pain in the butt!!! Standard finish...2 coats thin, 4 coats Medium, 1 coat thin, and 4 more coats of medium micro sanded to 12000 and plastic polished.

Thanks for looking! Larger images can be seen on my Flickr site

:biggrin:

 

[Jim15]

Great looking pen, your modifications are very nice.

 

[OLDMAN5050]

beautiful pen................

 

[papaturner]

Awesome work........Beautiful pen.

 

[soligen]

That's a great mod, and well done. Opens up lots of accent possibilities.

 

[seamus7227]

Excellent execution Tim! Wow, I love the entire description, modification, and photography!

 

[barrysj]

I use 7-8 coats of med ca only, with accelerator in between, let it cure for 24 hours then MM it followed by plastic polish. I know everyone has their own way of doing CA, but I'm curious as to why you alternate between thin and medium CA. I'm pretty happy with my results, but am always looking for alternate methods.
v/r

Dude

 

[workinforwood]

That's pretty cool..like those mods

 

[Drstrangefart]

Very excellent. Worked out amazingly.

 

[wizard]

Tim, Awesome craftsmanship as usual!! The decorative bands and cap accents look gorgeous. Is there a tutorial that might be helpful in learning to turn decorative bands? Beautiful photos! Thanks so much for showing. Regards, Doc

 

[wiset1]

I use 7-8 coats of med ca only, with accelerator in between, let it cure for 24 hours then MM it followed by plastic polish. I know everyone has their own way of doing CA, but I'm curious as to why you alternate between thin and medium CA. I'm pretty happy with my results, but am always looking for alternate methods.
v/r

Dude

First...Thanks everyone for the feedback!:wink:

Now to the CA question. I always clean the barrel with accelerator before I apply my first two coats of thin CA to seal the wood just for good measure. The thin CA coat between is just something I do since the thin CA tends to dry fast and seal things in. I guess there's no real science to this, but it works for me and I tend to stick with things that work unless forced to mix it up. I know that doesn't help, but the short answer is that I'm crazy and I think it does something even if it doesn't:hypnotized:

 

[scotian12]

Tim....This is one beautiful pen. I think the use of the alternative ivory has elevated the status of the birdseye maple. Thanks for sharing this new concept with us. I too would be interested in how you did those bands. Darrell Eisner

 

[wiset1]

Tim....This is one beautiful pen. I think the use of the alternative ivory has elevated the status of the birdseye maple. Thanks for sharing this new concept with us. I too would be interested in how you did those bands. Darrell Eisner

Taking the bands off the kit was a result of a hammer and a screwdriver. Not pretty, but it forced the rings that held the bands off and trashed the decorative rings.

Making the bands for the pen was actually pretty easy. I took a Beech dowel and cut it to about 3 inches. I then took a slice of Alt Ivory about 1.5 inches and glued it to the dowel. I made sure to secure the two together with medium CA for a good strong bond. After that I placed the dowel in my dedicated pen chuck and cranked it down tight. From there I pretty much did everything by eye! Once it looked like I was there I inserted the drill chuck to the other end and did a tap drill using a 15/32" bit and then a 37/64" bit for the final diameter. This size works for the cap and the middle band. The lower ring needs the 15/32" bit only.

It's pretty easy:bulgy-eyes:...The biggest thing is to just try it. Like anything, take your time, and make sure your tools are sharp.

Hope that helps.

 

[Dana Fish]

What a beauty

 

[wiset1]

Thanks Dana for the kind words. I would like to say that I'll be doing many more of these, but truth be told...it a real pain to remove the decorative bands and unless I find a better way to remove them I may just do this on a limited basis.

 

[PaulDoug]

That really upgraded that pen. Beautiful.

 

[wiset1]

Thanks for the feedback Paul.

Anyone out there good at making jigs for stuff like this? The hammer and flathead is a bit too stone age for me.

 

[Brooks803]

It looks great Tim. The materials work together and the flow is very nice. Finish is awesome as well. Great work! Can't wait to see some more!

 

[Tanner]

Excellent!! Love the mods!!

 

[wiset1]

Thanks again everyone, I hope this inspires others to try it as well!