My PITH pen from LeviBlue

[76winger]

Just received in this in the mail today, my pen from my PITH partner LeviBlue. This is my first year participating in the PITH. I'm humbled and can only hope mine will be as well received.

It's a Jr. Gent Rollerball with segmented Walnut and Cypress woods that have aluminum sandwiched between and aluminum pins on each side. Cover with a beautiful CA finish it's definitely a sight to behold and I'm proud to be the recipient of this fine piece of workmanship. It will give me something to strive for in future endeavors.

*** Click on images for the big versions ***







And to top it all off, there was some very unique packing material that I'm just not up throwing out. I'm going to have to find a better purpose for it. :wink:


Thanks Kevin, its all a very pleasant surprise.
I hope you enjoy what's on it's way to you!

 

[AKPenTurner]

Nice pen! I like the aluminum pins!

 

[Leviblue]

Dave,
Glad you received it and your photos look much better than mine. This is the first I've tried this material combination on a full pen.
Enjoy!

Kevin

 

[keithbyrd]

Well done - great PITH - nice job on the segmenting - something I am just learning to do!

 

[underdog]

I like the pins. I tried a similar thing but the random look didn't suit me... I like the ordered look a lot more.

Do you place the pins before drilling for the tubes?

 

[Leviblue]

I like the pins. I tried a similar thing but the random look didn't suit me... I like the ordered look a lot more.

Do you place the pins before drilling for the tubes?

I did drill the holes for the pins at first, but when I drilled the brass tube hole the bit pulled two out. No big deal, just glued and stuck two more back in until they hit the brass tube.
This was a fun pen to do, but it did try just about everything not to be a pen for sure. The segmented sections de-laminated on one side and it opened up like a box lid. This was of course after I had drilled the center tube hole. It must have been a bad initial bond because it was drilled on 250 rpm and the bit was cleared often. A little or a lot of CA and a clamp and it was back to business.

I'll definitely try another one similar to this one.

 

[76winger]

I've mostly been making pens to sell, in order to support the growing hobby. But this is definitely going to be an inspiration to me to work on taking things to the next level and trying something besides one piece blanks.

 

[76winger]

Unfortunately, mine to Kevin has been on the FedEx delivery truck since Wednesday according to the tracking info. I'm not sure what's up with that yet as I've never seen them take this long to deliver something I've shipped out. Holiday confusion maybe???

 

[76winger]

The PITH that got away

I'm not sure if I should have done a new thread for this, but I though it fitting to continue this one since it's the the other half of our pen swap.

As partially mentioned above, My PITH to Kevin got lost in transit. It was on the truck for delivery and never arrived. I started a case with FedEx to get it tracked down, giving them a description of the box and contents, but they concluded it was lost. What was lost is this Rhodium and Black Ti Jr. Gent wrapped in Box Elder burl:




May it live peacefully, wherever it ended up. I've got some shots of it's replacement that I'll post soon.

 

[76winger]

And the substitute that made it

Here's the one that I sent out to replace the lost PITH pen. It's an Apollo Infinity rollerball plated with Gold Ti and wrapped with "Rocky Road" Lucite.



I hope you like it Kevin!
It's one of my favorite models due to its larger size but lighter weight, and the shape of the section just feels good to hold onto.

 

[Russknan]

TWO beautiful pens! One heartbreaking story. Not a good ad for Fed Ex.

 

[CharlesJohnson]

Plenty to be proud of. I would love to do some thing like that.

 

[76winger]

I think it must have been something to do with holiday shipping time frame. I've been using FedEx for 5+ years now and have always got good comments on the speed things get from me to the recipient. Could be something to do with having one of their hubs in the city work in and ship from though. This is the first time I've had anything get lost and had need to file a claim.

 

[Leviblue]

Dave,
Glad you posted the photo of the one that made it. I haven't had a chance to post any. I really like the pen I received.
I think I need to go search the Fedex truck myself!
Its a great pen and has a nice prominent space on the shelf in my office. Its part of the rotation for pens used weekly. :biggrin:

 

[rherrell]

Hey Kevin, GREAT job lining up the aluminum strips between the cap and body, that's harder than you think.:biggrin::wink:

 

[Fishinbo]

Wow the last pen (replacement one) will be my new favorite, this will be a big hit. Great job!

__________________________________________________________________________
BandSaw Blades Online - Custom Welded Band Saw Blades

 

[Leviblue]

Hey Kevin, GREAT job lining up the aluminum strips between the cap and body, that's harder than you think.:biggrin::wink:

Tell me about it. Although after the table saw threw a few things at me, the alignment was the easy part. :biggrin:
I really enjoyed making this pen. It was more challenging than I thought it would be. I've got to try another version later.

Thanks,