New fatlines---slimlines with custom CBs

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woodscavenger

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Hot of the press and into my greedy little hands.
I have fun with the custom centerbands and like that I can make a bigger pen without the corset look.
19-20-fatlines-oak-maple.jpg


The closer one is white oak with a walnut CB. The oak grain stands out because I wet sanded it with the paper previously used on a claro walnut set. The dark dust impregnated the pores and really made them stand out. I did something similar for my sons school teacher with oak and redheart dust giving a pink/red tint to the pen.

The other pen is maple burl and walnut
 
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woodscavenger

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1) The maple is not dyed. I bout a piece of "birdseye maple" from a supplier about two year ago. That is it. Many people have disputed its origin. If you all have any ideas about wood type I would like to know.

2.) Thanks for the compliment on the Fatline. They are pretty easy. Prepare your blanks as usual. Get a cool looking scrap cutoff from a previous pen ( you should have plenty laying around) and drill a 1/4" hole in it. I usually drill holes in about 10-15 cutoffs. Mount a stack of the cuttoffs on your mandrel. Round all of them off. Use a small parting tool (I use one from a mini HSS set from PSI) and run the tool where two separate pieces of wood come together. Take it down close to the mandrel. Repeat this at every joint. If you go too far and get to the mandrel the blanks with start slipping because you will lose compression from the knurled nut. At this point I use the same parting tool to start dividing the scraps. I make some skinny and some wide divisions. Again I stay away from completing the cut.

Now I remove them from the mandrel and use my utility knife with a sharp razor blade to shave off the ends left from the parting tool. This should ensure that both ends are parallel. Now put them back on the mandrel (you will likely need some extra wood or bushings on there to make up for the wood you have removed). This is where it gets a little tedious.

Go back to the parting tool and starting at the nut end start completing the parting cuts. Undo the nut, pull off the part, trim, add a bushing/wood cuttoff, tighten the nut and go to the next one.

By now you should have at least one small wood donut of whatever wood you chose. Now put your slimline blanks on but relace the middle bushing with the wood donut. Now turn your pen to whatever style/thickness you like. You are not limited by the center bushing anymore! After finish sanding I do one of two things.
1) If I want a floating CB I put a little bit of oil between the wood CB and the blanks then I add my CA-BLO finish. When I am done I can usually just separate the pieces with out any problem.
2) I have started using CA to attach CB to the upper tube then finish the pen normally.
 

JimGo

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Wow, what a GREAT idea! I'll have to keep this in mind.

Couldn't you also glue the slimline's standard CB into the middle of a pre-cut piece and turn that down as you turn down the sides of the pen? Just a thought.
 

woodscavenger

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I think the problem with the use of the original CB is that you still have to somehow make the side of the new CB parallel. My saws are not that accurate. I would still have to do the same process as above and I would lose the ability to make wide/narrow CBs. Just my 2cents.
 

wicook

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What a great idea! I'm fairly new to this and have seen pictures of fat slimlines, but you've provided very clear directions. Now all I've got to do is find the time to experiment... ;)
 

Tropical

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Nice looking pens. I am not a fan of SL but these are great with the modifications.
 
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