Olivewood Flame

[btboone]

I tried the Flame pen in African Olivewood. The look was OK, but didn't seem to me to have the impact of the acrylic. I need to find more workable acrylic it seems. I also tried some ebonite, and it chattered too much when machining the sides. It was able to flex too much, so probably won't work in the application.
The trick when finishing the wood is assembling it and sanding on the titanium centerband to get it flush with the wood. Doing that got a lot of metal dust into the CA that I used to hold the wood in place for sanding. I overcoated the whole thing with Deft but still didn't nail the finish. It would take more figuring out and working with it if I'm to offer a wood option.

 

[Snazzypens]

Again a real nice pen. I like your shapes. They are so cool
Toni

 

[Chuck Key]

Super nice pen! I really like the combo clip/cemterband treatment and the scooped clip groove.

Chuckie

 

[emackrell]

Geez Bruce, if you "didn't nail the finish" and the look is only "OK" and it doesn't have the impact of the acrylic and all, why don't you just send it to me and then you won't have to look at it any more.... seems like the least I could do when you've been kind enough to post all these inspirational pictures! []

cheers Eileen [8D]

 

[btboone]

[] I could keep going on the finish until it's right, but I'm just not sure if I want to go in the wood direction or not. I didn't polish the cap either. That's the finish right off the machine. It's been a long day in the shop!

 

[Scott]

Hi Bruce!

The wood is very nice! But I think the resin will be more commercially viable for you. Once the design is established in the market you could then release it in a limited edition of exotic woods.

Scott.

 

[btboone]

I agree Scott. I'll need to pick some woods like burls or something that would have a little more kick. I understand that my Hawaiian source for the acrylic will have a blue color in a couple weeks. Once I have a couple options like colors, a rollerball version, and packaging worked out, I'll contact a few of the dealers and/or magazines.

 

[emackrell]

Well I think this one looks pretty spectacular, but given the aerodynamic style and look of the pen itself I'm inclined to think that techie-looking acrylics or even metal are going to make for the happiest marriage of material and style. It makes me think of carrier jets, starships and space stations. I bet you could sell them through the Air and Space Museum!

cheers Eileen [8D]

 

[btboone]

I was originally going to make the whole thing out of mirror finish titanium. I then realized how long it would take to finish and how heavy it would be![:0]

 

[gerryr]

I love the design, but is the clip really necessary? With the cap on wouldn't it be really top heavy if you put it in a shirt pocket?

 

[btboone]

I've had some of the pen dealers tell me that a clip is necessary to reach the target audience. They don't want to just leave the pen on a desk, but want to be seen with them in their pocket. This one would reallyget noticed if it were carried in a pocket. The cap is pretty hollowed out and is titanium, so it's not really that top heavy. Making the centerband without having the clip would be more time efficient to manufacture, but I'll leave that decision to the people selling them. I'll be asking for their feedback on that.

 

[Thumbs]

Bruce, It looks pretty good from here! If you say there is something wrong with the finish, we'll just have to take your word for it, I guess.

Looking at the shape of these flaming pens of yours brings another thought to mind..... Will someone carrying one of these have it confiscated at the airport? If you look at this at the right angle, it looks like it could be used as a weapon to stab or slash someone. My 2-dimensional screen lends it that dangerous appearance! Who knows what they'll see at the airport now-a-days?[V][]

 

[PenWorks]

Again very nice & unique, but better in resin.
To bad the ebonite didn't work.

 

[ctEaglesc]

Try putting it in antler,It looks more like a horn than a flame.
This goes for the acrylic one also.

 

[rtjw]

Bruce, are you thinking about putting this one at Drumgooles. I havent gotten back with you to see if you ever worked out a deal.

 

[bca1313]

These pens are amazing. Bruce you really took these out of the box and made something very creative. As much as I like using wood for pens I would have to say that the acrylic made more of a statement.

Nice job and I look forward to seeing more of these.

Ben

 

[chigdon]

That is absolutely beautiful but not nearly as effective as acrylic -- and this is coming from a 'wood' guy.

 

[btboone]

Thanks guys. Eagle, when I made the first one from acrylic, I noticed that it looked like a ram's horn or something. It looked like someone could have found it in the desert or mountains and just added pen parts! Unfortunately, my process needs fairly accurate 1" stock to start with. I need to even take down the 1 1/8" acrylic to 1" just due to the 5C collets the machine holds them with. I was toying with the idea of trying 7/8" square stock, but it would take a lot of extra work to be able to drill and hold it. Things need to be very concentric because I use the OD of the part to zero for drilling on the lathe and machining on the mill. I can't use the holes that were previously drilled to center things like is usually done.

Johnny, I'll try them and a few others like Penopoly, Bertram's Inkwell, Total Office Supplies, World Lux, and others. I need to be sure it's ready and need to figure out unique packaging.

Thumbs, I certainly can't second guess what will or won't be allowed on an airplane these days. You're right though, it could definitely be used as a weapon if that the intention.

Chris, you can see them next weekend side by side at the Southeastern get together. The pen is hard to photograph and get a good feel of what it's like. They really need to be seen and held.

Anthony, I'll need to get with you to check on nib availability. Let me know if you run across any materials in 1" diameter that you think might work.