Opera Pens #3 & #4

[skiprat]

This is what I got from the Opera glasses holder that Jeff sent. He is officially off of my Christmas Card list now!!!!:biggrin: What a PIA this was!!!!
If it belonged to me, then I would have chucked it against the wall a couple of times Nothing was round and the material is paper thin.

Jeff has done his first one ( nicer than these ) and you can see it here

These both have Parker style refills. The big MOP one has a Jr Gent BP mech and it pulls apart in the middle to change the refill. The skinny one used to have a dovetail spring loaded clamp in the end that was made from Tortoise shell, but it just was already broken and dissintergrated just by looking at it... just used a bit of Antique Gold acrylic. The new mech is inside this bit.

Jeff, please remind me not to open my big mouth next time:biggrin:

 

[ldb2000]

Well I was wondering which way you would go with this one when Jeff posted his and I must say , you didn't disappoint . Great job skip !

 

[workinforwood]

I don't know what you are smoking Steve..but those pens look sweet! Not at all what I would have done, not that I know what it is I would have done. I can't decide which one is cooler looking, and I'm not kidding!

 

[workinforwood]

Spin that pre-tubed Jr kit plastic I sent you Steve...that should get me back on the Christmas list! :biggrin:

 

[lazyguy]

Wow you didn't waste time. Looking good.

 

[skiprat]

Jeff, were your MOP bits packed with some sort of cloth in the glue? Once I boiled them off, the yucky green rag desolved. This did cause a bit of worry when I came to epoxy them back on the tubes as the cloth seemed to fill the gap between the MOP and the tubes.
The fancy finial and the ring near the nib were soldered and pinned. I left them on the tubes.
On the skinny one, I really wanted to keep the King Optic Co stamps. I think I prefer the skinny one.

Here are a couple of pics of the parts once dismantled.

 

[THarvey]

Great looking pens. I really like the MOP.

Won't mind if it gets "lost in the mail" and winds up at my house. :biggrin:

 

[witz1976]

That MOP is killer, love the looks. But the other is very elegant. Once again Steve, nice job!

 

[workinforwood]

I did not see any green rag under the mop in my pen, but the glue was a green color. Some of the mop was badly scratched and chipped, so eliminating one section helped with that problem. Before I boiled the pen into pieces, the mop fit perfect under all the retainer rings. During re-assembly, the Mop would not fit back under the rings at all and I had to sand them down a little bit to try and squeeze them back under. It was very frustrating and a sticky finger situation. I used rubber bands and kept wrapping them around to hold the mop in place. The end result, the seams look pretty good, especially for my first time using that stuff. The plastic the mop is under is very soft, so it's easy to shape and remove any scratches and crud, but difficult to obtain a super shine. I too think I might like you skinny one better...but I think it has more to do with that tortoise shell piece on the end than anything else..that really makes it an interesting conversation piece. Mine had the tortoise shell too, but they were only half pieces with a metal bar between them for strength I guess. The other one, the dovetail spring is just an ugly black plastic and even more ugly now that it is half melted from being in the boiling water, lol. Live and learn.

 

[BRobbins629]

They look good to me - my preference is the skinny one. Really like the finials. Oh - and I'll be sure to tell you to shut your big mouth, but I need to wait for the appropriate time.

 

[Rfturner]

It is better than I could have done they look great.

 

[Mark]

You guys do wonderful work. I must say all the final products are awesome. Both of you are true artists. Congrats on a "Recycling of Old Parts" Well Done!

 

[maxman400]

All three Pens came out looking Great, Congrats on a job well done.

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

YOU AND THAT SCROLLER GUY
&^%$#@(*!​

 

[JohnU]

I love them all! Very unusual and eye catching! Nice Work! but all I needed to see was who were posting the three pens to know they were going to be something spectacular.