Pens for Troops

[jkeithrussell]

Ok -- I've gone crazy posting pics today. I haven't posted any pics in months -- mostly because I can't take decent pics -- so I'm making up for lost time.

Here is an assortment of corian pens for the troops. You can't see the detail in the pic, but there is a mixture of gold/chrome/black enamel, some with aluminum inlays, some wavy, some straight. I like working with corian, but there is definitely a learning curve. Neil will probably be able to lay them out in the order that they were made just by judging the quality.

Keith
US Army, 1986-1991

 

[CSue]

They all look great fromm here, Keith.

 

[wolftat]

Looks great from here too. Did you bend the corian for the wave or cut it?

 

[jkeithrussell]

Looks great from here too. Did you bend the corian for the wave or cut it?

Cut it. I did the waves on my scroll saw. The straight cuts were on the band saw with a 1/16ths blade.

 

[Dalecamino]

Outstanding work Keith !

 

[cnirenberg]

Keith,
I really like the wave style of pen. Great collection of pens.

 

[bitshird]

Keith, Nice pens, but you suck!!! I tried to cut patterns in that material from hell, all it did was glue/weld itself back to the saw blade. That really is a super batch of pens. I wish mine had come out near that good, You know those will be appreciated.

 

[jkeithrussell]

Keith, Nice pens, but you suck!!! I tried to cut patterns in that material from hell, all it did was glue/weld itself back to the saw blade. That really is a super batch of pens. I wish mine had come out near that good, You know those will be appreciated.

Thank you. Basically, for the waves, I just ripped the red/white corian to a little over 1/2", then cut to about 2.5" length, and stacked a red on top of a white with some double sided tape. I used a #9 blade on the scroll saw (you could probably get by with a #7), cutting slow, and free-handed the waves. If the cut was smooth, they would glue up easily. One of the tricks is to let the glue (thick CA) set up overnight before trying to drill the hole. Even then, it is hit or miss. Sometimes it wants to explode, sometimes you couldn't break it with a sledgehammer. A couple of them have 0.08 aluminum strips between the red/white -- that increases the potential for a blowout, but it really adds some Wow to the pen. I had fun making the pens and hope to do another batch of 6 or 8 with the corian that I have left. I've been thinking about doing some red/white/blue angle pieces to use as centerbands -- I think that would look cool on an antler pen or on a common wood like mesquite.

 

[rjwolfe3]

wow those look great. I am currently working on some myself but not sure if I am brave enough to try the waves.