PITH From bench1holio

[ve3bax]

Hi Folks, I got my pen a few weeks back but just havent really had time to sit down and take some photos until today.

The pen is a Jr Gent I closed end in White Cedar Burl (Melia azedarach) and the finish is three coats of dipped poly. Don't let my crappy flash burned pic fool you, it has a nice even glossy finish... even with my diffuser I couldn't get a picture without some flash burn. The wood has incredible detail that was very difficult to pick up and it really dances as you move the pen around... Incredible! I've included a Brooks-esque close up shot to give you all an idea of the figure this blank has! It's really awesome!

This pen has seen some fairly regular use in my now 5 daily writers selection. My wife also tried to hi-jack it when she saw it... :biggrin:

There was also a nice collection of blanks in the box which I would hesitate to call packing material... as far as the postal service was concerned, they were calling it balast!

Thanks to Ben for a great pen and thanks for looking!

--Dave

 

[PenPal]

Dave,

You lucked in with a pen etc from Ben he is a personal friend of mine and lives but 5 minutes away everything he makes is quality No 1, his blanks highly desirable he has a determination to use top blanks.

This pen is no exception, well done to you both.

If I have a regret with the current PITH it is not a direct swap so receiving from one and sending to another breaks direct link and a golden oportunity to reciprocate IMHO. This to establish a balance between swappees.

Thanks for your appreciation of my mate Ben.

Kind regards Peter.

 

[cwolfs69]

nice pen. that wood has some incredible figure. one good thing about those types of blanks. blank alignment is sometimes a waist of time. the figure goes everywhere, so no matter where you put it, looks good.

 

[Drstrangefart]

I like it! Looks great! I like all the added ballast the post office had to note.

 

[boxerman]

One very nice pen and blank.

 

[rizaydog]

Very nice pen. Great work.

 

[bench1holio]

thankyou all for the kind words, its very encourageing when someone on the other side of the world that youve never met before appreciates the time and effort that goes into these things.

dave, im really stoked that you like the pen, and hope you can make some beauties with those blanks.

 

[sbell111]

Don't let my crappy flash burned pic fool you, it has a nice even glossy finish... even with my diffuser I couldn't get a picture without some flash burn.

My advice is to turn your camera's flash off. Light the object using three external lights diffused by your light box. The object will be well lit without notable shadow and there will be no reflection from a flash.

 

[ve3bax]

dave, im really stoked that you like the pen, and hope you can make some beauties with those blanks.

the blanks went straight to the personal stash... something tells me i wont see too many others in the future so ill make a few pens for myself

My advice is to turn your camera's flash off. Light the object using three external lights diffused by your light box. The object will be well lit without notable shadow and there will be no reflection from a flash.

i dont use my cameras flash... i use a speedlight with a diffuser. i usually set my lightbox up near a sunny window and use my overhead lights then bounce the diffused speedlight off a white panel in the top of my light box and it gives mostly satisfactory results with minimal shadow (most of the time) however sunny skies were not around and i couldnt really get the grain to pop with bouncing the flash... i decided a little flash burn would have to do as i really wasn't in the mood to fiddle around with it any more and drag out more junk :frown:

next time i should just be less lazy and do it right

--Dave