Gee everyone I'm blushing :embarrassed: , thanks for all the kind words . This pen is gone :crying: The LOML took one look at it and she won't give it back , and it's not even purple !!!
I had gotten some of the bronze crushed velvet blanks from CSUSA and made some comfort pens and everyone sold before I was even able to get pictures . Since then I have been searching for these crushed velvet blanks for almost a year Then I found them on the PR Princess's website (you know the address right ?
www.exoticblanks.com) Dawn and Ed are the greatest people to deal with , real fast shipping and great prices . Sorry to say I bought most of the stock they had and would have bought it all if I had more money .
Keith and Paul ,
I made the CB wide to help with the lines of the pen , because these blanks are so thin (turned round they are only a hair over 5/8" and after final sanding the pen is just a little over 1/2" thick) I wanted to give the overall pen a little bit larger look and I think the wider CB does that .
Murphy ,
I do almost all of my drilling on the lathe . These blanks are just as brittle as some of the acrylester blanks I have worked with so I just took it slow and cleared the bit often and drilled at 1700 rpm (slower would have been safer but I'm too lazy to change the belt over) , if you take it easy and don't rush it they drill nice . It also helps if you don't drill all the way through the blank , drill just past the length of your tube and cut the excess off at the saw .
I wish I could take credit for the clip but I got the idea from Skiprat and some of the photos at the PMG gallery . It's a nice simple but very elegant design that is easy to do and very strong .
Ed PLEASE!!! let me know when the new stuff shows up , if it looks as good as these blanks I will be standing in line waiting .
This pen is a tribute to the IAP . I never could have done it with out all of the things I have learned from my extended family here on these forums .
Thank you all .
Now I'm off to make a pen from the freebie Metallic Purple blank I got from Dawn and Ed . I'm hoping that I can distract my wife long enough to get my pen back . Wish me luck :biggrin:
