Should have stayed in bed, yesterday!

[clewless]

For some reason my mojo wasn't right yesterday, maybe it was the forced layoff from the heat wave, so I had opportunities to be creative/artistic (read oops!). You guys made my day with the barrage of chipmonk/squirrel pics! LOML wanted to know what was so funny in a pen turning news group.

Manzanita burl was really hard and I managed to blow out a piece of the lower tube end. I lightened the photo so you can see the "accent ring which repeats the theme of the clip cap" just below the CB.

Then a major blow on the blue maple burl resulted in a larger "natural wood ring that accents the beauty of the natural coloured eyes in the dyed burl"

Finally, a pen with no problems except the curly pinyma is very soft, cutting like butter, so you could easily have a disaster. The photo doesn't do justice to the chatoyance.

BTW, the pens are Americana Duo (red/black)wish there was a better plating available. Wood from BigRob 777.

 

[SteveRoberts]

Boy have I had those low-mojo days.

This morning was one of them. I was drilling Emperor caps 37/64ths in 3/4" Mammoth Ivory so there was nearly no room to spare and at $100 an inch the boo-boos cause real pain in addition to the stream of foul words. ( I did get all three of them done )

Your "fixes" look great, I have sold every one of my "unique" pens, some people just love the oddball.

 

[Penmonkey]

Great pens. What kind of kits did you use? I have never seen those before.

 

[clewless]

They are CSUSA Americana Duo with red/black mini cartridges. I think they'll sell well. no icon for fingers crossed [] http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/cgi-bin/shopper?search=action&keywords=americana-duo

Also made a batch of their pen/pencil combo and length was super critical...got to be real gentle with the trimmer.DAMHIKT[B)][8D]

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/cgi-bin/shopper?preadd=action&key=050-4545

 

[ed4copies]

Joe,

When stuff happens, I have found that the customer accepts pens with symmetry more readily. In other words, I would have repeated the "natural wood ring" on the lower barrel as well.

The "cap repeat" sounds feasible to me!! And the pen looks good (unless the customer knows what an "oops ring" is!!)[][][]

 

[BigRob777]

Joe,
Thanks for the plug. I've been dying to try the curly pyinma. Per your e-mail, I'll save 10 for you (11 that is). Nice work. That manzanita is nice to turn. I've done a number of CBs with it and one sierra, which turned out great, but the stuff is hard. I do agree with Ed, about symetry. I just can't bring myself to substitute nice wood, with something less nice, so I use nice wood for my oops rings. Too often, though, I chicken out and scrub the barrel.

You coming over sometime this month?
Rob

 

[clewless]

Rob...do I see chopsticks in our future? [][] What ya got to slice and dice? We'll see about next week.

 

[BigRob777]

Joe,
Actually, I'm getting ready for that Huangana Negra special. I also need to cut up some Honduras Rosewood. I don't really need help, but I'd love to turn something different, like a cane, or something. I have to build a book case for Claudia's classroom, if you're game. I only have a couple of orders to knock out and they're mostly packed up already, so I have some time to clean (no, it isn't really against my religion[] my shop).
PM me, with your schedule.
Rob

BTW, you can pick up your blanks while you're here.