Scooley01
Member
When I got my lathe, I ordered a bunch of slimline kits with it (And no other style kits). I quickly got bored with the straight cuts, so I started experimenting...here are the results of my first week or so with the lathe.
Some of my first pens
- Thread starter Scooley01
- Start date
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Drstrangefart
Member
That's some nice work. As a fan of the fat body slimlines, I can't believe someone managed to get away with a fatter bodied slimline than even I was willing to try. Well played!
Scooley01
Member
Thanks! I wasn't sure if the clip would still go on (And not look wrong) with such a fat body, but it did. I did bend the clip on the pink/black/white one to make it lie along the body, but other than that everything still fit perfectly. All of the acrylic fat bodies were given as early Christmas gifts, and they were much appreciated (From my mother, who collects expensive pens).
Drstrangefart
Member
Nice! I have some gift pens for my brother, grandmother and cousin I made out of a belt that belonged to my uncle before he passed away in '07. Did it like the denim. Cut it into 3/4 inch squares, thin CA glued them into a stack, then soaked the whole stack in CA. Interesting stuff to turn with. You have options as well. Rough, ribbed texture, glass smooth, somewhere in the middle.... They came out very nice. If you get a chance to turn leather like that, give it a shot.
Scooley01
Member
How easy is it to turn the CA and get high gloss on the leather or denim 'stacks'?
I've never worked with CA as a sealant/finish on my pens, I use Shellawax for wood and One-Step plastic polish from PSI for acrylic...I'm worried about lint and cloudiness on the CA finish...the only thing I use CA for is gluing my tubes.
I've never worked with CA as a sealant/finish on my pens, I use Shellawax for wood and One-Step plastic polish from PSI for acrylic...I'm worried about lint and cloudiness on the CA finish...the only thing I use CA for is gluing my tubes.
Drstrangefart
Member
It works really well on almost any surface. What I do is fold a high grade paper towel up into a small pad. Drip 5-6 drops of thin CA in onr corner. Rub it over the pen in one pass on the slowest speed your lathe will turn. It dries in a few seconds. Once dry, repeat a few more times. Using a new corner, apply meduim CA the same way. If you don't have CA accellerant, wait quite a while before the second coat. If you have it, wait 45 seconds or so, then a couple of light sprays with accelerant will get you ready for the next coat in no time. Apply as many coats as you feel is appropriate. I usually do 4 coats of medium or so. If the Meduim spreads too thin and looks like it stopped halfway across a blank, just let it dry and start your next pass coming from the opposite direction. Once you're done with the medium, micromesh will get you to a high gloss polish, and you can cap it off with Tripoli polishing compound if you really want to. It may take some practice to get the feel down, so I'd reccomend trying it on a chunk of wood turned to round before using it on a project you have time invested in. Also, remember to sand the ends of the barrels smooth and use a skew to cut the CA where the bushings meet the pen. It'll save you LOTS of heartache.
That's belt leather with the CA finish.
This one's the denim with the CA finish.
That's belt leather with the CA finish.
This one's the denim with the CA finish.
ctubbs
Member
Yep, you got bored with the bushing to bushing slims alright. That is a nice collection of pens. The recipents should be proud of their gifts.
Charles
Charles
Scooley01
Member
I was really proud of the fatter ones when I first did them, because they didn't look like total garbage when I was finished (Which is what I was afraid of). Now that I've done a different style kit (The Designer NT from PSI), I feel like those ARE garbage, and if I wanted fat pens I should just have bought fatter pen kits 
Isn't that the way with learning a hobby though? After a while you look back on your early creations and critique yourself based on what you know now, that you didn't know then.
Isn't that the way with learning a hobby though? After a while you look back on your early creations and critique yourself based on what you know now, that you didn't know then.
ctubbs
Member
That is the process of learning. Congratulations, you have learned to find your faults that no one else can see. You'll do. At least you do show your work. Me, not so much.
Charles
Charles
Drstrangefart
Member
Dude, those slimlines are totally not garbage. Those extreme fatties really look like retro art. They really bring old 60's style to mind and actually look good as they are displayed on the holders in the pics. I would have that on a desk at work. If I had a desk job. When I have a desk job in a few years.