Some of my pens (picture heavy)

[Hunter1787]

Hi there. Here are some pictures of pens that I have made at various times over the past several months. The tru-stone was full of surprises. I had heard all of the stories about how hard tru-stone was to turn so when I started on the turquoise I was very ready to spend two or three hours on it. It turned really quickly. I spent about 30 minutes turning it (I timed myself). Well, I was feeling pretty good about tru-stone so I went ahead and started turning the black/gold web one. OUCH. Every three passes I had to resharpen my chisel and I am not kidding. I ended up just using 220 grit sandpaper glued to my table and I would take four swipes on each bevel and then go back to turning. I didn't spend nearly as much time turning as I did sharpening. But then again the results are absolutely amazing. I really like a lot of the acrylic acetate blanks but I do think that the tru-stone blanks are worth the extra effort.

Comments, criticism, etc, are all welcome.

John

 

[ironman123]

It is real hard to see any detail with the black background. Try a off white or gray background. Thanks

Ray

 

[gbpens]

"Trustone" comes in two formulations, one for turning the other for table tops. You seem to have found both. About ten years ago the company that makes this material also made a few pens. They had a triangular shaped sanding belt jig which could be pulled against the material on the lathe and simply ground the material down. Not recommended. They eventually altered the formulae lowering the pulverized mineral content from 85% to about 75% for turning. I agree with you they are worth the effort.

 

[mrcook4570]

Beautiful collection of pens!

 

[booney0717]

They all look great!

 

[walshjp17]

Very nice pens. Good fit and form as well.

Which chisel did you use on the Tru-Stone -- skew, carbide tools or something else?

 

[Wright]

Nice group of pens!!

 

[Haynie]

Contrary to what Ironman 123 says I like the images as they are. Lets face it black makes things look sexy. :biggrin:

 

[Hunter1787]

Thanks for the comments.

Yep, the pictures do look a little bit off. But that is more my fault then the photographers (my brother). I set the export settings to medium and didn't check the resolution afterwards to make sure that it was acceptable. Instead of reposting the pictures in this or a new thread (I passed the 60 minute editing window already) I'll just give you a link to my flickr page to see the pictures in a clearer form. I am noticing that the black pens have a hard time showing up well against the black background. I'll have to look in to a white background. Thanks for the tip.

TradArcher1787's photostream

I used a HSS skew for turning all of the pens. Well, actually I used the skew for the fountain pens but the slimlines were turned before I had a dedicated turning skew. Then I was still using a reground 3/8" chisel. It was short, thin, and the steel was too soft to hold an edge for long. But it did work.:biggrin:

John