Thank you Dawn!

[ToddMR]

So I turned an Ancient Mars blank this morning from exotic blanks. I LOVE this blank. Someday I hope my blanks look 1/2 as good as Dawn's. I used some bl nickle tubes I had. This is on a gold Sedona from WC. I even buffed it for a change. When I was done I was just loving how nice this looked. I almost took for my personal collection, but think I will put it in my stock. I took the pictures out on the back porch which I think turned out good. It reminds me if I want something spectacular and easy to turn, I need to get something from exotics. Thanks for taking a look and comments welcome.

 

[Mack C.]

So I turned an Ancient Mars blank this morning from exotic blanks. I LOVE this blank.

Hi Todd; Me too! Did you paint the tubes? and if so what colour?

I turned a Triton FP a couple of weeks ago from an Ancient Mars blank. I have no idea what colour I painted the tube or if I even did.

The reason I ask: I have another Ancient Mars blank cut and drilled for a Triton RB, and am not certain what colour to paint the tubes if any!

 

[ToddMR]

Mark, I used some Black Nickel tubes I bought at WC a while back and did not paint the tubes at all.

 

[Mack C.]

Mark, I used some Black Nickel tubes I bought at WC a while back and did not paint the tubes at all.

Thanks Todd; I've got some gun bluing which turns the brass tubes black. I'll try that!

 

[JohnU]

Looks great Todd! That's one of my all time fav's also, next to her alchemy, merlon's magic, and pretty much any blank she makes.

 

[workinforwood]

Great looking pen, I've always liked that blank.

 

[Dalecamino]

They ARE really pretty blanks. You did good and, a nice pen turned out.

 

[EarlD]

Nice job turning a great blank into a great pen.
EarlD

 

[Lenny]

That's very nice! One of my favorites of Dawn's blanks and well matched with that kit! Great job!

 

[boxerman]

Very nice pen and blank.

 

[corian king]

Very nice!

 

[Dan_F]

Great result!

For those wondering about reverse painting, I did a few experiments, and found that for an El Grande style pen, it is mandatory that you reverse paint the blank, there is just too little material left to not do so. I had the best result by using a copper metallic color. I first tried blue, but since the copper coloring of the blank is the most translucent, it would turn a grayish cast, with the blue showing through the copper orange. Copper under the blue didn't suffer the same fate, the blue being more opaque. White paint made the copper too garish and one dimensional. You can see my example here, though the photo didn't capture much of the 3D effect in the copper parts. : http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=80054&highlight=ancient

Dan