And that's when the fight started!!

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BSea

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Dec 28, 2009
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I love making pens, and when they are done, it's not uncommon for me to look them over several times. My wife sees this as somewhat of a compulsion.:confused: SHEESH Women!!

And to make it worse, she's not really a pen person. So of course it's my mission to make her a pen that she will treasure. So from when I started turning, I've been trying to find her something that would knock her socks off. That's a figure of speech you realize. She rarely wears socks. Anyway, she finally told me she wanted a black pen. She wanted it to be rather on the small side too. So I told her to go through the pens I had, and tell me what she liked the best as far as how it felt. She picked out a Euro. She said it was just the right size for her. So then I started thinking of what to make the pen from. I settled on a black tru-stone with gold webbing. Now I'm not a huge fan of tru-stone, especially the harder ones that take so long to turn. And of course the black is supposed to be one of the hardest. And I agree with that BTW.

So to make a long story somewhat shorter. I spent bout 3 hours making her this pen.

Pen83-A.jpg


Her comment when she saw the finished product was "Oh that is really pretty. It looks like a store bought pen.":eek::eek::eek:

That's when the fight started.

On the serious side. I think she really likes the pen. She even asked for a pen bag to keep it from getting scratched in her purse.

This was a challenge on the finial cap because I could use a threaded inset on the tru-stone. I just couldn't get it to thread. So I just had to glue it. But it looks so much better than the gold cap from the kit. I'm also not thilled about the pen polished. It has been through all the MM, novus fine. But it didn't shine like I expected it to. I'll put some ren-wax on it when I find my little container. Maybe that will help it some.
 
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IPD_Mr

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Jun 27, 2007
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Zionsville, In
She rarely wears socks.

Does this mean you keep her barefoot and pregnant? :tongue:

Isn't it funny how a non-pen person means well with a compliment and due to our desire to have everything perfect, that compliment can seem like an insult. So based on your wife's compliment, you done good! :)
 

SDB777

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Feb 6, 2010
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Cabot, Arkansas USA
Out of the 3hrs, how much of that time were you trying to thread that finial:eek:


Not being a 'Tru-Stone' person myself, I think this is one of those blanks that just looks right on the pen. Won't call it 'store-bought'.....promise!



Ya dun gooooood!








Scott (you can't find something in your shop, I'm in trouble) B
 

BSea

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Thanks for the positive comments. The pen has a few errors. But at least it looks store bought.:rolleyes: On the serious side, there was no fight. I kinda laughed when she said that, and told her that for penturners that wasn't really a compliment. She really meant well, and more importantly does seem to like the pen.

She rarely wears socks.

Does this mean you keep her barefoot and pregnant? :tongue:

Hardly, 29 years - 2 kids - youngest is 25. Been a long time since the pickles & ice cream era. And since Zappos is thinking of putting a distribution center next door, the barefoot thing doesn't fly either. Whenever I feel guilty about buying pen stuff, I just go look in the closet.

Isn't it funny how a non-pen person means well with a compliment and due to our desire to have everything perfect, that compliment can seem like an insult. So based on your wife's compliment, you done good! :)
She's happy with it, and that's what counts. And I told her that nobody else would ever get a pen like that from me.

And I mean that too. I hate that black tru-stone. it's really hard, and messy too. Of course if someone wanted to pay a premium for one, I might be persuaded.


Out of the 3hrs, how much of that time were you trying to thread that finial:eek:

Not being a 'Tru-Stone' person myself, I think this is one of those blanks that just looks right on the pen. Won't call it 'store-bought'.....promise!

Scott (you can't find something in your shop, I'm in trouble) B
I didn't spend much time on the threading part. It basically just chewed into the tru-stone, so I just put a tenon on it & glued it into the cap nut. Some of the harder tru-stone blanks just take a lot of time to turn. This color blank gets really hot easily, so I would stop & let it cool down, or cool it with water. Just a real pain. However, most tru-stone I've done isn't anywhere near as tedious as this one.

And I agree that it looks good with this kit. Normally I would opt for a custom centerband, but it looks better with the stock band. The finial . . . . . . . . not so much. It needed the finial to match the body. I don't like the metal finials.
 

PenMan1

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Jul 8, 2009
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Eatonton, Georgia
Beautiful pen! Very nicely done.

And FWIW: threading the beanie on the top CAUSES more problems than it solves. 5 minute expoxy makes it stay on the stud and easier to turn to a precision fit.
 
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