Too many firsts?

[MyronW]

This is one of two pens I am making for a couple in Colorado that I met on Facebook through a childhood friend. They adopted a Marine unit that was deployed to Afghanistan, and being a former Marine, I wanted to do something nice for them. They are avid hunters, and they have provided me with a rather large elk antler (3' long and over 2 1/2" thick) that was shed, so these pens were a natural fit.

This is my first bullet pen; my first pen using antler; and my first pen using CA/BLO.

The cartridge is a .338 Winmag that Eric Rasmussen converted. I thought about doing it myself, but he does great work and I don't have the time. The antler turned OK; I need to work out a better way to fill the structure first.
The CA/BLO was not fun. I watched several videos in the forum library, and followed the steps, and after three or four attempts finally had enough mistakes on board to get it sanded smooth and polished out!

I have one more of these to make, and then I'm going to make a hot pink 5.56mm bullet pen for their daughter. She has a target rifle that will blind you, it is so pink!

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/If926QS7nKZQpGLsfD04AbRDQT7v-aJjkya2dSxHMzc?feat=directlink

 

[rizaydog]

Nice looking pen. I am sure they will be pleased.

 

[MyronW]

and a third and fourth!

I posted the picture, along with an album showing the process, on my Facebook page. Two more friends have ordered pens as a result.
I have no idea how to price these. They are big cigar pens and the materials alone run around $30, not including the antler, which was given to me.

What is an appropriate range for this type of pen?

 

[boxerman]

Nice pen. I don't use Ca/Blo on antler. Just sand it a put plastx on it and buff it up good.

 

[Drstrangefart]

You pretty much nailed it, dude. I'm not a fan of the bulged shape on the antler, but that's personal taste and certainly NOT a hit on your execution. I'd probably ask for $90 on it, but you'll probably get WILDLY different opinions on price across the board. Still, excellent, especially with how much learning goes into so many firsts at once.

 

[MyronW]

I really wanted to thin it out more, but I realized I would lose the bark accent on the side, and I was getting skittish about catching the tool edge. It seemed like a tool would work for a little while, and then it wouldn't. I ended up using my roughing gouge for nearly the whole job, since it was the only tool that would behave itself. The answer may be as simple as more frequent sharpening.

I also had a hard time with concentricity. I have a Jet 1014, and I have checked everything with a dial indicator, cleaned the tapers with a finishing reamer, and still this thing went thumpety-thump. I suspect the bushings are sloppy on the mandrel.

 

[ToddMR]

Looks good from what I can see. My first antler and casing pen was the same as yours pretty much. You did a really good job all around.

 

[Sylvanite]

It looks sharp Myron. I'm glad the 338 cartridge worked out for you and look forward to seeing the hot pink 5.56mm. I don't normally use BLO on antler (actually, I don't use it on wood either). If the antler needs stabilization or filling, I do that with thin CA. If it doesn't polish up naturally, I'll finish with medium.

Regards,
Eric