Ultra Cigars

[wdcav1952]

I have showed the ebonized oak burl pen before, and may have showed the desert ironwood burl one, but I don't remember.

Anyway, a customer asked for a photo of both so he could choose so I set up the attached photo. The ebonized oak burl rests on a blank of unebonized oak burl (great! wood I got from Gary Max) and the DI Burl is on my favorite prop, a piece of 350 years old white ash.

I liked the photo, and apparently he did also since he emailed me today to send them both since he couldn't decide! (Insert happy dance here!) So, please indulge me by letting me post a photo I was proud of and making a minor gloat.

 

[Rollerbob]

Purdy pens there, Cav. Not sure minor gloating is appropriate on this forum!

 

[wolftat]

Nice pens Cav, don't you love it when a customer can't make up their mind.

 

[Dalecamino]

Consider yourself indulged Cav ! THAT'S , the way to make 'em AND sell 'em !

 

[ed4copies]

GREAT
Sale,
Cav!!!

(Ed said, whisperingly!)
​

 

[thewishman]

Nice work, William. Now maybe you can afford to have your #@^%$% leprechaun's teeth whitened.

 

[calpens]

Beautiful pens!

 

[DCBluesman]

Beautiful work! I'm not surprised to hear that you sold them both.

 

[johnnycnc]

Both are very nice, and congratulations on the sale.

 

[wdcav1952]

nice work, william. Now maybe you can afford to have your #@^%$% leprechaun's teeth whitened.

rotflmao!!!!!

 

[cnirenberg]

Sweet looking pens and congrats are in order. I've got a ultra kit squirled away somewhere waiting for that perfect blank. Nice combo of kit and wood. I'm not quite sure what the "ROTFLMAO" means but whatever floats your boat.

 

[keithkarl2007]

ROLLING ON THE FLOOR LAUGHING MY A$$ OFF

Sweet pens Cav, done 2 cigars but haven't tried the ultras yet

 

[GouletPens]

Nice pens Cav, no doubt if he hadn't bought both of them someone else would have do so very quickly. Selling ANYTHING lately has proven to be tough, but if you're gonna do it, that's how.

 

[TowMater]

If I were you I'd send him a picture or two a week until his bank account gave out!!!

 

[mdburn_em]

Ok Cav,
Exactly what is ebonized oak?

 

[stoneman]

Both are beauties. I like the oak best.

 

[TBone]

Great work Cav, beautiful finish. Just like the one on the "Last Mano in Paris"

 

[baker4456]

The pin are beautiful, but the little green guy wares me out. But if I had made a sale like that I would be doing his dance too.

 

[maxwell_smart007]

My favourite Ultra Cigar is a Montechristo No.4 Petit Corona!

But yours are nice too! :wink:

 

[jedgerton]

The only good decision your customer can make is to buy both! I'll be happy to store the one they don't take if that is of any assistance to you

John

 

[toolcrazy]

Both are gorgeous.

 

[wdcav1952]

Ok Cav,
Exactly what is ebonized oak?

Mark,

I wasn't ignoring your question; I just didn't see your post until just now.

If I remember correctly, ebonizing was used to imitate ebony in furniture making. It is very simple, which explains why I can do it.

Take a glass container with a lid. Canning jars, empty jalapeño jars or whatever is handy. Fill it half or so full with white vinegar. Look around the shop for some rusty nails, bolts, nuts, washers - you get the idea. Put them in the vinegar and give the solution a shake whenever you walk past the bottle. (Although some do, don't use steel wool as it tends to leave a residue) After a few days, "paint" an oak blank with the rusty brown solution. The blank with turn totally black.

Since I wanted to emphasize the burl in the killer oak burl I got from Gary Max here on the site, I turned the pen completely and sanded it through about 400 grit. Then, I painted the blanks with the ebonizing solution. After it dried, I finished the sanding, and the stain took best in the grain of the burled portion of the blank. After that I finished as usual. The interesting thing with ebonizing is that it allows control as how much color change you desire on the blank.

For more information, you can do a Google search for "ebonized oak".

I hope this helps,

 

[Ligget]

Both pens are gorgeous, it is no wonder both sold. Way to go Cav!

 

[CSue]

absol-wonderful . . . I agree with your customer. They're both too nice to exclude one for the other.

Wow! I love the way the Ultra Cigar kit looks with them as well!

 

[VisExp]

Congratulations on the sale Cav. I'm not usually a big fan of the Ultra Cigar but both pens look great.

I'm getting ready to experiment with ebonizing. There was a great article in one of my woodworking magazines with a recipe which allowed you to ebonize species of wood which did not have a naturally high taning content.

 

[arw01]

Those are a nice pair of em!

Cav, great story and great sale!

Are the pens finished in a CA method or another? They seem have a strong shine to them.