Russknan
Member
I am a recently retired psychologist. One of my favorite patients is soon to be conferred his Eagle Scout award. As a former (also current, I guess?) Eagle Scout, I am particularly proud of him. His Mom has informed me that I will be invited to the award ceremony. That means a lot, but I don't know the date of the ceremony - probably any time now. So, as a penturner, I wanted to make something special for him. Tried a couple of things I've never done, with the expected learning curve/anxiety that comes with that.
First, I've never done a decal pen. Good place to start. Then, I was inspired by some work done by Rick (rherrell) who, ever the gentleman (and a GREAT vendor, I must say) was kind enough to coach me on staining a blank after I sent him an email about his beautiful MagLite modification. So, after the turning, decaling - couple of failures along the way until I discovered that the decal needs FOUR shots of acrylic spray - at least the way I do it - got the whole thing turned, coated in multiple coats of CA, and assembled on a pen. I truly think it's one of the nicest I've done. Even SWMBO, my greatest critic, an artist herself, and one who can be trusted to find the smallest flaw (I mean that in a good way), found it perfect. Only thing left is to photograph it for my collection. No problem. Took it outside, put it on a piece of foam core board that I normally use, put the pen on it, rested it on the BBQ grill on my deck, and turned around to put down another pen I wanted to photograph. Along came a puff of wind. Lifted up the foam core and pen, sent them sailing, the pen hit the handrail for the steps up to the deck, deflected down onto the cement pad on the bottom, and made a couple of "ding" sounds. I'm nearly heartbroken. BOTH blanks have significant dings. Hopefully, I'll be able to salvage the upper one with the decal. The lower blank has dings into the wood, so I may have to turn, stain, and finish another. Hardware took some hits, too. I thought I had a bunch of those kits extra but, fortunately, I do have ONE left. Guess what I'm ordering again tonight?
Hope you don't mind my crying on your shoulder(s). I'll recover. Just hope I have a few more days before the ceremony. Oh, also, hope I don't have to re-do the upper blank with the decal, too. It's been a learning experience.
Russ
First, I've never done a decal pen. Good place to start. Then, I was inspired by some work done by Rick (rherrell) who, ever the gentleman (and a GREAT vendor, I must say) was kind enough to coach me on staining a blank after I sent him an email about his beautiful MagLite modification. So, after the turning, decaling - couple of failures along the way until I discovered that the decal needs FOUR shots of acrylic spray - at least the way I do it - got the whole thing turned, coated in multiple coats of CA, and assembled on a pen. I truly think it's one of the nicest I've done. Even SWMBO, my greatest critic, an artist herself, and one who can be trusted to find the smallest flaw (I mean that in a good way), found it perfect. Only thing left is to photograph it for my collection. No problem. Took it outside, put it on a piece of foam core board that I normally use, put the pen on it, rested it on the BBQ grill on my deck, and turned around to put down another pen I wanted to photograph. Along came a puff of wind. Lifted up the foam core and pen, sent them sailing, the pen hit the handrail for the steps up to the deck, deflected down onto the cement pad on the bottom, and made a couple of "ding" sounds. I'm nearly heartbroken. BOTH blanks have significant dings. Hopefully, I'll be able to salvage the upper one with the decal. The lower blank has dings into the wood, so I may have to turn, stain, and finish another. Hardware took some hits, too. I thought I had a bunch of those kits extra but, fortunately, I do have ONE left. Guess what I'm ordering again tonight?
Hope you don't mind my crying on your shoulder(s). I'll recover. Just hope I have a few more days before the ceremony. Oh, also, hope I don't have to re-do the upper blank with the decal, too. It's been a learning experience.
Russ
