Hi peoples,
I feel that most of you deserve some further "explanation" to the guesses and issues you raised, they meant a lot to us and in a way, they are all part of the actions of Mr.Anonymous to both myself and my wife Merissa.
Many of you were half correct about what that pen processes were and, where things went wrong. I can say that, the Majestic Jr brass tubes were prepared by using a piece of round wood shaped to accommodate the 2 brass tubes sizes, they were then spray painted black, as the base. the sparkly material I used, I don't really know its name, there is no information on the packs, I bought them on eBay from a Chinese supplier, they are used to colour women finger nails, in conjunction to the other material that have to be use prior and after.
They come in very small containers and in a box with many colours, 20 or more, there are all types, some more shiny then others, some are like powder, some are tiny little round balls and everything in between, they are normally use by coating the finger nails with a thick clear type varnish and then sprinkle these coloured materials over it, covering all the nail area, the excess simple fall dawn and is reused for the next time. After set, the nails are then covered with a layer of clear coat to keep everything together and water proof.
The pics show, the first coat, and the second coats (the darker one), after properly dried, I was going to create some effects using some of the tiny little balls that I endup using on the alternative pen I endup making, from a blank that the wife had selected some time ago for me to make a pen for her, when I had the chance.
The 4th stage on gluing these tinny balls turn into a nightmare when, I was using my 2oz botte of thick CA with a very fine nozzle to allow pinpoint accuracy, some how, the nozzle got clogged and I had to squeeze harder and harder to force a tiny bit of CA come out, In a way, this was good as was voiding too much glue to come out but, the bottle was full and was used/refilled many times, the threads of the nib get a bit "iffy" and in this case, the amount of pressure inside that 2oz bottle was such that, the whole nib exploded out and covered everything in its way.
As you could see, the 2 tubes were very close to each other, and the position I had it on, to rotate as needed, was over 2 pieces of wood I cut with a Y groove and used to put one on each end of the wood holding the tubes and not touch anything.
I had this "jig" set longways and had it all set up, on my bandsaw table, one of the most used work bench areas for me, it was a pretty clean and tedious job so, no need to cover the bandsaw table with news paper or anything, right...???
Wrong, the way that big blob of thick CA come out almost the hole bottle, it covered the whole jig and anything in it, went to the metal table and into the blade guides and in places I never thought possible.
This is thick CA we are talking about and nearly 2oz of it so, my hands got covered with it trying to save my work and stop the CA to run into places that was better not to. Was the nature of the thick CA that made it so much worse, I could no longer put gloves, my hands were burning from the glue and a little panic set in, for a few seconds, I was unsure what to save, my hands or the pen and bandsaw guides.
Everything had to be cleaned up fast and furious, I didn't touch the jig with the pen at that time I grabbed the can of acetone and pour over my hands, the bandsaw guides and table, it would be the only thing that would slow the setting process and CA strength. There is no need to try to explain what it was like, it was pure panic mode...!
After I got my hand fairly clean, I put on some heavy duty rubber gloves and moved the jig with the tubes glued to it, into another area, the only thing that prevented the jig to get stuck good and proper to the bandsaw bench, was the acetone that I kept pouring over it, a full 4 litre can was used on this venture, and if I didn't have it, I would have been in big troubles, (clue/hint here...!
).
My work was ruined, was not the fact that, the CA has glued the ends of the wood to the "legs| I had made on wood, that was simple to resolve just by cutting those ends off but, I had used a special spray glue to use as the base to bond the coloured material, the thick CA as it set, reacted to the spray glue used and simple washed most of what was there away, in a very ugly way.
Was a lot of CA glue on that jig and tubes that wasn't yet dry so, touching it only meant, get more CA over my hands/gloves. At that time, I grabbed some news papers, wrapped the whole thing in it so that no glue would come out and dry inside.
It was more than clear to me that, both tubes were destroyed and not worth to recover, I had a few spare sets of them, just in case. it took me hours to have everything cleaned up, I had dry glue on my hands that didn't come out with the many paper towels soaked with the acetone. I had lots of skin burns on my hands and they were painful as hell, I only got some relief when I had everything clean and went to the house to get some tooth paste.
Tooth paste you would say.??? If raw meat is not exposed on the burnt areas, one of the best things I was tough to use was the tooth paste, covering all the area with a few mm thickness of the paste, If possible, don't wrap it, the thick layer will reduce the amount of heat and pain, in a way that, unless you have experience it, you wouldn't believe, Merissa and I have had plenty of burns that are quickly covered with the tooth paste, any tooth paste.
One of the things that we have noticed is that, the majority of times, the fluid bobble(s) that are normally associated with skin burns, do not form therefore, the wound heals faster and better. Do not believe me if you so wish, I know how it goes but, the next time you burn yourself, and if you think that you have nothing to lose by trying it, please go ahead and make sure to share with all of us of your experience (clue/hint here...!
)
Yes, is correct that, I do not give up that easy and have demonstrated that in many occasions however, there were 2 reasons why I did not attempt to try to do another one the same, the blue material I had used was pretty most gone and I didn't have any more of that colour and the other colours didn't attract me for this purpose, I couldn't find this stuff again on eBay, the seller I bough it from, is no longer on eBay, I bough these materials all from the same place and some years prior so, I stop looking.
The second reason was that, I need to get the commissioned pen done and sent, and in consultation with Mr.Anonymous the decision was made that, making the pen out of that McIntosh Apple wood blank that was Merissa choice, would comply with one of his requests (have Merissa picking the blank).
Now "connecting the dots" that Edgar mentioned, was an interesting remark of this part and indeed very true, why...??? because, there was one thing from the construction attempt of the failed tubes that, was put in the pen that endup replacing it, and those are the tiny golden balls that are seen all around the pen cap made, that was the only "material" connection to the failed one however, the sentiment behind it, was unchanged...!
It is not a "perfect" pen however, the symbolism that is attached to it, is very special to us...!
I hope that I have cleared a few things out and that everyone understand what this game was about...!:wink::biggrin:
Cheers
George
