Collaborative Creative Challenge Creations

[mbroberg]

The CCC, the one that was supposed to be concluded by last November , was by all accounts a pretty fun activity although it turned out to be a little more stressful at times then it was intended to be. The original plans were to randomly assign teams that consist of 5 members each. They were to plan and make a pen together. Every team member had to contribute something (hands on) to the construction of the pen. The teams had many difficulties to overcome. In some cases teams included members from other countries. The pens had to travel great distances for completion. The creation of the pens was stalled for several of the teams, for a variety of reasons. As I type this today I still have not received two of the teams creations. Hopefully they will, one day be completed so they can be shared with you. In the mean time, I am going to start posting the photos of the eight pens I do have here, for your enjoyment.

Originally the plan was to have the pens make the rounds between a group of very qualified judges who were going to assess the pens on specific criteria. The only prize for the winners would be bragging rights. Because things unfolded the way they did enough time has passed that I am going to forgo the judging process and start posting the pens in the order that I received them. Accompanying the pens I'll let you know the names of the artists and any other information that is available to me. I will invite participants to comment on the pens as their team's pen is posted.

The postings will take place over a period of days. I have not even opened the pens I have received yet. I still have to photograph them all and write out what I know about them. To get us started, and to get the anticipation level rising, here is a group shot of all the pens.

(I told you I hadn't opened them yet! :biggrin: )

 

[AnachitlPut]

i haven't even seen them yet. we should vote on best. or have people judge them threw the pics.

 

[mbroberg]

i haven't even seen them yet. we should vote on best. or have people judge them threw the pics.

We are not going to judge or vote this time. We are just going to enjoy them!!

 

[mbroberg]

Team 8 - The Rusty Nibs

I received Team 8's pen on 12/13/12. Team 8 describes it as a Black Titanium fountain pen with a stylus. The blank is made of Buckeye Burl, aluminum and colored polyester resin. The finish is 20 coats of CA.

Team 8 says they came up with the idea for this pen after many brain storming emails between the members. They think that this was a very good challenge and the pen was well worth the time it took to plan and complete it.

The members of Team 8 and their individual contributions to the creation of this pen are:

Jim Burr (Jim Burr) of Fresno, CA made the blank.
Mark Detrick (MarkD) of Sayre, PA made the stylus.
Terry Finney (TerryF) of Pretoria, South Africa turned the cap.
Ernie Borraga (EBorraga) of Louisville, KY turned the body.
Todd Webb (penmaker1967) applied the CA finish.

 

[Twissy]

What a shame it seems to have got damaged in the post:frown:

Looking forward to seeing "our" pen......not seen the final result!

 

[mbroberg]

What a shame it seems to have got damaged in the post:frown:

Looking forward to seeing "our" pen......not seen the final result!

Overall this pen is gorgeous. There is a small flaw where the barrel abuts the front section. It is almost unnoticeable to the eye. You really have to look hard to see it. It can be felt as well. The camera picked it up. It looks a lot worse in the picture then it does in reality. In the photo there appears to be another flaw at the end of the segmenting on the cap. I can not find this flaw in reality. It must be a reflection of some sort.

Believe me, anyone would be proud to own this beautiful pen.

 

[penmaker1967]

what can be felt on the top part of the pen is it the finsh if so what can i do to make sure it dont happen in furture pens?

 

[mbroberg]

what can be felt on the top part of the pen is it the finsh if so what can i do to make sure it dont happen in furture pens?

I am not so sure that it is the finish. When I get a chance I'll take it out to the shop and put it under some magnification.

 

[penmaker1967]

thank you

 

[Brooks803]

beautiful blank! looking at the pic showing the stylus that's really cool how the metal comes together and seperates like it does.

Can't wait to see the rest of the pens!

 

[mbroberg]

what can be felt on the top part of the pen is it the finsh if so what can i do to make sure it dont happen in furture pens?

I am not so sure that it is the finish. When I get a chance I'll take it out to the shop and put it under some magnification.

Under magnification it is easily seen that the finish has hairline cracks in it at the end of the barrel where it abuts the component. At one point there is a small chip out of the finish. My guess is that the component was not perfectly square to the tub when it was pressed together.

I still think this is one beautiful pen!

 

[Jim Burr]

That was one of the hardest blanks I ever tried for a segment. At the time, no one had ever done metal, wood and acrylic in one pen. Except for the aluminium, everything was done by hand; stabilized the buckeye and cast the resin. Thought is would be a cool idea...what a pain!! This is the first time I've seen it finished...it rocks!! Of course I'm a bit biased!

 

[mbroberg]

How about this for a Teaser. I have the information written, I just need to get photos. While I'm doing that, here is the information about Team Hydra's pen. See if what you picture after reading the description matches the photos once I get them taken and posted.



Next up we have Team Hydra's (Team 6) creation, which I received on 12/10/12. This is the information that accompanied the pen.

The body, cap and front section are black ebonite. The ink window was cut, drilled and threaded from solid clear acrylic rod. The clip is red and black thread over a formed piece of stainless rod. The finish is red and black Japanese highest grade urushi lacquer with a layer of pure gold powder under the red. As the urushi ages it slowly becomes more and more transparent. The gold will make the red really come to life after a number of years.

Team Hydra…..coined because we have five members with radically different ideas and experience in pen making coming together as one…..had many lofty ideas at the start. Ultimately as time passed we tried to focus on each individual's skill set and create something that was actually within reason of our abilities. For some this was their first foray into a kitless creation and I think we did pretty well considering. The ink window was decided on early in the planning stage as well as making it an eyedropper.

The front section hooded nib was a radical piece none of us had done before and it seems like an interesting idea and something to work further on in designing and implememnting.

Members of Team Hydra and their individual contributions to the creation of this pen are:
Luke Putman (Luke Putman) of San Antonio, TX: Assisted in the building of the front hooded cover.
Jeremy Phillips (Glycerin) of Oakton, VA: Made the raw body section including the ink window.
Eric Rasmussen (Sylvanite) of Hillsborough, NC: Made the clip.
Christopher Pukalo (Displaced Canadian) of Marysville, WA: Made the hooded front section.
Chris Leadbeater (Chriselle) of Ito City, Shizuoka, Japan: Made the cap, finial, finial component fitting and the urushi finish.

Members of Team Hydra stepped out of their comfort zone and tried some things that were new according to their skill level. There was only about a month to finish the pen (even with the extension) which really limits the possibilities when using urushi. Given the extremely short time frame it came out pretty well.

All in all Team Hydra had a good time with the project.

 

[mbroberg]

Next up we have Team Hydra's (Team 6) creation, which I received on 12/10/12. This is the information that accompanied the pen.

The body, cap and front section are black ebonite. The ink window was cut, drilled and threaded from solid clear acrylic rod. The clip is red and black thread over a formed piece of stainless rod. The finish is red and black Japanese highest grade urushi lacquer with a layer of pure gold powder under the red. As the urushi ages it slowly becomes more and more transparent. The gold will make the red really come to life after a number of years.

Team Hydra…..coined because we have five members with radically different ideas and experience in pen making coming together as one…..had many lofty ideas at the start. Ultimately as time passed we tried to focus on each individual's skill set and create something that was actually within reason of our abilities. For some this was their first foray into a kitless creation and I think we did pretty well considering. The ink window was decided on early in the planning stage as well as making it an eyedropper.

The front section hooded nib was a radical piece none of us had done before and it seems like an interesting idea and something to work further on in designing and implememnting.

Members of Team Hydra and their individual contributions to the creation of this pen are:
Luke Putman (Luke Putman) of San Antonio, TX: Assisted in the building of the front hooded cover.
Jeremy Phillips (Glycerin) of Oakton, VA: Made the raw body section including the ink window.
Eric Rasmussen (Sylvanite) of Hillsborough, NC: Made the clip.
Christopher Pukalo (Displaced Canadian) of Marysville, WA: Made the hooded front section.
Chris Leadbeater (Chriselle) of Ito City, Shizuoka, Japan: Made the cap, finial, finial component fitting and the urushi finish.

Members of Team Hydra stepped out of their comfort zone and tried some things that were new according to their skill level. There was only about a month to finish the pen (even with the extension) which really limits the possibilities when using urushi. Given the extremely short time frame it came out pretty well.

All in all Team Hydra had a good time with the project.

How did you do?

If anyone from Team Hydra would like to add anything, feel free.

 

[Twissy]

Superb. That Urushi is AWESOME!:good:

 

[mbroberg]

For everyone's information, I've sent Jeff a request for a photo Album for all the CCC pens so they will be all in one place for your viewing pleasure. I am going to still be posting them here but as I do I will add them to the Photo Album.

Next up will be Team 5's pen!

 

[Curly]

It is a good idea to have a single place to view all the submissions.

So far the two pens have been well done and I look forward to see how the other groups did including the one I was in.

 

[Displaced Canadian]

So that's what the whole thing looks like.

 

[mbroberg]

Team 5

Team 5's pen was received by me on 12/24/12. They describe their pen as consisting of a segmented blank made of padauk, maple, walnut and poplar. The blank is cast in resin. It sports a Honduran Rosoewod band. The components are gold and make up a Sedona Rollerball.

Team 5 came up with their design as a group. Everyone made their own suggestions then they, as a team, chose the one they liked best.

Team 5's members and their individual contributions to the creation of their pens are:
Joseph Schneider (wood128), Cocoa Beach, FL: Made the blank.
Cindy Navarro (nava1uni), San Francisco, CA: Repaired the damaged blanks, refinished and assembly.
Chris Houston (sumterdad), Sumter, SC: Cast the blanks.
Renee Reisinger (scoobiehome), Parkville, MD: finished and returned blanks.
Don Ward (its_virgil), Wichita Falls, TX : Turned the blank for a Baron.

Team 5 ran into many problems. The challenge was difficult for them in terms of communication and skill levels. The pen was originally supposed to be a Baron but due to the blanks being damaged they were transformed and made into a Sedona.

Here is the final status update to the group from Cindy, who was last to have the pen.

Hello to all,
It has taken some time, but the pen is finished. I would like to tell you the steps that I have taken to finish it and bring it up to a standard that will be good for presentation.
I made small pin holes in the bubbles and soaked the blanks with with thin CA, which filled the holes after several soakings. This process eliminated the bulk of the bubbles. The tip of the lower barrel was bent and had a large crimp in it that was not possible to smooth without damaging the blank. I cut the blank off of the crimped part of the tube and straightened the tube using a transfer punch. I then glued a Rosewood band onto the tube and turned it to size. I finished both tubes by sanding until they were smooth and then refinished using CA and applying 10 coats until the edges of the blanks were now even with the parts of the pen, they had been under-turned and were below the pen parts. There are a couple of tiny bubbles, but there is nothing that could be done with them. I then assembled the pen tubes onto a gold Sedona and it looks very good, much better than I expected when I received the tubes.

The first 7 photos were supplied to me by Cindy to show the problems that needed to be overcome. I'd say Team 5 Did a wonderful job overcoming the challenges they faced.

 

[AnachitlPut]

Wow hydra's pen ( my groups) is amazing. I love it.

 

[Twissy]

Fantastic recovery!:good:

 

[mbroberg]

Team 7 - The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword!

Team 7: The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword!

Feast your eyes on this! The cap is wood grain acrylic with black ebonite finials. The clip was custom designed and cast by Aurelian Cojocaru. The body was a custom cast of Alumilite by Jonathon Brooks. The basic design was Jonathons.

Team 7 members and their individual contributions to the creation of this pen.

Don Varr (Vanngo5d) from Porter, TX: Drilled and tapped the body.

Jim Fischer (J_B_Fischer) from Belleville, MI: Drilled, tapped and turned the cap.

Aurelian Cojocaru (AurelianC) from Bucharest, Romania: Designed and cast the clip.

Chris Nirenberg (cnirenberg) from Fort Myers, FL: Made the cap finials, turned the cap, made special mandrels to hold the blanks.

Jonathon Brooks (Brooks803) from Aiken, SC: Provided pen materials, cast the pen body blank, made front section, did all the final fit & finish touch-up, inked and broke in the nib.

Team 7 intentionally put varying finishes on the pen. The cap was done in a satin finish to provide a stark contrast to the clip. Also, the wood grain pattern has a slight texture to it. We wanted to make sure that came through in the final product. Same varying finishes on the body. The section was left satin to match the end finial. The body got a light gloss finish to match the nib. The overall design was to make a sword. The cap is the sheath and the body is the blade. When a person uncaps the pen it's like drawing the sword. We carried that thought into the clip by making the tip of the blade into the shape of a nib.

The pen came complete with a leather case and a bottle if ink. Pictures supplied by Jonathon Brooks.

 

[Twissy]

 

[John Den]

The sword pen is really out of the box thinking. Brilliant!
Regards,
John

 

[turbowagon]

I [strike]want[/strike] NEED that pen!

 

[brownsfn2]

Hey mike. If you need help "storing" all those pens I am in the Columbus area and can be right over to take that last one off your hands.

All of them are great work so far. Looking forward to seeing the rest.

 

[mbroberg]

Team Mongrel (4)

Team Mongrel is next. I received their pen on 12/28/12. But, I don't have an information sheet with it. Also, I received an PM from one of the members earlier today asking me for my email address so he can send pictures of their process. So, We'll put Team Mongrel's pen on the shelf for now and move on.

 

[BRobbins629]

Any chance you could bring these to the MAPG for display? I'm sure many there would like to see them in person.

 

[mbroberg]

Any chance you could bring these to the MAPG for display? I'm sure many there would like to see them in person.

Sure. I'm going to pass them off to Jeff anyway. I can do it there. That works out well!

Sent from my DROID4 using Forum Runner

 

[Curly]

Beautiful work all!!!

 

[Brooks803]

Any chance you could bring these to the MAPG for display? I'm sure many there would like to see them in person.

Sure. I'm going to pass them off to Jeff anyway. I can do it there. That works out well!

Sent from my DROID4 using Forum Runner

Don't be surprised if you come up 1 short . That's the hardest it's ever been to let go of a pen.

Team 7: The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword!

Feast your eyes on this! The cap is wood grain acrylic with black ebonite finials. The clip was custom designed and cast by Aurelian Cojocaru. The body was a custom cast of Alumilite by Jonathon Brooks. The basic design was Jonathons.

Team 7 members and their individual contributions to the creation of this pen.

Don Varr (Vanngo5d) from Porter, TX: Drilled and tapped the body.

Jim Fischer (J_B_Fischer) from Belleville, MI: Drilled, tapped and turned the cap.

Aurelian Cojocaru (AurelianC) from Bucharest, Romania: Designed and cast the clip.

Chris Nirenberg (cnirenberg) from Fort Myers, FL: Made the cap finials, turned the cap, made special mandrels to hold the blanks.

Jonathon Brooks (Brooks803) from Aiken, SC: Provided pen materials, cast the pen body blank, made front section, did all the final fit & finish touch-up, inked and broke in the nib.

Team 7 intentionally put varying finishes on the pen. The cap was done in a satin finish to provide a stark contrast to the clip. Also, the wood grain pattern has a slight texture to it. We wanted to make sure that came through in the final product. Same varying finishes on the body. The section was left satin to match the end finial. The body got a light gloss finish to match the nib. The overall design was to make a sword. The cap is the sheath and the body is the blade. When a person uncaps the pen it's like drawing the sword. We carried that thought into the clip by making the tip of the blade into the shape of a nib.

The pen came complete with a leather case and a bottle if ink. Pictures supplied by Jonathon Brooks.

With this design it might look like it would be unbalanced to write with but it's not. It writes like a dream! Mike mentioned the ink I sent along with the pen, but didn't mention the color....RED. What else would a "sword" of a pen write with :biggrin:. If you want Mike, ink it up and give it a go. See how it feels for you. I'd be interested to know bc I'm definitely making more like this!

 

[Hendu3270]

And I thought I was doing well in the pen making craft. These are outstanding.

 

[MarkD]

I think this sword on this pen could be considered a safety hazard. The pen should be disqualified! :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

 

[BSea]

That is way beyond cool. I'd hate to have to have made the cap for that pen.

 

[walshjp17]

Great, now y'all have created a technical precedent Next I assume we'll see a Samurai sword pen or perhaps a USMC sabre pen:biggrin::biggrin: Look for next year's BASH and the newest contest -- Sword Fighting with Writing Instruments :tongue::tongue:

Seriously, this is one fantastic accomplishment. Well done Team 7, well done.

 

[Russknan]

Beautiful pens! I was particularly interested in Team 8's pen. The segmenting of the aluminum is very similar to that in the "Sine of the Times" pen I made for my PITH partner Triple Crown. It gave me a shudder looking at the 6th picture in the list where the aluminum comes completely up to the surface and then slightly recedes. You will see the tiniest bit of wood still adhering to the aluminum. The slightest catch would have blown that out and ruined the pen. Took me 4 tries to get it, so congratulations and you folks have my utmost admiration on being able to complete it! Russ

 

[mbroberg]

Team B9

Next I assume we'll see a Samurai sword pen or perhaps a USMC sabre pen:biggrin::biggrin:

WELL, SINCE YOU BROUGHT IT UP.......................

Team B9 (9)

Great minds think similar thoughts. Team B9's pen arrived on 12/29. This pen uses Samurai and Japanese themes that symbolize the expression, "The pen is mightier than the sword". The lower barrel features a Samurai soldier bearing a fountain pen rather than a traditional sword. The red diamonds in the cap on one side are icons of a bonsai tree, the red sun and a temple gate. On the other side are words that translate to "The pen and the sword are in accord". The sword shaped clip and center band are Damascus steel, a material that would be used in that period. The lower barrel and cap are triple cast Alumilite with carving between castings for each color. The section and finials are cast Alumilite.

The team started with a 5 way conference call. Once they learned that one member could make Damascus steel the design gravitated towards a Samurai theme. From there members emailed some design thoughts and/or drawings to each other. At the next call they refined the design from alternative proposals and assigned tasks.

Team B9's members and their individual contribution to the creation of this pen are:

William Weathersby (Triw51) of Cottonwood, AZ: Damascus steel for center band and clip, etched center band.

Dennis Cabell (Soligen) of Sterling Heights, MI: Finial turning, finish, assembly of pen and finish detail on the clip.

Peter Christensen (Curly) of Aldergrove, BC., Canada: Centerband, finials and section.

Fred Wissen (PTownSubbie) of Portsmouth, VA: Casting for barrels, finials and section; turning between castings.

Bruce Robbins (BRobbins629) of Richmond, VA: Artwork for icons, carving, roughing out clip.

 

[Jim Burr]

All of these should have been in the Bash somehow...absolutly stellar work by everyone!

 

[Curly]

Sword Fight!!!

 

[mbroberg]

I have been opening the packages one at a time, as I am ready to post about the pen inside. I feel like it's Christmas! :biggrin: Except I don't get to keep the presents.:frown: