Spring 2014 Pen Photos

[penmaker1967]

i recieved my pen from mlconney today it was a nice cigar that was made out of walnut and maple he also sent some nice blanks as box filler i will try to get a pic posted as soon as i can i have got a new pc and have to figure out how to get my camera to down load pics.

 

[CrimsonKeel]

Wow those pics ended up larger than i thought they would. if it bugs anyone ill shrink them a bit

 

[USNR'03]

Here are the Pic's I promised

Brian thanks again!!

 

[kovalcik]

Here is the picture of the bowl that came from the same log as my PITH pen for Sylvia. Also another pic of the pen.

 

[Krash]

I received my PITH pen today from Jim Cochrun ... from Penn Valley, CA. Is that a perfect place to receive a pen from or what?

You be the judge!

The pen is sweet and is made from a madrone tree that fell in a neighbor's yard during a storm. It is on my first lock 'n load rifle pen. It is beautifully made with a fine friction polish.

Additionally, Jim send me some goodies to play with.

Thanks Jim!

 

[Brian G]

Here are the Pic's I promised

Brian thanks again!!

You're welcome! You took a nice pair of photographs. I found the source material while on a walk with my wife. I think it's box elder, but I'm not sure. It was part of a 5' long trimming in a marshy area that the city cut back last fall.



It was way too heavy to carry back to the house, so wife and I wrote down the street address of the house across the street from the marshy area. We returned with the car and turned on the hazard lights, handsaw in hand, and started sawing away at the limb. After a few minutes, a concerned citizen crossed the street with a slightly skeptical, "every thing okay?"

Here I am on my knees, sweat dripping down my nose, vigorously sawing away on the log that the guy can't see. So I told him I was just cutting off this nice chunk of burly-material to dry and cut up to make a pen for somebody I don't even know. He kind of looks me up and down, squints a bit, and says, "uh-huh. . . I see. . .well, I was just checking because sometimes people stop here to help turtles that tipped over and I wasn't sure if you needed some help."

Some firsts for me on that pen: first rollerball of that style (the component is Rockler's Newport),and first pen turned from material I stabilized.

My PITH came today, so I'd better take a picture and post it.

 

[Brian G]

Rounder (Randy) sent me this beauty made from mesquite, and included two mesquite blanks and two black walnut blanks with sapwood and heartwood. The pen has a great feel and balance, and the finish is excellent.

Thanks, Randy!



When is the next PITH? :biggrin:

 

[Jim Burr]

Received mine from Nascrdad, but haven't had the time to get pics. Wife already stole one .

 

[USNR'03]

Received mine from Nascrdad, but haven't had the time to get pics. Wife already stole one .

Jim did she steal a pen or on of the blanks?

 

[Jim Burr]

Received mine from Nascrdad, but haven't had the time to get pics. Wife already stole one .

Jim did she steal a pen or on of the blanks?

My new stylus pen...I'll grab it when I get home and snap a pic...she'll be asleep!!!

 

[USNR'03]

Received mine from Nascrdad, but haven't had the time to get pics. Wife already stole one .

Jim did she steal a pen or on of the blanks?

My new stylus pen...I'll grab it when I get home and snap a pic...she'll be asleep!!!

Don't get caught, that could be a BAD experiance!! LOL

 

[mjsix1]

Miles, I'm glad you liked it. I had hoped the road kill 2x4 would have be a little brighter - not sure I will use that in any future endeavors. However, the red cedar turned very nice, and apparently, there is no shortage of it here in Alabama. This was the first pen I used an aluminum can as a separator, but it won't be the last - very easy to work with and sticks well to epoxy. I hope the pen gives you something to explain for many years.

 

[glenspens]

got my pen today

Sylvia(simply.sylvia) put on a show with this pen:biggrin: .I just love it and got some blanks to with it . the pen looks way better in hand than in these pic my bad :redface: Thanks Sylvia

 

[walshjp17]

Dick Box (jeweler53) sent me this beautiful Spalted Alder Gatsby (?). Natural state can be seen in the Teaser thread - post #76 (http://www.penturners.org/forum/f70/spring-2014-pith-pairings-teaser-photos-122445/index8.html).

Sorry about the quality of the photo - I had to use my iPhone and a makeshift background.

 

[Jim Burr]

Had some time to both steal one back from my wife...she never woke up Peter...and to snap a cell pic since my camera shots are legendarily bad.
Nascrdad (Dave) was my swap guy this time. He's new to pens, but has some great technique already! First thing I noticed was the finish...well applied, smooth and even. Fit was really well done, all the parts are well matched and look great!! Of particular interest to me was the Nano stylus. Hadn't seen these before and that's the one my wife stole. She uses it at work and is very happy with it!!
Some cool blanks in the box added to a great PITH!!
Thanks Dave...great job!!

 

[USNR'03]

Jim, I'm sure great skill was in volved in the pen recovery. LOL

 

[Jim Burr]

Jim, I'm sure great skill was in volved in the pen recovery. LOL

It was close!! I can be stealthy if need be :wink:

 

[nascrdad]

Hey Jim,
I am glad she liked it. I carry one of those at work too. Glad you and your wife liked the pens.

 

[truckfixr]

Pith

I received this awesome pen from Glen (glenspens). The photo doesn't do it justice. It's one of his own castings using sweet gum pods. The Ford logo was icing on the cake.



He included a box full of blanks and a keychain stylus made from one of his home brew casts. The keychain isn't pictured because my granddaughter laid claim to it as soon as the box was opened Thank you so much Glen.

 

[Big]

What is PITH?

 

[glenspens]

pen in the hat......only we don't use a hat.....it swap between members on the form that want to play

 

[BSea]

Here's the pen I received from Gofer. I don't know if he's a spy and had a dossier about me, or is psychic, or I just plain got lucky. But this pen really is perfect for me. One of my hobbies is scuba diving, and the way he segmented the pen, it looks like a dive flag when it's turned just right. And one of my favorite kits is the long clicker. I don't know the particulars of the pen, but at 1st I thought the black area was ebonite. But then I concluded that it wouldn't be FOG material. So I guess we'll just have to wait till he chimes in and gives some of the details.

But I do know that he had to be super carful when sanding the blank. The black parts have a mat finish and feel like hard rubber. And the middle segmented piece has a high gloss finish (probably CA). So here's the pen.


And here's another showing the pen with the blanks. The blank at the upper left is English Yew, and I'm not sure what the inlayed blank is. But it has some nice grain.


THANKS BRUCE!!

 

[denniszoomy]

I made a pen for Darkshier he is out of town for a month and will not be home to see his pen, so being the friendly person I am I decided I would be nice and post a pic of his pen for him. Mind you I still need to buff it a little but it will be home waiting for you when he gets back.

Dennis

 

[toddlajoie]

I made a pen for Darkshier he is out of town for a month and will not be home to see his pen, so being the friendly person I am I decided I would be nice and post a pic of his pen for him. Mind you I still need to buff it a little but it will be home waiting for you when he gets back.

Dennis

OOOOhhhhhhh. It's wrapped in plastic!!! How Fancy!!!!!

 

[Gofer]

Here's the pen I received from Gofer. I don't know if he's a spy and had a dossier about me, or is psychic, or I just plain got lucky. But this pen really is perfect for me. One of my hobbies is scuba diving, and the way he segmented the pen, it looks like a dive flag when it's turned just right. And one of my favorite kits is the long clicker. I don't know the particulars of the pen, but at 1st I thought the black area was ebonite. But then I concluded that it wouldn't be FOG material. So I guess we'll just have to wait till he chimes in and gives some of the details.

But I do know that he had to be super carful when sanding the blank. The black parts have a mat finish and feel like hard rubber. And the middle segmented piece has a high gloss finish (probably CA). So here's the pen.


And here's another showing the pen with the blanks. The blank at the upper left is English Yew, and I'm not sure what the inlayed blank is. But it has some nice grain.


THANKS BRUCE!!

Glad you like the pen, The Scuba flag is part of my old front door (it was laying on my lawn before I cut a chunk out of it .. hope that counts as FOG) and a piece of spalted aspen as the white of the flag. The red dye is just food coloring and was a challange to keep it from bleeding through as I refreshed the color on the lathe.

As for the black rubber it was found on the ground while at another sport that requires the water to be in a frozen state ... figure skating. While with my daughter at skating I found some hockey pucks under a set of stands. I went thru 3 or 4 pucks trying fancy segmenting with aluminum and brass but the all blew up in drilling or on the lathe.

The plain rubber reminded me of the old balk rubber fins I had when I first tried diving and went with the flag much better. That makes for a good story but really I was almost out of pucks and time to try any more fancy segments. It was fun with a few brief periods of excitement followed by some colorful language at times.

The inlaid blank is a resifill made by my good friend George in Mount Compass, Australia (George's Bits of Timber in the vendor forum) not sure what the wood is as I lost the slip that came with the box of blanks.

Bruce

 

[Darkshier]

My orders got cancelled so I'm still in town for the moment. The pen is beautiful Dennis, was the plastic FOG too?

 

[nascrdad]

I received my PITH pen from JasonC just as I came back from Louisiana. WOW what a great looking pen. It is a Sierra wrapped in the unknown Burl he took pictures of in the teaser post.


He also sent a couple of extra blanks from the same wood, a Curly Koa, a Koa and a Eucalyptus Burl. Thanks Jason!!

 

[mlconnelly]

A little bit of Texas

Finally got a chance to take some pictures. I got this great Le Roi from Swagopenturner (Mark). I asked him to send me a good representation of Texas. The barrel is segmented with mesquite on each end and a piece of mesquite intermixed with mistletoe in the middle. Great pen and he even included an Easy Flow 9000 to top it off. This was my first PITH and I loved it.

 

[kovalcik]

I received my pen from Crimsonkeel aka. Ben Shipman. It is a Big Ben pen dressed in spalted maple. The finish is spectacular and it feels great in my hand. I expect to get a lot of use out of it at work and will show it off proudly. He also included an extra refill and some great blanks I can't wait to turn.

Thanks Ben

 

[JasonC]

I received my PITH pen from JasonC just as I came back from Louisiana. WOW what a great looking pen. It is a Sierra wrapped in the unknown Burl he took pictures of in the teaser post.
View attachment 117451

He also sent a couple of extra blanks from the same wood, a Curly Koa, a Koa and a Eucalyptus Burl. Thanks Jason!!
View attachment 117452

Glad you liked it.

All of the local guys have said that mystery wood is Monkeypod.

There were two scorpions living in the burl. I found a small one when I picked up the burl, the 2nd showed itself as I was running a piece of wood through the saw. Caught it and will cast it into a pen at some point.

You'll want to stabilize it.

 

[toddlajoie]

OK folks, we are at about a week past the date that you should have sent your partner their pen. Now we all know that things come up that cause delays, especially when we try something new, but the key to a good PITH is keeping your partner's informed in these situations.

IF YOU HAVE NOT SENT YOUR PEN AT THIS TIME, YOU MUST BE IN TOUCH WITH YOUR PARTNER INFORMING THEM OF THE DELAY AND GIVING THEM AN APPROXIMATE TIME YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SHIP IT OUT!!!
​

If you have not received a package from your partner and have not been informed of the delay, please send them a message asking for a status update. If after a reasonable amount of time, you still do not hear from them. Let me know and I will follow up with them also.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this PITH. I hope you all had fun, met a couple new members, tried something new, and learned a bit along the way!!!

Be sure to post photos here in the photo thread for all to see also!!!

-Todd

 

[denniszoomy]

I received My pen from Todd (Toddlajoie) on Saturday, what a beautiful pen it is. He sent me blanks from the same piece of wood that he found in his wood pile to me as well as several other beautifuil pieces. The pen if i am correct is a Sedona modified. The end is closed in and cut out. the finish is so smooth.

Just wish i could make my finishes so smooth. Thanks gain Todd.

Dennis

 

[mmyshrall]

Spring PITH received and it is fantastic!

I received my PITH pen today from Scott (woodwzrd) and it is amazing! It is an oak burl blank on a Zen type rollerball kit. The figure is more amazing in person than the poor photographs show.

Scott also sent me a collection of blanks including a couple that match the pen blank. I appreciate the identification of the wood for each blank. :laugh:

Thank you again, Scott for the pen and the blanks; and thanks, Todd, for managing this PITH.

It has been a great experience and I look forward to the next one.

Michael

 

[toddlajoie]

I received My pen from Todd (Toddlajoie) on Saturday, what a beautiful pen it is. He sent me blanks from the same piece of wood that he found in his wood pile to me as well as several other beautifuil pieces. The pen if i am correct is a Sedona modified. The end is closed in and cut out. the finish is so smooth.

Just wish i could make my finishes so smooth. Thanks gain Todd.

Dennis

Cool, glad you liked it. Yes, the kit is a Chrome Sedona Rollerball. The wood is a mystery to me, one of several trees in my back yard I don't know what it is... Finish is CA, which can be a PITA at the end, as the arch needs to be done by hand with the lathe off, both inside and out. It takes me several days to get enough CA built up on them to feel comfortable sanding (I don't use accelerator), and even then I still sand through them about half of the time...

I've got a couple of other photos of it I took before I sent it, but they are at work. If I remember I will post them tomorrow...

Glad you liked it, it was fun to cut the log and make the pen, I rarely do that...

 

[kovalcik]

Todd,

Thanks for all the work in running the PITH. From my view it went very smoothly and was a lot of fun. I met a couple of IAP members I had not interacted with before, had fun making a pen, and got a great pen for myself. What more could I ask?

Thanks again. (When's the next one??)

 

[clieb91]

I received my pen box yesterday from LeviBlue..
The pen is awesome with 2 different spalted woods. Looking forward to making some things out of the blanks as well.

Thanks to LeviBlue for the pen and Todd for organizing.

CtL

 

[Quality Pen]

To me

My PITH to me was from SMJ1957 (Steve in Colorado). It was a very elegant, well matched pen from his daughter's orchard.

The wood is either peach, apple, or plum tree -- we weren't sure (do you know what wood this is? :biggrin: )

He also gave me some wood blanks which was kind.

Thank you Steve.

 

[BSea]

Here's the pen I sent to Woodwzrd. This was something I've been wanting to do for awhile, and I just thought I'd give it a try. It's a kitless long clicker. I used a mechanism that's all brass from Richard Greenwald. It requires that you turn a button for the clicker. I used the nib & clip from a long clicker that I ruined about 2 years ago. I knew the parts would come in handy someday. To make the blank as long as a long clicker, I had to add the green sections. I used alumilite because at 1st I planned on threading the end cap so it could be removed. But after I turned the green clicker, I realized it wouldn't unscrew, so I just glued it in.

The blank I used was from an old fence post made of osage orange. The fence lined the 1st railroad that crossed Arkansas in the late 1800's. I can't prove it, but that's what I was told by my friend who found it. The tracks are long gone, but the raised track bed is still there in places, along with some of the fence posts (minus 1).

The blank was about as long of a piece that I could cut from the section of the post that I received. The finial below the clicker is also a piece , but the color was sure different once I got inside. This is almost the same length as a long clicker, just a bit larger in diameter. I also had to make a custom extension to bridge the gap between the mechanism and the clicker. They are pretty easy to make. In fact I have a spare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . somewhere on the floor of my garage.

Here it is - and it's also my new avatar.




And here it is next to a regular long clicker.


Thanks Todd for running this PITH. The FOG theme was a good idea.

 

[Hendu3270]

Most impressive Bob!

 

[Darkshier]

I received my pen from denniszoomy yesterday! It is a beautiful Pesimo made from Red Fur bark and Alumalite. He also sent six blanks one of which is wood from Alameda Naval Air station in California. As I'm about to start experimenting with with casting blanks I'm very excited about the RoseArt Medium Point stick pen!