Couldnt part with them....

[edstreet]

You have won the internet for the day. Those are oustanding!! I'd love to try one sometime, but I'm afraid of HULK SMASH!

Don't be. They are up on exotics and it is very easy to finish them. Just do some very light sanding then a CA coat, trim the ends and you are done. It is easy as that. Just go slow, dont rush, take your time and you will see in no time. If you have any problems or concerns then post here and we will help.

Also what may be of great help in working with them is the post I made here.
http://www.penturners.org/forum/f56/dragon-sceptre;-gent-tube-conversion-114232/

 

[bjbear76]

Sanding - does it matter if you wet sand vs dry? It seems to me you'd have more visible scratches dry sanding, but I just wanted to make sure the water wouldn't affect the design.

 

[edstreet]

Sanding - does it matter if you wet sand vs dry? It seems to me you'd have more visible scratches dry sanding, but I just wanted to make sure the water wouldn't affect the design.

For the question of does it matter if you wet or dry sand? The real answer is yes and no. wet sanding mostly helps reduce buildup on the paper and the paper cuts slightly longer. Delicate sanding, i.e. automotive painting wet sanding helps greatly as the items being removed is more abrasive than wood dust.

Some times wet sanding is pure evil, like when you have things that can bleed, run and soak, i.e. ink, things that can turn liquid.

Another reason for wet sanding is not really while sanding but when changing grit sizes. Say you just finished 400 grit and moving to 600 grit. You still have 400 grit particles on the blank and adding the 600 grit paper you are taking those 400 grit particles and they become your deep scratches. so cleaning the blank between grit sizes really helps greatly in this regard.

For Toni's blanks wet sanding is not needed. Nor will it ruin/damage these tubes. There may be some rough spots and if you run your hand over the blank you can feel them, esp when they are on the lathe and spinning. I start out at 500-600 grit because any harsher will start removing clay and you can most certainly reshape things with 400 grit. If you start removing clay then yes your pattern will indeed change.

Perhaps I should do a post sometimes on destructive testing on polymer clay when it comes to pen tubes. Just to show durability and other things.

 

[sdoerr]

Toni, your blanks are absolutely amazing. Shortly after your original post in this thread I went to exoticblanks and ordered your blue floral for Jr Gent II. I'm getting ready for a show and I thought I would give it a try. Then last night at our 3rd Thursday art walk I showed a picture of the pink floral for Jr. Gent II to one of my customers that had ordered a pen for his boss for Christmas. He originally wanted a Venus with pink ivory. When he saw the picture of the pink floral he was really impressed and asked how much it would be to use the your blanks with the Venus. I said it was expensive and gave him the price. Without hesitating he said I'll take it. Went home after the show and immediately ordered it thru exotic. Thanks so much for sharing your blanks with the rest of us. I'm really looking forward to making both of these blanks and am anxious to see how the blue floral does at the show. Keep up the good work.
Steve

 

[George417]

Outstanding work Toni.

 

[Toni]

Toni, your blanks are absolutely amazing. Shortly after your original post in this thread I went to exoticblanks and ordered your blue floral for Jr Gent II. I'm getting ready for a show and I thought I would give it a try. Then last night at our 3rd Thursday art walk I showed a picture of the pink floral for Jr. Gent II to one of my customers that had ordered a pen for his boss for Christmas. He originally wanted a Venus with pink ivory. When he saw the picture of the pink floral he was really impressed and asked how much it would be to use the your blanks with the Venus. I said it was expensive and gave him the price. Without hesitating he said I'll take it. Went home after the show and immediately ordered it thru exotic. Thanks so much for sharing your blanks with the rest of us. I'm really looking forward to making both of these blanks and am anxious to see how the blue floral does at the show. Keep up the good work.
Steve

Steve thank you for sharing your story. I love to hear them!! I just love the Venus kit, looks great with my tubes!!

 

[jeff]

Looks great on the front page :biggrin:

 

[chriselle]

Hey Toni,

Congratulations on the front page. That's right where that pen belongs.

Just to let you know....you have a black rose Jr Gent with Triton accents and a Venus with the yellow roses on display in Tokyo in promotion of an upcoming event in November. :banana:

 

[Toni]

Looks great on the front page :biggrin:

Oh Wow!! It does look great on the front page!! Thank you!!

Hey Toni,

Congratulations on the front page. That's right where that pen belongs.

Just to let you know....you have a black rose Jr Gent with Triton accents and a Venus with the yellow roses on display in Tokyo in promotion of an upcoming event in November. :banana:

Chris,

Did you take any photos of the pens? How exciting to be in Tokyo I hope you do well at the pen show!!

 

[OZturner]

Toni,
Truly beautiful, looks like the "Flower Power" from the 60's is making a comeback.
Love your work, I must give PC a try.
Brian.

 

[gerryr]

Very impressive work.

 

[ed4copies]

Very impressive work.

There's a county we haven't heard from in a LONG while!!!

Welcome back Gerry!!!!:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

 

[edstreet]

Dare I bump this by posting the matching non-pen item to this SET?

 

[PR_Princess]

I am speechless Ed!! That is gorgeous!!! Class all the way, fit for a queen!

I'm confused though... (lol not a very hard thing to do these days!!:redface
I've never seen a Venus letter opener kit??

How did you do that?

 

[carlmorrell]

I was just going to ask the same question. A Venus letter opener?

 

[edstreet]

The Venus letter opener is a rare and hard to find item until I learned the ancient Chinese secret from a fortune cookie.

 

[Dan Masshardt]

Actually Ed had to place an order of 3000 of them 6 months ago from Dayacom to get one. ;-p

 

[edstreet]

I like the fortune cookie line better than a Dayocom order

Seriously tho, not for the faint of heart. Majestic letter opener kit, venus kit. Both will be chopped up so be prepared to waste the near $100 if you screw up.

First thing is we have the same diameter tube on the majestic letter opener and the gent series. The length is not really that important in the letter opener so you can use any gent tube for that purpose.

The majestic letter opener center band is near similar to that of the gent series. Only exception is there is this added bulk on the front if to hold the letter opener in.

After several trial runs I pulled the band apart

Compared the two bands and there is a difference, that gap must be taken into account.

Front screw section of the center band on the inside view with the Venus band showing.

This is the insert into the tube section. this section is the same for all gent series center bands. the plastic tube rest on this part.

Re-press and like emerald would say BAM!