Dragon Pen

[gketell]

Well, sorta kinda...

A friend's son is about to "graduate" from 5th grade up to middle school and he really wanted a fancy pen. During conversation with his parents I found out he really liked dragons so I wandered out to the shop to see what I could come up with. 1/2 a Olympia Rattlesnake blank and 1/2 a "fire" acrylic from AS and he got this:

Yes, the nib-end is just slightly over turned. [B)]

My fourth sale!
GK

 

[GoodTurns]

very cool idea. new Harry Potter's out soon....maybe a new market!

 

[kkwall]

Now that is a cool idea. My son would love one of those. Great work.

 

[ahoiberg]

nice work greg. i like the looks of that. i've gotten to the point on euro's where i just don't like using the centerband anymore. but it looks appealing on that particular mix of blanks.

i think i see you in the rounded finial. []

 

[Ron Mc]

Greg,
This pen is extremely well done! Very nice choice of hardware finish and your workmanship looks great!
Good job.

 

[Tanner]

Nice job, you really got her shining!!

 

[johncrane]

looks darn fine from here too![]

 

[gketell]

Thanks for all the wonderful comments!!
GK

 

[rhahnfl]

The finish is very well done. Very nice shine to it. Looks great next to the gold.

 

[skiprat]

Greg, very nice combo. I don't think I've ever seen snake mixed with anything else ( except maybe bullet caseing) I think it looks realy cool. Re the over turning at the nib, can't you trim it a bit to make them flush? With the taper shape you that you have,you shouldn't have to take off much. I've made that mistake loads of times and just roll some electrical tape around the barrel and trim it on the lathe. If you measure with a vernier on the nib, lock it then move it up the blank you may be suprised at how little you need to remove. It would be a pity to let it go with an edge and it will always bug you.
Cheers[]

 

[gketell]

Ain't terminology fun... Skiprat, your overturned apparently means the opposite of this newbie's "over turned". It is already cut too much: the acrylic is slightly below the edge of the nib. []

But it is one of those where the picture looks worse than the reality. No one noticed it looking at the pen (not even me) but it is very evident in the picture. [B)]

GK

 

[skiprat]

Greg, If no one has noticed then thats ok then. But what I meant was not to turn more acrylic off, but to shorten the tube a little. Because you have a taper to the nib, then shortening it would bring the blank and nib back flush. If the shape of the acrylic was straight B to B then it wouldn't work of course. The tape I mentioned was just to protect the finished blank from the jaws of a chuck while you trimmed it. All my bushings are wrecked and I often have to trim a little to get a good fit.[]

Still a very cool pen though!!!!

 

[gketell]

OOOoohhhhhhhhhhh I get it now. That is a great idea! I wouldn't have thought of that.
Thanks for more education for the newbie!

GK

 

[workinforwood]

Looks great...I like your idea here.

 

[Glenn McCullough]

another option is to remove the nib (I use an old long drill bit that slides right through the mech center but larger than the nib hole), sand the body down and reattach the nib. That may be easier and more square for reassembly.
This could be a good save, it sure looks worth it. nice job in the pen.