DBDanger
Member
I got my first commission completed! Customer wanted a nice gift for his wife's birthday. She is taking ownership of her company and he wanted something nice that she could use and have as display on her desk. The Faith Hope and Love kit(from PSI) fits with the company's mission, and the Curly Koa wood(from Rockler) represents their love of Hawaii. I chose the birds-eye maple and curly maple(both from a local hardwood supplier) for the stand to give some contrast to the pen, and the strip of Koa and the cross to tie the base to the pen.
I found the idea for the curved pen stand while searching on this site, and it looks and works great. The stand and base are finished in a golden oak stain.
The pen is finished using CA. I used a coat of thin wiped on with the lathe off, and 6-10 coats of medium with accelerator inbetween. They requested a satin finish for the pen. I tried using a Satin CA polish that I found at Rockler on a couple test pens and I could not get a finish that I was happy with so I decided to look on the friendly neighborhood IAP forum for some posts about getting a satin finish. After some research, I sanded through all micromesh grits to get a fully finished gloss with no surface imperfections before going back to 3200 grit to cut the gloss. It worked like a charm. I love the feel of the finish, it feels so soft(like satin?).
Photos were taken and edited on my iPhone(13). I have a couple photography lights on stands with umbrellas for directing light and a cheap product photo booth from amazon. I like to zoom in a little on the camera(i think these were at x1.8 or so) and take the photos from a little further back. I feel like this gives a little more room for the camera to focus easier and to make it easier to fill the frame with the piece. Still getting the process down, but these are the best photos so far.
This was a great experience that I need to thank you all here at IAP for. Thank you all for not only sharing your pens, but sharing techniques and tips and for asking questions! I love seeing all the pens and other things you all do, but even more-so, I love that this place is so open and supportive. BTW, the customer and his wife both love the pen/stand and have been showing it off to friends and family. (here's to some word of mouth business!)
Thank you,
Danger
I found the idea for the curved pen stand while searching on this site, and it looks and works great. The stand and base are finished in a golden oak stain.
The pen is finished using CA. I used a coat of thin wiped on with the lathe off, and 6-10 coats of medium with accelerator inbetween. They requested a satin finish for the pen. I tried using a Satin CA polish that I found at Rockler on a couple test pens and I could not get a finish that I was happy with so I decided to look on the friendly neighborhood IAP forum for some posts about getting a satin finish. After some research, I sanded through all micromesh grits to get a fully finished gloss with no surface imperfections before going back to 3200 grit to cut the gloss. It worked like a charm. I love the feel of the finish, it feels so soft(like satin?).
Photos were taken and edited on my iPhone(13). I have a couple photography lights on stands with umbrellas for directing light and a cheap product photo booth from amazon. I like to zoom in a little on the camera(i think these were at x1.8 or so) and take the photos from a little further back. I feel like this gives a little more room for the camera to focus easier and to make it easier to fill the frame with the piece. Still getting the process down, but these are the best photos so far.
This was a great experience that I need to thank you all here at IAP for. Thank you all for not only sharing your pens, but sharing techniques and tips and for asking questions! I love seeing all the pens and other things you all do, but even more-so, I love that this place is so open and supportive. BTW, the customer and his wife both love the pen/stand and have been showing it off to friends and family. (here's to some word of mouth business!)
Thank you,
Danger
