Originally posted by JimGo
<br />VERY neat! How long did it take you to prepare the glue-ups? I like the idea of doing my own color combinations.
Can't say for certain.
It isn't a simple matter of just cutting the wood and gluing it up.
There's a jig involved that allows me to cut them thin.You can't just go to a store and by that.
Selecting the wood and cutting it making sure you don't run short.In the picture of the blank near the 4&1/8 mark you can see a piece of walnut that shows the strips are approximately 1/16th thick.
I wanted to make sure I had enough to experiment with.I cut approximately 132 strips about 12" long.
Each piece was flipped between cuts to compensate for any run out and marked for orientation.
Then they have to be glued up in order making sure they are in the right orientation.
I wanted an accurate look with the best possible fit with out a "factory" appearanve.That's what Dyamond wood is for,I am not trying to duplicate dyed laminated wood.
Also realize turning something like this is akin to turning a burl.There is grain going in every direction and the red mahogany presented a bit of a problem.
Ca glue and a sharp skew was a must.
As far as gluing up the actual blank,I haven't come up with a method I like yet.It takes a little time and after doing a few of these I have learned it doesn't take much of an error in cutting to throw you off when gluing up this many pieces.
I am very fortunate that the woods in this pen are from the scrap bins of 2 local wood workers. Both are custom cabinet makers who "donate" scrap from their trash cans to me.It is due to this fact I don't worry about waste as the wood was going to wind up in the landfill anyway.
So in answer as to how long does it take?
Actually when I can make something like this that cannot be bought ready made and is a product of my thoughts, skills and "talents" time really is irrelavent.
Beautiful pens can be made by cutting a beautiful raw piece of material, turning it which in essence is a mechanical skill that is acquired and perfected with practise.
Making a pen such as the one above pen that is unique because of the thought that went into the material,developing a pattern, method of construction and then dealing with problems that were intentionally added by mistake due to ignorance takes more time and there is no getting around it but time is a relative thing.In short as long as you want it to take.The world will still turn whether I make a pen like this or just turn a pretty burl.