Looking for suggestions

[lucky13]

Hello all,

I am getting ready to make a pen for a charity auction, and I have already picked out the pen kit (Rhodium and TI Nuevo Septre roller ball from PSI) I was wondering what everyone would recommend what kind of wood blank to use. I was considering using a red tide acrywood blank from Barry Gross, but not quite sure. And would it make a difference if instead of a roller ball I make a fountain pen? Looking forward for all the suggestions, and thank you so very much in advance.

Brandon Harris
St. Louis, MO

 

[jttheclockman]

Need more info. What is the Charity???

2 schools of thought on the fountain pen. Could bring more money but not alot of people use fountain pens from my experience (just my opinion) If done right a rollerball with a nice refill might attract more people. But then again fountain pens are collectable and with a unique blank may attract more people. Tough call. Can make an interchangable pen.

Wood blanks do not command as much money as say a nice Feather blank or a watch part blank. A nice segmented blank may have the same effect. You need something to hit the eye and wood does not do it even if it was a burl. Now if you do a wood definetly use some burl and I then would suggest a segmented blank.

You can do a decal of the charity event but I do not think that is best.

Alot too depends on how much you want to put into this and if you think there is a backend payoff. Just some thoughts

 

[Smitty37]

I'm assuming that you have decided on wood. Any number of burls would look great --- I personally think Amboyna burl is tough to beat when coupled with Rhodium but there are others that would also look great.

Ball Point or Fountain will depend on the Venue....if the sale is aimed at high end buyers like collectors or art folks you might want to go with a fountain pen probably with a high end nib. If the sale is aimed at everyday people out to support the charity the Rollerball is better suited.

 

[plantman]

I agee with John and Smitty. Fountain Pens are very collectable, but people usualy don't carry them around or use them much. I would find a nice roller ball kit with a fine point. If you are thinking of some possable sales off this pen, you want something that a person is going to carry, use, and show off to other people. Be sure to put it in a nice case with a printed out discription of what type of material it is made of. Or include a business card with the info on the back. In your discription for the charity, don't use " hand made ", use craftsman designed one of a kind. Jim S

 

[lucky13]

The charity is for IAAM (International Autoimmune Arthritis Movement) and this years theme is art work from people like myself that suffer from one of the many forms of autoimmune arthritis. I would love to do segmented work but I do not want to buy a manufactured segmented blank and I am unable to make a segmented blank my self as I do not have a table saw or band saw. I do have a really nice glass top box that the pen will be presented in, and I am to include "my story" and a description of the pen also. I do have some red lace burl, and some spalted maple burl that I have also been considering, I haven't turned red lace burl before so I have no clue on how it finishes.

 

[jfoh]

Mesquite burl and Amboyna are two of my most popular burls currently. Also any of the Rosewood burl family could be a good option. When turning a special project pen like this I buy several extra tubes and turn several extras pens. Sometimes a great blank gets very ordinary when turned and sometimes they get better. After they are all finished I select the very best for the charity and the lesser ones become stock or giveaways. Most people see our "rejects" as very nice pens and more than one free pen has sold others down the road.

Bought my mesquite from nbby40 on EBay. Bought a irregular square and cut my own blanks for max. burl figure. As a seller you cut for max. number of blanks as a turner you go for one perfect blank and take what is left over as a bonus. Mesquite turns like butter for the most part. I do sand the last .020 of the turning on almost all burls. Not heavy with oils or moisture to cloud CA finish so it finishes well. I do let it, CA, cure for days before assembly.

 

[healeydays]

I was just looking at the charity and one thing I saw with a number of things they use for fundraising is the 8 beads. If you encorporate something in the pen specific to the charity, you usually get better bids.

"Our logo consists of eight circles. The 3 silver beads and 3 black beads represent all people working together to make a difference. Red is the color of strength and signifies the strength we all achieve in numbers. The final silver bead symbolizes moving forward to find more and more people to join the movement to raise a global awareness about Autoimmune Arthritis.".

Maybe find a way to incorporate their logo and the 8 beads? Or if someone who segments could do a glueup of those color bands, you turn a IAAM banded pen.

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