Random rant for your reading fun at my cost.

[redfishsc]

OK just wasted several good hours at Hard-Way University.


All I had to do tonight was turn 5 pens. And that I did.

One was a Zen from homebrew PR that I cast 6 months ago. A customer saw my black-ti Zen and fell in love and asked for one just like it. Sure thing! I had 3 blanks of this one particular pattern. It took me all 3 blanks to get the pen done. The first blowout was my own stupidity, my hand flinched and I jabbed the blank with the skew. Second blowout happened when I was milling up the ends of the replacement.

The last blank took me an hour just to turn B2B just because I was being anal, seeing my wonderful record thus far with this blank. I suspect my problem was one of the colorants, I used an acetone-based die that seems to have made it more brittle than normal (which is hard to imagine with PR).


Second of the night: yet a different homebrew PR. Managed to get the pen turned and buffed to a beautiful sheen, only to find a couple of great big craters that I'd missed and not filled with CA. Start over with the sanding after filling the holes.... I hate double work.....


Managed to get the holes filled and the pen assembled. Looked wonderful! Until the light caught it *just* the right way to reveal a hairline crack just south of the center band, I guess it happened when I pressed in the transmission, which would be a first for me.

Now, to make things even more fun. I always glue my pens together. I've seen slimline tips and finials come off, so I use 5-minute epoxy to solve that problem. Even after only curing for 15 minutes, the pen would NOT disassemble. I wound up ruining the whole kit (other than the clip and cb)--- Now, I probably could have preserved more than that had I not been acting out some aggression issues:at-wits-end:.


Add to that the two pens I made from wood (dogwood and black ash burl), and gave the CA finish yet another shot and ended up with yet two more failures even after working on the finish for an hour each pen.:hypnotized: No matter what, I got dull spots in the finish (I even tried a new brand CA). I give up! I'm shooting these with catalyzed varnish like I always do and saying good-freakin-by to CA finish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMz_RQuTBlI&feature=related

Ahhh, now see..... that's all better......:redface::redface:

 

[leehljp]

LOL, almost as good as Calvin and Hobbs!

I know the feeling. Don't give up on CA, just put it on a sabbatical until you finish seminary and have a little more time to give it.

For me, When I had a problem that other people did well, I spent time attacking the problem with action. I over did it, and under did it, I tried my own ideas. But I was always pushed by the fact that hundreds of others did it well without the problems that I had. I just accepted the fact that "my interpretation" of their written methods was off, so therefore I had to figure out the translation and make adjustments mentally. (Learning to read between the lines of a Japanese conversation really helped me with problem analysis :wink: ) My objective was not a pen, but overcoming the problem. When I was successful once, I did it again until I could duplicate success over and over.

THEN I started back to making pens as a goal. Making pens with different materials, cuts and segments, and finishes are actually a series of different projects (steps) piggybacked together. Once you fairly well master each individual project or step, then success comes to the finished product. Don't think "make a pen", but think "each step."

 

[fiferb]

As soon as I realize nothing is going right and I'm having a day like that I close up shop. When I go back the next day all is back to normal.

 

[Monty]

As soon as I realize nothing is going right and I'm having a day like that I close up shop. When I go back the next day all is back to normal.

Same here. When Mr Murphy visits me, I just call it quits for the day.

 

[redfishsc]

As soon as I realize nothing is going right and I'm having a day like that I close up shop. When I go back the next day all is back to normal.

Well that would have happened (I know this type of situation ALL too well) but I had to get the pens done for the customer.

Finished up the one that cracked today with a new blank and kit and it looks great. Whew!!!

 

[thewishman]

I feel your pain.

I have experienced your pain.

I live with your pain.

I'm mad as ....

(Voiceover) "We now return you to your regularly scheduled rant, already in progress."