Bikerdad
Member
These are pics of a hard luck pen I made for my mother's birthday. I had a fair bit of trouble deciding what to get her, so when I finally had decided and secured the goods, I didn't have much time left.
Unfortunately, disaster struck. Following instructions I vaguely remember reading somewhere regarding Fiji blanks, I flooded the blank multiple times with thin CA as I was turning it down. Turning it down went great. Finishing went great. Then it came time to face the blank and put the pen together.
And I could not get the bushings out. Slice the bushing/blank interface? Sliced nicely, but a no go. Tap it out? Nope. Hold it in a vise and tap it out? Nope. Gently soak the ends for a few minutes in acetone? Nope. Soak the entire blank and bushings in acetone while I go to lunch? Nope. Soak overnight in acetone? TADAAAAAAA!! Unfortunately, soaking a Fiji blank overnight does more than just free the bushings up. It also destroys the blank. :frown:
So, I get more materials, miss my date, etc. Glue up new blank using epoxy, wait, get sick, etc. Finally turn and finish the puppy the weekend before last, taking care to remove the blank from the bushings before flooding with CA, turn some more, remove, flood, turn, repeat. When it came to final finishing, I decided not to do an even CA over it, because I liked the tactile difference between the infused wood and acrylic. You can see in the pics a difference in the shine line between the two.
The kit is Craft Supplies Aero, Black Titanium & Chrome. Between Mom's favorite color being blue, and her living in Hawaii, the choice of which Fiji blank to get was pretty simple. The pics were taken with my cellphone at Taco Bell, before crossing the street to the Post Office to mail the package. Pen Box is from CSUSA, bubble wrap from ?? Had I been thinking a little better, I would have been on the OTHER side for taking the pics, with the window behind me, rather than beyond the pen.
Unfortunately, disaster struck. Following instructions I vaguely remember reading somewhere regarding Fiji blanks, I flooded the blank multiple times with thin CA as I was turning it down. Turning it down went great. Finishing went great. Then it came time to face the blank and put the pen together.
And I could not get the bushings out. Slice the bushing/blank interface? Sliced nicely, but a no go. Tap it out? Nope. Hold it in a vise and tap it out? Nope. Gently soak the ends for a few minutes in acetone? Nope. Soak the entire blank and bushings in acetone while I go to lunch? Nope. Soak overnight in acetone? TADAAAAAAA!! Unfortunately, soaking a Fiji blank overnight does more than just free the bushings up. It also destroys the blank. :frown:
So, I get more materials, miss my date, etc. Glue up new blank using epoxy, wait, get sick, etc. Finally turn and finish the puppy the weekend before last, taking care to remove the blank from the bushings before flooding with CA, turn some more, remove, flood, turn, repeat. When it came to final finishing, I decided not to do an even CA over it, because I liked the tactile difference between the infused wood and acrylic. You can see in the pics a difference in the shine line between the two.
The kit is Craft Supplies Aero, Black Titanium & Chrome. Between Mom's favorite color being blue, and her living in Hawaii, the choice of which Fiji blank to get was pretty simple. The pics were taken with my cellphone at Taco Bell, before crossing the street to the Post Office to mail the package. Pen Box is from CSUSA, bubble wrap from ?? Had I been thinking a little better, I would have been on the OTHER side for taking the pics, with the window behind me, rather than beyond the pen.