Segmented Jr. Gent

[davidrei]

Jr. Gent, screwbean mesquite, amboyna burl center stripe & circle, maple veneer. The straight veneer is store bought. To get the maple around the circle, I turned a solid maple dowel to 23/64, and an amboyna dowel to 19/64. I then made a simple jig to hold the blank in the drill press, drilled a 23/64 hole and glued in the maple dowel. after that, I drilled a 19/64 hole and glued in the amboyna dowel. This was my first attempt, so it didn't come out as well as I'd hoped, the hole is kinda centered on one side and off center a little on the other, and the amboyna dowel is slightly off center.

Figuring (correctly) that my problem was not starting out with a perfectly square blank, I tried again with desert ironwood, amboyna and maple. This one came out very well, but unfortunately, the lower barrel suffered from spontaneous rapid disassembly while turning. Not sure what to to with the survivor, thinking about pairing it with some elk antler I have, but I'd want to add some wood element to the antler to better connect it to the upper barrel. Maybe just a simple amboyna dowel?

As always criticisms & suggestions are most welcome.

 

[guts]

Dave,man you are after it big time,very nice work,looks to me like you're having a bunch of fun.

 

[wdcav1952]

<b>spontaneous rapid disassembly</b> Gotta love the mental image that gives you!!!

Nice work, I really like the concept.

 

[Stevej72]

Dave, it looks great.

 

[johnnycnc]

Really fine looking work,Dave!
The wood combinations look great.

 

[broitblat]

Great concept and excellent implementation! I tried something like that, once. Even if it worked, it would not have come out as nice. I really struggled keeping everything centered. Even your "off-center" one looks pretty good, and all the pieces look great together.

-Barry

 

[davidrei]

Thanks all for the kind words.

***WARNING: TOOL GLOAT***

I would not have attempted this without the ability to ensure the pieces were flat, parallel and square. I just got this to help:

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=17140&filter=Performax%20Drum%20Sander

I was able to buy it at the local Rockler store for $50 off.

 

[darbytee]

That's one beautiful pen Dave. Great work.

 

[Ron Mc]

VERY well done. I looked at your pic and read the process and can't imagine the amount of time involved with this one.
VERY nice pen!

 

[whiskey359]

What a great look. That gives me a bunch of ideas.
This could get dangerous.[8D]
Excellent job and superb craftsmanship.

 

[thewishman]

Beautiful work - your imagination and planning paid off. I am impressed with your creativity.

Either the antler of the amboyna would look very nice with the survivor.

Chris

 

[BRobbins629]

Looking good! Great imagination. I've had my eye on one of those sanders as well. This may move it higher on the wish list.

 

[JimGo]

I've become a bit jaded because of the many beautiful pens we see here, but this one made me stop and go WOW! This is truly stunning; EXCELLENT job!

 

[NavyDiver]

Beautiful work!

 

[GaryMGg]

Cingular! Y'all just keep raising the bar. I like that alot. Thanks much for sharing your process.

 

[Buzz]

I'm with everyone else! Very, very stylish and a beautiful comination of timbers.

 

[Jim15]

Outstanding pen, nice work.

 

[johncrane]

WOW!! looks really good from here great work Dave![]

 

[woodscavenger]

Outstanding work! If someone notices the slight offcenter......unless you sre trying to sell it for more than $200 then just hit them with a "Whatchu lookin' at" stick.

 

[Penmonkey]

Oh too cool!! Thank you for showing.

 

[pete00]

Originally posted by JimGo
<br />I've become a bit jaded because of the many beautiful pens we see here, but this one made me stop and go WOW! This is truly stunning; EXCELLENT job!

what he said, and you threw in a tool glot as well..

way to go !!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ron in Drums PA]

Originally posted by davidrei
<br />
Figuring (correctly) that my problem was not starting out with a perfectly square blank, I tried again with desert ironwood, amboyna and maple. This one came out very well, but unfortunately, the lower barrel suffered from spontaneous rapid disassembly while turning. Not sure what to to with the survivor, thinking about pairing it with some elk antler I have, but I'd want to add some wood element to the antler to better connect it to the upper barrel. Maybe just a simple amboyna dowel?

As always criticisms & suggestions are most welcome.

Very Nice David

How about the bottom barrel just desert ironwood?

 

[huntersilver]

Awesome looking pen!!

 

[davidrei]

Thanks Ron. The only thing about using another piece of desert ironwood is that the grain won't match and it's possible the figuring & color won't match either, and I'd rather not have it look like a forced marriage. I still have one strip of amboyna I can use, though it won't be as thick as the upper barrel. That may be enough. If I make it too fancy, it'll detract from the upper barrel.

 

[Ron in Drums PA]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that looks like a baron. Even with matching grain it will only match up 1 out of 8 times.

On the other hand if you where to use a different wood on the bottom I'd use something dark (ebony or blackwood) and not lighter (antler), JMO.

Either way, it's still a great looking segment

 

[davidrei]

It's a Jr. Gent. I'll consider ebony & blackwood (I'm lucky to have some of each at the moment), but I'm still leaning toward the antler. Since the contrast between the desert ironwood and the amboyna is not large, I don't want to be too contrasty (if that's a word) with the lower barrel, might throw off the balance of the design. I might just end up polishing one edge of a bunch of different blanks and have a beauty contest to pick the best material[]

 

[Ron in Drums PA]

Originally posted by davidrei
<br />I might just end up polishing one edge of a bunch of different blanks and have a beauty contest to pick the best material[]

Good Idea, Good Luck

 

[chigdon]

That is an excellent design and the choice of woods is perfect. Very original yet classic.

 

[Jerryconn]

Excellent work!! very original, I think that whatever you pick out of the choices above will go great with the upper barrel.