It all started at the Hyatt on Kuai......
My wife and I were there for my 50th. Great place. I suggest going if you can swing it. The Cosmo's in the bar are excellent - but that's another story....
But what does that have to do with pen kits?? Well, there was a guy at the Hyatt that was selling pens from a small mobil booth. Most of his work was done in Koa wood. Some of the pens were inlaid with mother of pearl - really gorgeous stuff. Anyway, my wife bought me a Koa twist pen that uses a Parker gel insert. This was my first exposure to handmade pens, custom pens, pen turners, etc. Being handy with wood and having a fairly complete shop back in Dallas, I was thinking that I was going to have to learn to do some of this myself..... I know some of you are out there laughing thinking back to how you got into this crazy hobby..
Well, know that I've spent gobs of money on lathes, asst tools, glues, CA, etc, etc, etc, I've actually gotten pretty good at it. It takes making somewhere between 50 and 100 pens before you figure everything out. I've even made Koa pens better than what we bought on Kaui - except from different kits.
BUT, the one thing I can't figure out is what the kit is for the pen my wife originally bought for me. I'm attaching a couple of pictures in the hope that some of you experts will recognize it - and perhaps know where I can buy it.
Thanks
Chuck
My wife and I were there for my 50th. Great place. I suggest going if you can swing it. The Cosmo's in the bar are excellent - but that's another story....
But what does that have to do with pen kits?? Well, there was a guy at the Hyatt that was selling pens from a small mobil booth. Most of his work was done in Koa wood. Some of the pens were inlaid with mother of pearl - really gorgeous stuff. Anyway, my wife bought me a Koa twist pen that uses a Parker gel insert. This was my first exposure to handmade pens, custom pens, pen turners, etc. Being handy with wood and having a fairly complete shop back in Dallas, I was thinking that I was going to have to learn to do some of this myself..... I know some of you are out there laughing thinking back to how you got into this crazy hobby..
Well, know that I've spent gobs of money on lathes, asst tools, glues, CA, etc, etc, etc, I've actually gotten pretty good at it. It takes making somewhere between 50 and 100 pens before you figure everything out. I've even made Koa pens better than what we bought on Kaui - except from different kits.
BUT, the one thing I can't figure out is what the kit is for the pen my wife originally bought for me. I'm attaching a couple of pictures in the hope that some of you experts will recognize it - and perhaps know where I can buy it.
Thanks
Chuck