"friendship bracelet" zen pen

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glycerine

glycerine

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Aug 7, 2009
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Here's my latest. I actually started it over a year ago and finally got around to finishing it tonight.
I know i'm a little younger that many other members, but when I was in grade school, we would make what we called "friendship bracelets". Don't know if everyone else called them the same or even made them at all. Basically you take embroidery thread and tie knots to make certain patterns.
Anyway, long story short, I made a cylindrical friendship bracelet and stretched it over a tube. I was going to cast it, but decided just to soak it in thin CA and then build medium CA layers on top of that. I think it was probaby easier that way since the thread is fairly thick and I would have turned off most of the acrylic anyway.
I'm proud of this pen because it's one that was truly my own original idea. It takes a while to make the "bracelet" part, but you can make many different patterns and obviously use just about any color you can think of, so you can be creative...
Let me know what you think!

 
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That is amazing! I used to make those bracelets on occasion. If you don't mind, I may have to try this out. It's just such a cool look.
 
Jeremy...you are right...very original. Looks nice too. What is the bracelet material...is it a thread / string or some other ?
 
Jeremy, a fine looking pen, umm bracelet, uh whatever. Ok , do over. Are all the points I see in the photo, knots? You must have teh patients of Jobe. No wonder it took a year to make. Great work. Congratulations.
Charles
 
I also see the word knots. Is it possible to see the back side of the pen if that is where the knots are??? Not quite understanding the tecnichue. Looks alot like PC work. Nice job and thanks for showing.
 
Jeremy, That is a great looking pen. You stole my idea, (just kidding) I also build fishing rods and we use thread for the butt wrap design on them. I have been trying to incorporate that in to a pen, I have tried to use CA on a few and it has not worked for me, it turned white on me every time.
 
Curtis said:
Jeremy, That is a great looking pen. You stole my idea, (just kidding) I also build fishing rods and we use thread for the butt wrap design on them. I have been trying to incorporate that in to a pen, I have tried to use CA on a few and it has not worked for me, it turned white on me every time.
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Curtis

I am working on the same thing. You need to use casting resins but need to seal the threads so they don't turn colors. Still looking for the right product there. I think I have tried every color preserver out there:smile: Trying different threads. Just don't have enough time to get it done right now.
 
VampMN said:
That is amazing! I used to make those bracelets on occasion. If you don't mind, I may have to try this out. It's just such a cool look.
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Thanks. No, I don't mind, go for it!

greggas said:
Jeremy...you are right...very original. Looks nice too. What is the bracelet material...is it a thread / string or some other ?
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Yes, the material is embroidery thread.

ctubbs said:
Jeremy, a fine looking pen, umm bracelet, uh whatever. Ok , do over. Are all the points I see in the photo, knots? You must have teh patients of Jobe. No wonder it took a year to make. Great work. Congratulations.
Charles
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Yes, each point you see is a knot. I think they are technically half hitch knots.

jttheclockman said:
I also see the word knots. Is it possible to see the back side of the pen if that is where the knots are??? Not quite understanding the tecnichue. Looks alot like PC work. Nice job and thanks for showing.
Click to expand...

The pen looks the same all the way around. The dots that you see are the knots. When tying the knots, once a row is created, one end is tied to the other, making a complete circle. It's hard to explain without pictures, but think of a tube sock... not sure exactly how they make socks, but there's no seem on the upper portion. The "bracelet" I made is the same way.

Pioneerpens said:
very creative! Outstanding job on the finish..how many coats of ca did you end up using?
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Good question, I think it was probably 8 to 10, maybe a few more? I put on a good coating of thin. Then I built it up with medium and accelerator.
 
Wow!!! That's very impressive!! I tried to spot some mis-alignment in the pattern, but it's absolutely perfect!!:eek::biggrin: Well done!!
 
That is stunning! I remember friendship bracelets what a throwback to a simpler time in life! Now another thing I'm going to have to try.
 
turbowagon said:
Cool! Could the same be done with hemp?
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Possibly, if the strands were small enough. I actually hit the thread when turning the ends next to the bushings because it was a tad too thick. It's hard to tell though once you put CA back on it.
 
Oh, one more thing. I did paint the tube black. There are small holes between the knots and I was afraid you'd be able to see the brass.
 
Really an outstanding pen and a great idea. I never made friendship braclets as a kid cause no one liked me. I did pull a few kids stickers off their chairs in kindergarden so they wouldn't know where to sit.
 
That's very cool, sorta micro macramé. Actually what it looks like it horsehair hitching, like is done on ultra high end tack for show horses and such. That stuff brings Serious money in some venue's. I bet if you could replicate the colors and simplify the patterns in traditional hitching you could sell these for a fortune at certain livestock shows and rodeo's.

Just google horsehair hitching and check out some of the work you find.
 
jskeen said:
That's very cool, sorta micro macramé. Actually what it looks like it horsehair hitching, like is done on ultra high end tack for show horses and such. That stuff brings Serious money in some venue's. I bet if you could replicate the colors and simplify the patterns in traditional hitching you could sell these for a fortune at certain livestock shows and rodeo's.

Just google horsehair hitching and check out some of the work you find.
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I just looked that up (the horsehair thing). Very interesting...
 
Yup that is what I want the horse hair to look like. So the next step is to look up 'friendship bracelets' right? Thank you for your help and any further help you may give me.
 
"You need to use casting resins but need to seal the threads so they don't turn colors"

 I have heard that products like ChromaSeal or Flex Coat may work to seal threads. I have not tried any though.
 
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