custom olivewood and ebonite

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
See more from duncsuss

duncsuss

duncsuss

Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2012
Messages
2,339
Location
Wilmington, MA
A while back one of my customers saw a pen I made some time back out of lignum vitae and black ebonite (hard rubber), and asked if I could make one like it from olive wood.

I decided I had to line the inside of the barrel and cap. Since I was using ebonite inserts for the threaded parts (cap-to-barrel and barrel-to-nib-section) I extended the ebonite plug into a full-length liner down the center of the wooden blanks.

There's another trick going on inside the cap, but it's not visible from the outside -- it has a double-liner, the internal one is drilled out to accept the nib but it strikes against the front edge of the ebonite section holding the nib. This prevents the cap from being screwed on too far, and also reduces the air cavity around the nib substantially (which I was advised can help keep the nib from drying out when not in use.)

Here's the end result, after I'd given it a wipe down with Mahoney's Walnut Oil and then buffed with carnauba wax to give it some protection. The nib is a JoWo #6 two-tone (from Meisternib.com) and the clip is a Ti/Gold Rineheart from ExoticBlanks.com.

IMGP6734.jpg

IMGP6735.jpg
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Duncan.... This is by far one of the most beautiful pens.... I have some very nice eucalyptus burl that I would like to give a try, one of these days :)
 
duncsuss said:
A while back one of my customers saw a pen I made some time back out of lignum vitae and black ebonite (hard rubber), and asked if I could make one like it from olive wood.

I decided I had to line the inside of the barrel and cap. Since I was using ebonite inserts for the threaded parts (cap-to-barrel and barrel-to-nib-section) I extended the ebonite plug into a full-length liner down the center of the wooden blanks.

There's another trick going on inside the cap, but it's not visible from the outside -- it has a double-liner, the internal one is drilled out to accept the nib but it strikes against the front edge of the ebonite section holding the nib. This prevents the cap from being screwed on too far, and also reduces the air cavity around the nib substantially (which I was advised can help keep the nib from drying out when not in use.)

Here's the end result, after I'd given it a wipe down with Mahoney's Walnut Oil and then buffed with carnauba wax to give it some protection. The nib is a JoWo #6 two-tone (from Meisternib.com) and the clip is a Ti/Gold Rineheart from ExoticBlanks.com.
Click to expand...

G'day mate...!

Beautiful shape and finish, the ebony gave it a nice "bling"...!

My question to you is, did you make that pen from a single blanks or 2 different halves...???

The bottom part of the pen, almost looks that was made from a cross cut blank but the top part is very different. I've seen many Olive wood blanks with strange grain separations/areas that separated buy a cut, would look that they didn't come from the same blank so, being aware of this and being an Olive wood "appreciator", I wonder...!

Cheers
George
 
MikeL said:
Very nice. Great looking pen.
Click to expand...

Jim15 said:
Beautiful work.
Click to expand...

wyone said:
very nice work
Click to expand...

Airbear77 said:
That looks great!
Click to expand...

yort81 said:
Duncan.... This is by far one of the most beautiful pens.... I have some very nice eucalyptus burl that I would like to give a try, one of these days :)
Click to expand...

Thank you all for your kind words :smile:

robutacion said:
G'day mate...!

Beautiful shape and finish, the ebony gave it a nice "bling"...!

My question to you is, did you make that pen from a single blanks or 2 different halves...???

The bottom part of the pen, almost looks that was made from a cross cut blank but the top part is very different. I've seen many Olive wood blanks with strange grain separations/areas that separated buy a cut, would look that they didn't come from the same blank so, being aware of this and being an Olive wood "appreciator", I wonder...!

Cheers
George
Click to expand...

Thanks George :smile:

Your suspicion is true -- 2 blanks. Actually 4 blanks, because I managed to destroy the first 2 barrels by making rookie mistakes. :rolleyes:

I bought a set of blanks from RockB a while back, they were all cross-cut to a degree, but this pair were more noticeably different than the first 2 barrels I made.

I'm just glad that I didn't break the cap -- that was ridiculously complex with the internal stop, which doubled as the tenon to attach the clip and finial (but at a different diameter, of course ... :eek:)
 
robutacion said:
G'day mate...!

Beautiful shape and finish, the ebony gave it a nice "bling"...!

My question to you is, did you make that pen from a single blanks or 2 different halves...???

The bottom part of the pen, almost looks that was made from a cross cut blank but the top part is very different. I've seen many Olive wood blanks with strange grain separations/areas that separated buy a cut, would look that they didn't come from the same blank so, being aware of this and being an Olive wood "appreciator", I wonder...!

Cheers
George
Click to expand...

Thanks George :smile:

Your suspicion is true -- 2 blanks. Actually 4 blanks, because I managed to destroy the first 2 barrels by making rookie mistakes. :rolleyes:

I bought a set of blanks from RockB a while back, they were all cross-cut to a degree, but this pair were more noticeably different than the first 2 barrels I made.

I'm just glad that I didn't break the cap -- that was ridiculously complex with the internal stop, which doubled as the tenon to attach the clip and finial (but at a different diameter, of course ... :eek:)
Click to expand...

Thanks mate, I appreciate your honesty...!

I'm not sure, if you know of my "normal" directness and willingness to give my honest opinion on what I see, this was the reason of my original question and the reason why I need to understand what you did.

I have a very special sentiment and appreciation for Olive wood, regardless from where (country) it has grown from and nothing pleases me more that seeing "things" made with high grade Olive wood, and so, I have to say that, in my opinion, you pen would get a 10 out of 10 from me, if you had tried to get a better matching short blank to go with the magnificent other short blank you put on the pen long end, that top part, doesn't really does much for me and spoils the overall look and quality of the pen.

I understand that, the first double shorts were a better match and that, these were the spare that you didn't expect to have to use however, if you ever come to a similar situation with Olive wood blanks, you will be most welcome to let me know, and I will make sure I get and send you, free of charge, the best match possible as I'm sure, it won't be one half Olive wood blank that I can not match with some of my Aussie Olive wood, I prefer it much better that way so, the offer stands to you or any of the IAP members caught in a similar situation...!

Cheers
George
 
Last edited:
Thanks, George. I understand what you're saying, and appreciate the honest critique.

Also, thanks for your offer to attempt a match if I run into this situation in the future.

I looked at your online store and saw that you sell olive wood blanks, but was put off a bit because you described them as "already boxed" so I couldn't see the actual blanks I'd be getting. I expected them to be good, but couldn't tell if I'd get a few with matching appearance that I could use for this project.

If I'd seen a "contact me with special requests" sign anyplace on your website, I would have come to you before looking elsewhere.
 
Hi Duncan, you certainly got all the good out of those blanks...thanks so much for showing us. Very nice.
Rocky
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom