A couple of pen stands.

[Kenny Durrant]

My sons girlfriend is from California and her parents just bought a house in Texas to be close to the Grandkids. The U.S.A. stand is for the girlfriend and the Texas is for her mom. Both pens are Abalone shell. One is made from a sheet and the other is from small chips. Questions and Comments Welcome.

 

[KenB259]

Very cool idea. I love the fact that there is kind of a hidden meaning behind the California and Texas states being different wood than the rest.

 

[Kenny Durrant]

Ken I have a question for you. I have a neighbor from Michigan. There's a strip of land that's not connected to the main part of the state. I think there might be a bridge. If you were going to make a stand of Michigan how would you connect the pieces? Would you leave a small strip of wood connecting the two? Thanks

 

[KenB259]

Ken I have a question for you. I have a neighbor from Michigan. There's a strip of land that's not connected to the main part of the state. I think there might be a bridge. If you were going to make a stand of Michigan how would you connect the pieces? Would you leave a small strip of wood connecting the two? Thanks

You must be talking about the Mackinac bridge, connecting the lower and upper pennisula's. I think I would do as you said and leave the strip that would connect them, representing that bridge.

 

[jttheclockman]

I would make a pen holder to connect them and use the pen as a bridge. My problem is too many ideas come to mind when building stands and things like this. I would think a casting would look nice. Something like these river tables you see being done but on a small scale.

I like the full map idea.

 

[Kenny Durrant]

Thank You for the ideas. I'll look into the bridge and see what it looks like. I might go with the strip of wood but if it breaks I might make some kind of bridge to connect them back together. The stands are a nice break from pens without giving up on them.

 

[KenB259]

Thank You for the ideas. I'll look into the bridge and see what it looks like. I might go with the strip of wood but if it breaks I might make some kind of bridge to connect them back together. The stands are a nice break from pens without giving up on them.

I have been across it many times. Part of it is solid and part s of it is grating. My wife gets really scared driving on the grating, she white knuckles it. She insists on driving. I have no idea why it's less scary if she drives, but that's her story.

 

[Kenny Durrant]

I guess it's like leaning forward while driving so you can see better. OR you have too much life insurance on her and there's a trust issue!

 

[KenB259]

I guess it's like leaning forward while driving so you can see better. OR you have too much life insurance on her and there's a trust issue!

Can't be my driving.

 

[mnerland]

Just an idea.....steel or brass rod (small diameter) drilled and epoxied into the edges of upper and lower peninsula. You could leave a gap and then "saddle" a grooved strip of wood over the rod to represent the bridge and hide the rod. Might give it more strength than just the wood.
Mike

 

[Kenny Durrant]

I've thought about a small rod. I'm a ways away from starting that so I haven't given it a lot of serious thought. I did look up the bridge and thought about trying to duplicate it but not sure how that would work out. I have a friend from England that just passed his citizenship test. I told him he needed to get rid of all the Union Jack Fag stuff and he said no way. Also that was in fun so please don't get offended. Anyway I'm in the process of making an outline USA with an inlay of England in it. Similar to the one above. I'll post that when I'm done. Thanks again to all for the comments and suggestions.

 

[moke]

Kenny, that is very creative! Did you turn the "holder" too? Well done!

 

[Kenny Durrant]

Mike if your calling the holder the brass piece that the pen goes in the answer is no. They're called pen funnels from Penn State. I have made them from 3/4" dowel rods but it was a pain so I just bought these.

 

[moke]

Mike if your calling the holder the brass piece that the pen goes in the answer is no. They're called pen funnels from Penn State. I have made them from 3/4" dowel rods but it was a pain so I just bought these.

Thanks Kenny.....I need to make an order, I'll grab some for future use....

 

[Kenny Durrant]

Your Welcome. They're pretty convenient to use. The only thing you need to watch for is the size of the pen. They are made for slimlines. The Sierra style and others will fit but they need to be pretty much straight up and down or they will fall out.