A pen of firsts...

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esheffield

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...though not my first pen. ;)

But there are a number of firsts for me here. Thanks to finally getting over another project that had monopolized my shop time, it is my first pen in a long time! And it's my first cigar pen - walnut with satin nickel. And my first pen with Enduro. Finish didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped, but I'm sure it's me because a did another test piece with Enduro before hand that came out really nicely. I do like the Enduro though, just need a bit more practice. And finally, it's my first pen pic with my new camera (Kodak DX7590). Kinda quick and dirty pic, but for no more setup than I did I don't think it's too bad. ;)

Bouquets and brickbats all welcomed! Thanks! :D
200552421758_1st_Cigar.jpg
 
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Nice job! I'm sure Wayne will tell you that his first few attempts with the Enduro weren't as successful as he has become. Keep at it and you will get it!
 
Nice pen, nice presentation.
I'm guessing you did not use the macro setting, right?
Did you use any zoom at all, and I'm also guessing you opened the apeture for the "depth of field" thing, huh?
Nice picture...
 
Eddie your pen looks good, I'm just finishing a cigar myself and I used of course Enduro for the finish. From what I can tell in your photograph I would guess that you didn't get thick enough coats of sanding sealer and Enduro. Thats one of the tricks you will have to practice at. If you want a lot of depth and shine then the thicker you want the coats. I think that the biggest mistake that people make when starting out with this finish is pressing too hard with the paper towell. You ONLY want to use the towell to smooth out the liquid to the blank, therefore building up the coats as you go. Also its important to use Micro Mesh both after the sanding sealer and the Enduro and do not sand the sealer back down to bare wood. It is also very important to let each cure for the recommended time but the longer the better. Then after you have finished the blanks you can handle them for assembly but do be carefull for a couple days to let the finish cure completely. Enduro does take some getting used to but so does every finish known to us so just keep practing and I'm sure that you will like it as much as I do very soon.

Wayne
 
Thanks for all the nice comments.

Michael, I actually did use the macro setting and a little bit of zoom. Even though I shot in manual mode, I just kinda fiddle with the settings until I got something I liked. I think that one ended up with f3.8, 1/60, ISO 80. I was really just goofing around a little. Stuck the chess board on a chair, propped up some heavy white sketch paper behind it, and reflected a desk lamp off the paper. Also had an off-camera flash in my hand for some fill to try and get rid of the harsh shadows. So it was mostly luck that I got any kind of halfway presentable pic at all! [:)]

Wayne, thanks for the tips. I agree, I didn't get enough finish on it and/or I was too aggressive with the micro mesh. It doesn't show in the pic, but the upper barrel is actually not too bad. The lower one though looks like it has very little finish. BTW another first - first micro mesh on a pen. I did take a piece of maple I had lying around and turned it down to about pen size and finished it as a practice run and it actually turned out great, so I know what Enduro can do and that I can do it right. I just need more practice to get consistent with it. Thanks for coming up with this technique and sharing it!
 
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