All Wood Rollerball Pen with a Tree Bark Texture

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Ken Wines

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Several years ago I used this texture on a Cigar pen using a CNC machine and a very sharp v-shaped cutter. The entire process was very slow and took about 1 1/2 hours per tube to carve in the very fine detail. I decided to try the texture again but this time using the 3D engraving functionality of the Epilog Helix. Using this method it took around 6 minutes to engrave the entire pen. The texture is based upon a 3D depth mapped image of actual tree bark. The wood for the body and cap is walnut and the nib section is ebony. The walnut made very nicely formed threads.

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sorcerertd

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That's fantastic! Don't drop that one in the yard. Did you do the ends to look like the end of a log, too?

You said the nib section is ebony. Do you mean the nib and section both? The actual nib looks like it would be very thin and delicate at the very tip if that is wood.
 

Kcimdrib

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Ken yes marvellous, wonderful, fantastic. But is it turning. Nevertheless It does look good and having paid all that money for a laser I would expect it to.
Some times I sit and wonder if we are losing direction. Or maybe I'm just old school I see some wonderful Wooden turned pens on this site which are marvelous.
Sorry to upset the plastic polishers and laser programmers but surely we want the skill to stay alive.
I didn't write this to upset anyone its only my opinion.
 
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Ken Wines

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Feb 7, 2013
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Charleston, WV
That's fantastic! Don't drop that one in the yard. Did you do the ends to look like the end of a log, too?

You said the nib section is ebony. Do you mean the nib and section both? The actual nib looks like it would be very thin and delicate at the very tip if that is wood.
Thank you, Todd. I did a slighly tapered rounding on the ends. Perhaps this picture will better explain the nib and section comments. I was using the same basic terminology as if I were describing the components of a fountain pen.

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Ken Wines

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Gorgeous work ! Have to show my laser ignorance though . Does the result smell burnt ? Is ash made which has to be cleaned up ?
Thank you, Wayne! Anything that is lasered will have some smell from the smoke that is generated when the material is vaporized. The strength of th odor varies somewhat depending on the operation that's being performed and the material being used. Laser cutting through wood generates this most smoke and therefore the strongest odor. Engraving is not nearly as harsh in this regard. As far as ash, if you cutting wood and the edges char then you're probably using too much power or the feedrate of the head movement is too slow. You need to back the power off a bit and use multiple passes.
 
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Ken Wines

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Feb 7, 2013
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277
Location
Charleston, WV
Ken yes marvellous, wonderful, fantastic. But is it turning. Nevertheless It does look good and having paid all that money for a laser I would expect it to.
Some times I sit and wonder if we are losing direction. Or maybe I'm just old school I see some wonderful Wooden turned pens on this site which are marvelous.
Sorry to upset the plastic polishers and laser programmers but surely we want the skill to stay alive.
I didn't write this to upset anyone its only my opinion.
Thank you for your input, Michael! I welcome all comments even those that are critical. First let me say that I don't have an agenda to try and sway minds such as yours to my way of thinking. I've dedicated a lot of time and effort towards this alternate skill set. I'll admit that I'm a Geek, always have been even from an early age. I can, however, derive the same amount of pleasure using a sharp skew to slowly and methodically shave off layers as I can with operating a high tech machine. My goal is, if I were to have a goal, is to show what is possible if using alternate tools. I don't expect everyone to accept and appreciate my efforts. I would hope that we could peacefully co-exist.
 
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