Antique Brass Caballero in Sonoran Desert Ironwood

[egnald]

Greetings from Nebraska.

Other than turning a few beer faucet handles nearly 3 months ago, I haven't been turning any pens, but today, I got off my duff and finally finished up the one that set me on the pen turning hiatus. I started this pen sometime in July of last year when the CA finish got chipped off of the cabochon when I pressed it into the finial. Today, nearly 9 months later, I finally dug up a piece of Ironwood that was a pretty good grain match and made a new cabochon and finished up the pen. I think Ed's post about their new Diamond Knurl Rollerball in Antique Brass is what re-lit my fuse. - Thanks Ed!

This is an Antique Brass Caballero, one of Smitty's Pen Works kits from Ed at Exotic Blanks. The Sonoran Desert Ironwood blank is from Rio Rico Marketplace in Arizona. Thumbnail pictures follow. Dave

 

[Kenny Durrant]

Sweet. I really like that. Nice wood and a great finish. Looks awesome with the plating as well.

 

[mark james]

Sweet! I love DI and the Cabochon is a superb element well worth the extra time and effort. Very nice work. Thanks for sharing.

 

[montmill]

Very nice, sold me. Sadly they are out of stock but I can wait. May ask for some tutorial help on the cabochon. This site just keeps pushing and pushing (in a good way). BTW, walked past a stack of Spotted Cow at Costco and thought of you.

 

[ink_a_fink]

That wood compliments the hardware very nicely. Great looking pen!

 

[egnald]

May ask for some tutorial help on the cabochon. This site just keeps pushing and pushing (in a good way).

I just posted the process I use for custom cabochons in the "Kitless, Custom, & Advanced Techniques" forum. The title is "How I Make a Custom Cabochon / Finial". It took me a while to start doing this because I thought it would be difficult, but it turns out that it is really quite easy and doesn't really add a lot of extra time to making a pen. - Dave

 

[SteveJ]

Very nice looking pen. I really like the Caballero!

 

[ed4copies]

Beautiful combination!!!! The restock for the caballero is on order--give the Diamond Knurl Rollerball in Antique Brass a try--I think the result will be just as impressive as this pen (which I think you could sell easily in the high double digit to $150 price range)!

We are positioning the Diamond Knurl Rollerball to be able to be a convertible (rollerball or fountain pen) which should command $120 plus at the retail level. Antique platings are more affordable than the platinum series, but I think at retail they will compete head-to-head. What do you all think??

 

[qquake]

Very pretty! Reminds me of cocobolo.

 

[egnald]

Very pretty! Reminds me of cocobolo.

Yes, the color and grain patterns are very similar to a lot of Cocobolo, but it is about 10% harder and unlike Cocobolo it usually has a great deal of chatoyancy that just doesn't show up very well in pictures. - Dave

 

[sorcerertd]

That came out great! The EB email certainly caught my attention, too. @ed4copies, I really like the antique metal finishes and was very excited to see them on the DKs. They give pens a nice heirloom appearance. I'm trying really hard to hold out until I use up some of the kits I have, though. It is taking a bit of willpower to do so.

 

[ed4copies]

That came out great! The EB email certainly caught my attention, too. @ed4copies, I really like the antique metal finishes and was very excited to see them on the DKs. They give pens a nice heirloom appearance. I'm trying really hard to hold out until I use up some of the kits I have, though. It is taking a bit of willpower to do so.

I have always said I have PLENTY of willpower--

-Just not much "won'tpower"!!

 

[bzahn]

That's a beautiful pen. The wood is gorgeous.