Rifleman1776
Member
Can't believe I used three acronyms and an abbreviation. This forum is corrupting. 
Oh, well. Ennyhow, I finally finished a pen project that has been in the works for months. The idea for a gift to give to my Pastor started as a simple enough thing to start, a Baron, in Bethlehem Olive Wood with a cross on the clip. Then I decided to make sure what his choice of jewelry color was, yellow gold or white. Spied (I mean took careful notice) of him after service one Sunday, yellow it is. Then I mentioned what I was doing to a friend at church. She said Pastor only uses fountain pens. That was a big UH-OH! I had read here about all the problems encountered with nibs and how only those costing the price of a Mercedes were any good, etc. Almost quit idea. Then others sent reassurances that titanium gold Barons from Arizona Silhouette had excellent nibs. Went for it. Got the kit. Went out and bought a pair of gold cross earrings. Took to a custom jewler to have one of the crosses fastented to the clip. After destroying the clip and getting advice from two jewelers, we determined that it cannot be done. Clip is just plain too tough to drill and welding, conventional or laser would destroy the plating. By this time I was saying stuff that Pastor would not approve of. Fortunately, I have recently established a business relationship with a new laser engraving business in town. Had him laser engrave a cross on a European pen with Bethlehem Olive Wood as an experiment. Came out looking fine. So I went and turned the Baron. Took unfinished top barrel to laser guy and had cross put on. When I finally got it back I only finished the pen with Myland's sanding sealer and Johnson's paste wax. Polished with the grain and spinning using my wool blanket. Had one little glitch in the making process. I couldn't find the little spring. Looked around, under workbench, hand emptied waste basket. Spent much time on this. Panicked. Said more bad words. 
Then got smart. A fountain pen doesn't use a spring. There wasn't one to lose. Oh, well. [:I] Results below. If the [}
] does things to the nib, I'll report back.
Oh, well. Ennyhow, I finally finished a pen project that has been in the works for months. The idea for a gift to give to my Pastor started as a simple enough thing to start, a Baron, in Bethlehem Olive Wood with a cross on the clip. Then I decided to make sure what his choice of jewelry color was, yellow gold or white. Spied (I mean took careful notice) of him after service one Sunday, yellow it is. Then I mentioned what I was doing to a friend at church. She said Pastor only uses fountain pens. That was a big UH-OH! I had read here about all the problems encountered with nibs and how only those costing the price of a Mercedes were any good, etc. Almost quit idea. Then others sent reassurances that titanium gold Barons from Arizona Silhouette had excellent nibs. Went for it. Got the kit. Went out and bought a pair of gold cross earrings. Took to a custom jewler to have one of the crosses fastented to the clip. After destroying the clip and getting advice from two jewelers, we determined that it cannot be done. Clip is just plain too tough to drill and welding, conventional or laser would destroy the plating. By this time I was saying stuff that Pastor would not approve of. Fortunately, I have recently established a business relationship with a new laser engraving business in town. Had him laser engrave a cross on a European pen with Bethlehem Olive Wood as an experiment. Came out looking fine. So I went and turned the Baron. Took unfinished top barrel to laser guy and had cross put on. When I finally got it back I only finished the pen with Myland's sanding sealer and Johnson's paste wax. Polished with the grain and spinning using my wool blanket. Had one little glitch in the making process. I couldn't find the little spring. Looked around, under workbench, hand emptied waste basket. Spent much time on this. Panicked. Said more bad words. Then got smart. A fountain pen doesn't use a spring. There wasn't one to lose. Oh, well. [:I] Results below. If the [}] does things to the nib, I'll report back.
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