Cactus Fountain Pen-Closed End

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TurnaPen

TurnaPen

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2008
Messages
467
Location
Trinity Beach, Queensland, Australia.
Have been working on these blanks from TurnTex woods in USA, I have only read about them before. The pen is a Churchill, and this time I went for another first, making a custom made grip. The material turns fairly easily, and- if it was just a straight out pen without the closed ends it would be like turning acrylic and should be fairly easy. However, when turning the blanks for closed ends,- the closed end becomes quite weak and care needs to be taken not to break the end off. I saw an article on the Pen Makers Guild site by Rich Kleinhenz, "making a wooden grip", he describes a Gentleman's pen grip, I used the principles for the Churchill, I found that there is only a very small fraction to play with on the grip and possibly will leave it a little thicker next time round. I used the Mandrel from Les Brindley in NZ for the 1st time to turn the grips, and am very pleased with the ease of use.
Besides all that, I hope you like the pen, your comments are welcome. Amos
 

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WOW Amos, you get better & better with each post..that pen is just wonderful..love the cactus..the finish. ..the grip...it's just first rate all the way
 
Hey, not too shabby for an Ozzy:biggrin: Well done Amos. You made an excellent job of the reccessed clip especially:eek:

Cheers:beer:
 
WOW, Amos!! That has to be one of the very best pens I have seen made with my cactus blanks! Is the custom grip cactus as well?

I would LOVE to include some of these pics in the customer gallery on my site if you would allow.
 
That's a terrific combination. I always like the cactus blanks, but you've turned it into something even more special! It looks like great workmanship in the finsh, the grip, the cap, and the closed ends.

-Barry
 
Thanks for your kind words everyone, Curtis the grips are Cactus also and if you think they are useful for your site then by all means use them, if you send me a pm with your email i will send a range of photos and you can choose whichever one you want. Amos
Jeff, if you saw what I did to that poor little mermaid you would cry, BUT, because of what I learnt from it I was able to complete the Cactus. Amos
 
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Man oh man.. I got ALOT to learn!


Beautiful writing insturment! The craftsmanship is obviously top notch! Amazing work.
 
Justin, I think your idea is good, NOW for the next step- learn to turn a centre band AND especially more difficult, --THREADS???? if you know of any links that I can look up, how to put threads inside and outside, what thread size is used etc.--always looking to improve, thanks for pointing me to these litlle things that are so important. Amos
 
WoodenInk said:
Justin, I think your idea is good, NOW for the next step- learn to turn a centre band AND especially more difficult, --THREADS???? if you know of any links that I can look up, how to put threads inside and outside, what thread size is used etc.--always looking to improve, thanks for pointing me to these litlle things that are so important. Amos
Click to expand...

Sorry, I haven't a clue how to do it, I just noticed that it's the one thing on the pen that disagrees with me. I guess it stems from looking online at many of the Urishi pens and their simple lines. I think that if you could take the center band out you would definitely admire the cactus more since it will be uninterrupted.
 
Very Nice Amos I love that cactus. :eek:

As far as the threading goes if you go to the Most Valued Vendors Lou(DC Bluesman- Heritance Nibs) has the taps and dies for the threading, along with the nibs. That is an area I would love to get into. Now got to start saving my pennies:biggrin:
 
WoodenInk said:
Justin, I think your idea is good, NOW for the next step- learn to turn a centre band AND especially more difficult, --THREADS???? if you know of any links that I can look up, how to put threads inside and outside, what thread size is used etc.--always looking to improve, thanks for pointing me to these litlle things that are so important. Amos
Click to expand...

Amos,
You probably could thread the cap and barrel, but I don't know what would happen if the cactus material was exposed as part of the threads. When you turned it, did you have to finish with CA to "fill over" the exposed catus or is it "under" the resin. I haven't had the pleasure of turning Curtis's balnks YET, but it is on my things to do list.
 
Cris, I don't know if it's "under " resin, I think more like it is "through" resin, so as you turn sometimes some fibres are exposed. My gut feeling is that it may not be wise to thread the cactus as it can be weak, if the pen diameter was thick enough then might give it a go. I have an idea where I can do away with much of the original centre band and use only the silver ring, am in the process of making another couple in Worthless Wood, and will try the experiment, Amos
 
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