Cast Fordite on a rollerball

[duncsuss]

Continuing to work with the blanks I cast, today I finished off this rollerball.

 

[Jim15]

Awesome pen.

 

[duncsuss]

Awesome pen.

Thank you, Jim!

 

[RKB]

This pen is incredibly well done.

 

[duncsuss]

This pen is incredibly well done.

Thank you!

I do my best to make every pen as close to perfect as I can; I gave up on bushings long ago and measure the actual components with digital calipers, not trusting that parts remain exactly the same from one manufacturing batch to another. I mount a tapped sanding block on the headstock, and Rick Herrell's offset sanding jig in the tailstock, to sand the blanks top correct length and square.

 

[Dalecamino]

Wow Duncan! That is really cool looking. Nice work!

 

[duncsuss]

Wow Duncan! That is really cool looking. Nice work!

Thanks, Chuck!

 

[Lmstretch]

Awesome job!

 

[duncsuss]

Awesome job!

Thanks!

 

[wolf creek knives]

Very nice pen Duncan!!! Great job and great colors.

 

[Woodchipper]

Most unusual on the "grain" of the casting. Segmented as the "grain" is at right angles.

 

[duncsuss]

Very nice pen Duncan!!! Great job and great colors.

Thanks!

 

[duncsuss]

Most unusual on the "grain" of the casting. Segmented as the "grain" is at right angles.

I arrange the chunks of Fordite in a rectangular mold, deliberately varying the orientation so some places the turned pen reveals "side grain" and other places "face grain" and other places "end grain". As I've mentioned in other posts, you never know exactly what you're going to get when it's turned down to final size.

(Honestly did not think it was unusual to do it this way.)

 

[sorcerertd]

Wow, that "grain" is all over the place. Gorgeous pen!

 

[duncsuss]

Wow, that "grain" is all over the place. Gorgeous pen!

Thanks, Todd!

 

[Darley]

Nicely done, great pen, did you cast the blank yourself ?

 

[duncsuss]

Nicely done, great pen, did you cast the blank yourself ?

Thanks! Yes, I cast the blanks myself (I bought the Fordite pieces). I put a few of the blanks up in the For Sale section a while back, but got no interest so I'll probably end up making them all into pens & pencils.

 

[wizard]

Beautiful pen….very unique ..the placement of the fordite in different orientations and resulting varying patterns and perspectives makes this pen stand out as the front end of a creative curve! The contrast in colors and sharp separation between layers makes it really visually appealing. Great job! Doc

 

[duncsuss]

Beautiful pen….very unique ..the placement of the fordite in different orientations and resulting varying patterns and perspectives makes this pen stand out as the front end of a creative curve! The contrast in colors and sharp separation between layers makes it really visually appealing. Great job! Doc

Thank you! The mixed orientation was quite deliberate - because, just like exotic burls, there's no way of knowing exactly how one of these things will look when it's turned down to pen barrel dimensions. I mixed it up in the hope that at least some parts would be flashy.