Constant's Rose Inlay on Elegant Sierra

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JimMc7

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These are Constant's Rose Inlay blanks on Elegant Sierra kits. These are the red rose in light brown curly maple barrel option. I like the contrast on the blank with the lighter wood. I think my "valentines" (wife & daughter-in-law) will be happy with either, though :smile:.

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Very very nice. I think they will be happy. Jim was it hard to do? and did you have to break the steam like constant says to do? I would really like to know why you have to do that. Thanks
 
Wolfdancer said:
<snip> and did you have to break the steam like constant says to do? I would really like to know why you have to do that. Thanks
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Rodney, I did break the stem exactly as Constant advised. With the twist in the stem to conform to the barrel, I think it would be very difficult to insert the stem in one piece. I honestly can't see the break point in the finished pen so don't think it will cause you problems. Kit wasn't difficult to assemble if you follow the directions. I mistakenly left the tube in when I applied the thin CA to the insert edges and that caused me a bit of stress :redface: but I was able to push the tube out before the CA set up (my bad -- I just forgot!).

Edit to add more info: I wet sanded with CA and some ebony dust to fill the detail as Contsant suggests on the 2nd (Black Ti) pen. I didn't do that on the the gold pen and detail looks as good IMO.
 
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Thanks, all, for the compliments and I hope others post theirs, too. I'd really like to see the other rose/barrel color combinations.
 
Jim,
Those look awesome! I am waiting for my order of these exact kits to arrive as we speak. I think I like the top one with the gold accents. Is it me or the photography, but the details on that pen seems to stand out a bit more? Did you do a CA finish? If so, how much did it darken the barrell?
Great job!
Cheers
Bob
 
bobleibo said:
Jim,
Those look awesome! I am waiting for my order of these exact kits to arrive as we speak. I think I like the top one with the gold accents. Is it me or the photography, but the details on that pen seems to stand out a bit more? Did you do a CA finish? If so, how much did it darken the barrell?
Great job!
Cheers
Bob
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Bob, I agree the gold accents pen shows better detail. Could just be the difference in kits but I did wet sand with CA & ebony dust on the other (which, I think, should have resulted in more contrast but again, could just be difference in original inlay detail). Both finished with CA (no BLO) and this always changes the look a bit - you can see same effect by moistening with DNA or water - not sure you can avoid the change unless you don't apply any finish.
 
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The difference in detail (particularly in the leaves) bugged me so I measured and the Black Ti pen (less detail) is 0.017" smaller in diameter than the gold trim pen (measured at same point just below the clip end). So, detail was likely same in both and I just turned off a bit too much on the black ti pen. Point is not to "over-turn" if you want to maintain the detail!
 
Jim, your going to make two ladies very,very happy.. And you hit the 3 F's
Fit, Finish and Foto...........Ok my spelling leaves something to be desired but Photo sure sounds like Foto.....
 
Jim,

Those are awesome looking. I just got my 2 kits on Saturday, but to be honest, I'm a bit afraid to start working on them because they look so delicate, and I'm not sure what to do to put them together.

Where did you find instructions on how to put them together and finish?

Again, fantastic job! I hope mine come out at least half as good as yours did!

Rick (mtgrizzly52)
 
mtgrizzly52 said:
<snip>Where did you find instructions on how to put them together and finish?<snip>
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Rick, instructions are on Constant's web site:
http://www.lazerlinez.com/pdf%20files/Rose%20%20%20Instructions.pdf

Follow those and you shouldn't have any problems.

Only thing I might leave out when I do more is filling with brown wood dust -- yes if you have any small gaps, but not sure it's really necessary to highlight the inlay detail (more important is not to turn the blank down too much I think). I used a 6" spring clamp to press a few stubborn pieces into place (some are delicate so don't be too aggressive).

I used epoxy to glue in the tube after using the thin CA to glue in the pieces. Like Constant recommends, I sanded first with 220grit to smooth before turning with a sharp skew used like a scraper -- light cuts because I didn't want to ruin a blank either! CA finish just like any other pen but I would avoid BLO to minimize any color change.

Good luck and post or PM if you have more questions. I bet Constant would be willing to help if you gave him a call, too.
 
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