Dog Click Wildflower

[qquake]

I made this for a friend of mine who just got a 6 month old beagle, named Benton. It's the Dog Click pen in antique brass from PSI. The blank is an inlace acrylester from Arizona Silhouette called Wildflower. I normally avoid inlace blanks like the plague (or coronavirus). I hate them. They're a pain in my arse. But my friend chose it, so I decided to give it a try. Boy am I glad I did. It is magnificent! The figure is at once subtle and spectacular. I am really happy with how it turned out! Oh, and I love the pen, too!

 

[qquake]

For some odd reason, AS says not to use carbide chisels on inlace blanks. But I've always used carbide on brittle blanks, and did this time as well. No problems. I tried a negative rake cutter, but found that a flat 2" radius cutter worked better. I'm just not a fan of the negative rake. I got it pretty close on the ends with the chisel, but was afraid to go further for fear of chipping it. I've ruined brittle blanks that way in the past. So I used 220 grit dry for final shaping, then followed my normal polishing regimen: 220-320-400-600 wet; 3M Tri-M-Ite wet; Meguiar's 105 then 205. I'm very happy with the finish.

 

[magpens]

Love that shine !!!

I think you'll be using MORE inlace acrylester !!!

BTW, I always use carbide ... never had a problem . . The key with inlace acrylester is to go slow, taking light cuts.

 

[qquake]

Yes, for once I forced myself to go slowly. It took forever!

 

[qquake]

I did have one episode, but it happened early on, and I was able to turn it out. In my defense, it was caused by the carbide cutter, not impatience. I tried a cutter with a 4" radius, instead of a 2" radius. The corner of the cutter dug into the blank. Won't use that one again.

 

[Brotherdale]

That came out really nice. I think my success rate with inlace is about 3 out of 4. It's so frustrating to work with... but it looks so good when it doesn't explode.

 

[qquake]

I think I'm closer to 50/50. I didn't have any chipping or blowout problems with this one, other than the issue with the 4" radius cutter. Like I said, I forced myself to go slow, which wasn't easy. I'm an impatient turner.