Executive with Chevrons Experiment

[Larryreitz]

I didn't start out to make a pen with chevrons. I was just testing out a new jig on my band saw. The old one was flimsily constructed from particle board and the new one was made from a piece of ¾ in plywood. A couple of practice cuts and I said D--n, that's a chevron. Light bulb goes off. So I cut a couple of them out of red cedar and thought "what the heck". Grabbed some black walnut, and cut end Pieces. I really didn't think too much about the length as long as it was long enough for an Executive. So I turned it and finished it with Gluboost, sanded to 1200 grit and used my new Beal Buffing system on the blank. Before assembly I thought I'd better check to see how the gurus orient the chevron. My initial thought was to point it toward the finial, however, after doing a search in the archives it appears that those in the know, orient the point toward the nib. I did the same. Even though it looks (to me) a bit unbalanced and has a couple of other imperfections I'm happy with the learning experience and quite happy with the finish I got with the Beal Buffer.

 

[mick]

I like it! Good choice pointing the chevrons down.

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[Lucky2]

Larry, it's a gorgeous pen, and you've done a fine job of bringing it all together.

Len

 

[magpens]

Beautiful pen, Larry !!!!

 

[Lmstretch]

Nice pen!
Can you provide a picture of the jig?


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[Dieseldoc]

Larry: Looks like you jig is spot on, very nice looking pen.

 

[mbroberg]

Great craftmanship

 

[KenB259]

Looks good. I like the orientation just like you have them.


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[mark james]

Very nice! There are several excellent aspects to your blank that bears attention:

- The three middle sections look like they have the same dimensions - Visually appealing.
- The two end sections have very different dimensions - This is good! They do not try to be similar. By being obviously a different dimension, they allow you to tinker with the lengths. The lengths you decided on are again visually appealing.
- The choice of material is excellent, and the angle for the cuts is great.

I rarely use metal and wood for my blanks, but I do admire those who do - well done!

I would be very proud of this! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Larryreitz]

Nice pen!
Can you provide a picture of the jig?


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It is a very simple, basic jig. Here's a couple of pictures FWIW.

 

[Larryreitz]

Very nice! There are several excellent aspects to your blank that bears attention:

- The three middle sections look like they have the same dimensions - Visually appealing.
- The two end sections have very different dimensions - This is good! They do not try to be similar. By being obviously a different dimension, they allow you to tinker with the lengths. The lengths you decided on are again visually appealing.
- The choice of material is excellent, and the angle for the cuts is great.

I rarely use metal and wood for my blanks, but I do admire those who do - well done!

I would be very proud of this! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks so much Mark.. Your added comments are really helpful. I still have a good ways to go. It's not obvious from the pictures and I didn't make them small on purpose, but the glue up is not as smooth as I would like. I have some ideas for the next time.

 

[jttheclockman]

Larry looks good and agree that is the way they should point when doing this type cutting. Did you bend the aluminum by hand or jig or did you buy angle pieces and used that?? Thanks for showing.

 

[Larryreitz]

Larry looks good and agree that is the way they should point when doing this type cutting. Did you bend the aluminum by hand or jig or did you buy angle pieces and used that?? Thanks for showing.

Thanks for the input. Regarding the aluminum sheet I cut it in small pieces, bent it by hand and then put it in a vice where I tapped it lightly with a hammer to get a truer 90 degree angle.

 

[Lmstretch]

Larry you pen looks perfect!


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[egnald]

Very attractive pen. - Dave

 

[DrD]

Got no idea what you're talkin' about regarding imperfections - that pen is waaaay beyond my skill level. Looks great! I'll send you my address so you can just ship it down here to me for safe keeping.