Faith-Hope-Love Olivewood

[qquake]

A PSI Faith-Hope-Love pen in antique brass, that I purchased at Rockler. Looks great with the Bethlehem olivewood. This is a wedding pen for one of the girls at work, I still have to engrave it. I think she'll like it. The finish is Pens Plus.

 

[mark james]

Wonderful gift Jim.

 

[sorcerertd]

Fatih, Hope, Love, and the Olive branch symbolizing peace! Nice! It's hard to go wrong with Olive for almost anything.

 

[TDahl]

Very nice. I love that pen.

 

[egnald]

Hi Jim, That is a really nice pen and I am sure she will love it. Olive is such a nice wood to work with and is always pretty. It looks like you have a good fit around the center band. I had a problem with most of the FHL kits I have bought from PSI in fit around the center band. It was almost like the rope braid was not square. Maybe I should buy a few more and give them a try again when I get my allowance next week. - Dave

 

[qquake]

Hi Jim, That is a really nice pen and I am sure she will love it. Olive is such a nice wood to work with and is always pretty. It looks like you have a good fit around the center band. I had a problem with most of the FHL kits I have bought from PSI in fit around the center band. It was almost like the rope braid was not square. Maybe I should buy a few more and give them a try again when I get my allowance next week. - Dave

I've made a few of these, and it seems like the fit can be different from kit to kit. But it's still one of my favorite wedding pens.

 

[qquake]

I made the stand out of oak. The finish is Deft sanding sealer, and Varathane semi-gloss clear.

 

[qquake]

Got the engraving done.

 

[RGVPens]

Very beautiful pen! Did you laser the engraving, or have it done somewhere?

 

[SteveJ]

Very well done Jim!

 

[qquake]

Very beautiful pen! Did you laser the engraving, or have it done somewhere?

I used my own laser engraver, a NEJE 7w.

 

[RGVPens]

Great work! I've been thinking of getting a laser for a while. There are several pieces I do that would be nice to put a name on, or to sign my scroll work. Looks like I just found another use for one! Is 7w strong enough, or should I get a more powerful laser? I would like to do this just once...lol.

 

[qquake]

Great work! I've been thinking of getting a laser for a while. There are several pieces I do that would be nice to put a name on, or to sign my scroll work. Looks like I just found another use for one! Is 7w strong enough, or should I get a more powerful laser? I would like to do this just once...lol.

At the time, 7w was all I could afford. If I bought one now, I'd get a more powerful one. You can always turn it down. Wood is easier to engrave than acrylic. You have to fill acrylic engraving with something so it will show up.

 

[jrista]

I've made a few of these, and it seems like the fit can be different from kit to kit. But it's still one of my favorite wedding pens.

I've turned a few kits where the bands or end pieces have raised bands themselves. Often, the bushings are not quite sized right for a proper fit of blank to pen, as the bushing size doesn't account for the fact that the kit parts have little raised bits themselves, and are just sized for the maximum diameter of each kit part.

I've taken to putting the turned blank directly between centers, and turning them down a bit more. I'll often measure my diameter just inside the raised bumps, bands, whatever on the kit parts, where the diameter is smaller. The one challenge with that, that I've found, is if you aren't careful, or choose a diameter that is just a bit too small, then the blank can get very thin and crack or chip more easily. Still, I prefer the bands on the kit parts to be larger than the diameter of the blank.