Good evening its time to introduce myself.

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mredburn

mredburn

IAP Activities Manager
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Jul 5, 2009
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8,753
Location
Fort Myers FL
Im Mike Redburn from Estero Fl. I started turning pens about 10 years ago but have been away for awhile. I started to get the bug to get back into turning pens about a month ago. I found this site and just had to dig out the ole lathe and tools and een had to turn a blank even if it was only to round it out. I have some pictures of my pens I made several years ago. the first picture shows from top to bottom,
1 solid sterling silver slimline I made for my wife, you cant see it but there is a synthetic ruby set in the top of the pen the snake is curled around. 2- maple burl with the first sterling parts I made.
3-is koa with 14k parts.
4-koa with sterling silver.
5- 14k and walnut shotgun pendant I made, its about 3 inches long.
6- sterling silver and Mesquite

I made about 10 pens from slimline kits I bought from PSI and quickly went to making and designing my own parts. I still like to design my own parts, Walnut crotchwood, Koa, and Mesquite burl are my favorite woods to turn. Mike
 

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ldb2000

ldb2000

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Sep 11, 2007
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Laurence Harbor, NJ, USA.
Welcome to the group Mike . I like your designs . This is the place to learn new styles . Ask lots of questions and give the libaray a good read . The search feature will bring up lots of great information but you have to phrase your searches well .
 
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mredburn

mredburn

IAP Activities Manager
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the snake clip and the arrow shape yes, the clip on the mesquite is piece of silver flat sheet. Nibs and center bands are lost wax also. the snake clip was a carved File-a -wax.
 
leehljp

leehljp

Member Liaison
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Feb 6, 2005
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9,331
Location
Tunica, Mississippi,
Welcome Mike. I saw your other post and was glad that you introduced yourself. I think we have a lot to learn from you in the casting, metallurgy and general "how to" in acquiring gold and silver for individual pens for the custom one of a kind pens.

To me, this has been a problem in getting past "kit" pens. There are several people here that make quality pens that easily go for $500 - $2000 in the right markets, but the plating and lack of real silver/gold content keep it from getting into the markets where the real money circulates. If $200 to $500 worth of real gold/silver is put into clips, bands and nibs with the right artistic design and finish - this would put a $1000 pen (with kit parts) in the $2500+ market IMHO.

I know people (and I am sure you are one) that can tell instantly if a pen is plated and how well it is plated. Although most people are not like this, there are people in different market areas that would purchase such pens.

There are talented makers here and quick learners too. You may or may not wish to share your techniques and other industry secrets with everyone. (That was a debate here on IAP recently.) And it might be that you only wish to share this with a few or limited number of serious creators - that could in turn help you on some aspects of this craft. In any event, join in the fun here.


Back to the Welcome: Below is a link to a PDF file that goes over many aspects of pen turning from finish - to pens - to tools - to methods etc. It is not in detail but a good overview for pen turning. You don't need most of this information due to your experience but I am including it in case there are things that may help.

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=42446

Also included below is a link to a new post that gives some information that people wished they had known earlier in pen turning. Some good information by those that make pens.

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=46654
 
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