Thank you, John! Your words are too kind. I've missed seeing you at the pen turner's gatherings.
Been hampered by medical issues lately. Looking forward to perhaps being at MOVPTG this year if the body holds up.
Thank you, Mark! I've basically quit production blank work and turned that over to a long time friend of mine, Rick Cobb. Rick was serious enough about wanting to do this type of work that he went out and bought a used Epilog Helix. I built his rotary device which is operationally a twin to mine. Anyway, he will have access to all of my design files and has ideas of for his own future designs. I've taught him just about all I know about and am looking forward to seeing where he can take it. He has recently opened a website that will be his marketplace for what will be now his pen blanks. I haven't quit trying to come up with new patterns but going forward anything I make will mainly be for my personal use.Your technical skills and artistry is a wonderful combination to see. And having a small bit of understanding the learning curve you went through gives an even greater appreciation. Well done, and thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Kenny! You are very kind!
Steve, here is pretty much the song and dance routine. I cut and drill 4 or ever how many I need for the pattern blanks. I have made TBC bushings that fit the drilled holes and use them to turn all of the blanks to the same size on a metal lathe. When I designed the pattern, it is drawn as if there are no border between adjoining pieces and sized so that the pattern will fit seamlessly around a 2" circumference(the Y axis). Then the pattern is stretched lengthwise to fit the tube on the X axis. My rotary is made such that a 2" line on the Y axis of the drawing yields 360 degrees of rotation (exactly, everytime). Then I determine how thick I want the grid that separates the inlays that make up the pattern. All of the components drawing lines are offset inwards 1/2 that distance. In the case of thesse blanks the grid is 0.030" thick in the design so the pattern was offset inwards 0.015". These are the design parameters to get the actual cutting lines , laser kerf compensation must applied to the design drawing. All inlay cutouts are offset inwards by 1/2 a laser kerf (I've determined that a laser kerf for my laser is 0.007") so the cuts are offset inwards by 0.0035" All the cut line for the actual inlays are offset outwards by 1/2 a laser kerf or 0.0035" The end results of the offsetting gives you inlays that are a good friction fit and require no clamping or rubber bands to hold them in place during glue up. The blanks are glue up by flooding the outside of the blank with thin CA and allowing it to wick in the inlay seams. The brass tube is not in place during this procedure on this type of blank (puzzle blanks, and helicals are a different set of rules). After the glue is cured a chucking reamer of the same size as the drilled hole is run carefully through the hole to clean up any glue that may have puddled on the inside of the blank and distorted the hole's shape and size. After that it's pretty much business as usual. The brass tubes are glue in be careful to center them lengthwise in the blank. The blanks are ~ 1/10" longer than the brass so about 1/20" is sanded from each end. They are then turned to size and profile and hopefully don't fly apart.
Thanks you, Todd! It took a little bit of time to assemble. I'm not sure I understand the U2 reference but it's all good!
Thank you, Jim!
Thank you, Michele! Your words are very kind. Sometimes the final output is worth the effort of the journey. I believe that to be true on this one.
Thank you for your kind words, David. I'm happy to turn the production aspect over to Rick. The customer will be served because Rick is taking the time to build an internet store to sell from. I've known Rick for probably around 30 years. I retired from American Electric Power for which Rick still works but hopes to be able to retire in the not real distant future.
That is really cool. (Pardon my gaffe, a spiral would not work very well as a pen blank!) I can't imagine how fragile 45 strands of wood would be. Pretty awesome. I don't suppose you have a picture of it you could share? - Dave
Ken, your work is amazing! Thanks for sharing!! I started doing my own laser patter inlay pens in wood (many patterns inspire in yours) and now I want to experiment with Alumilite blanks, do you know if there is any safety precaution when laser cutting this type of materials? Oviusly you did it but I was wonder if there is something special to consider. Thanks