Making a Blank With Scallops (Fish Scales)

[magpens]

There is a "tutorial" in the Resources section on how to do this. Here is the title :

Scalloped Segmented Pen Blank (Looks like Fish Scales.)

Has anyone made a blank using this as a guide? . How did it turn out ? . Do you have any comments about following this method ?

My comment is: there is lots of waste because for every scallop (or fish scale) that you make you throw away an equal length of wood.

Would appreciate any response you might have.

Thanks

 

[qquake]

I get nothing at your link.

 

[mark james]

Wrong tutorial.

 

[FGarbrecht]

Scalloped Segmented Pen Blank

Looks like Fish Scales. Click on the image below to begin download of PDF. Author: Tim Spaulding

www.penturners.org

 

[magpens]

I get nothing at your link.

@qquake, @FGarbrecht , @mark james

I forgot to say that if you click on the reference that I gave, you then have to go to the upper right corner of the resulting screen and click "Download" in order to get to the .pdf file, and then use the "Open with" option and wait for the file to get displayed on your computer.

That procedure seems to be a peculiarity of the Resources section of our forum

The result will be a document with title and author as follows:

Making a Scalloped Segmented Pen Blank
Contributed by: Tim Spaulding
A.K.A "Tim"

( I can't seem to find an easier way to get the file from "Resources"; there does not seem to be an actual URL )

 

[qquake]

Looks like an interesting project.

 

[FGarbrecht]

@qquake, @FGarbrecht , @mark james

I forgot to say that if you click on the reference that I gave, you then have to go to the upper right corner of the resulting screen and click "Download" in order to get to the .pdf file, and then use the "Open with" option and wait for the file to get displayed on your computer.

That procedure seems to be a peculiarity of the Resources section of our forum

The result will be a document with title and author as follows:

Making a Scalloped Segmented Pen Blank
Contributed by: Tim Spaulding
A.K.A "Tim"

( I can't seem to find an easier way to get the file from "Resources"; there does not seem to be an actual URL )

I thought everyone knew this. It's irritating.

 

[jttheclockman]

This pen was done that way. I was the one who actually contacted Tim to ask him if it were OK to add this tutorial to the library quite awhile ago. I had seen it on another forum and he said yes. I made this pen following those instructions. It was the only one I did at the time. I had some blank stuff layed out to do a few others and to run the pattern further up but life got in the way and never followed through. What is it you would like to know. Yes there is more material lost this way. Scallops can be using other methods and I believe there is another tutorial in there somewhere.

 

[jttheclockman]

Learned a couple valuable lessons when I made that from what I remember. One important one was a popsicle stick is not the same the entire length or at least the one I used I used that or it was a mixing stick, do not remember but I used it for a spacer. Cut up a few pieces from the same stick thinking it is all the same thickness. As I went from layer to layer I either added a piece or subtracted a piece, again memory is fuzzy. Have to go back and look at instructions. I did take notes and they are somewhere in my pen making stuff. But if you look closely one of the layers is not the same distance apart. I was going to correct that with the next one once I saw it after I took the photo. It is amazing what a photo sees that the eye does not. Other than that the instructions are right on the money and is really not that hard to do.

 

[magpens]

@jttheclockman

Thank you, John. . Your comments are just the thing I was hoping for.

I'd like to hear from any others who have attempted to make a blank like this, based on the reference given. . Thanks in advance.

 

[jttheclockman]

No problem. Just would like to point out when I said I used a popsicle stick as a spacer, this is not necessary. What happens is you need to have a stop for each layer of scallops you do. Just like when making a Celtic knot. This must stay the same throughout the entire process of the cut. Then you can move the stop up or down, again do not remember which way you work on this, and you can just measure with a rule. But I chose to do it in steps using a spacer and keeping my stop stationary. Thinking this would be more accurate than reading a rule every time.

 

[magpens]

@jttheclockman
The tutorial recommends a change in stop position of 3/16" for each "layer" ... if I remember correctly. . Basic idea should be clear, anyway.
That would correspond to 3 thickness of popsicle stick. . You can glue 3 bits together, making one "spacer", then make several "spacers" for successive insertion as the the construction process moves down the blank. . If the popsicle stick thickness is not uniform the 3-piece spacers would also vary, leading to different spacings of the "fish scale layers" down the length of the finished blank. . Is that what happened for you, John ? . (I don't actually notice the irregular spacing even tho' you mention that happening.)

Thinking along this line, one could make one's own spacer material by cutting a strip of uniform 3/16" thickness, chopping it up, and adding one piece as each layer is constructed ... keeping the "primary stop" clamped in the same position throughout the process.

Concerning the actual 3/16" value, you could adjust that to get the result you want, depending on the veneer thickness used to define the outline of the "fish scale".

I was hoping to hear from someone who had experimented with this blank design and tried some alternative dimensions and materials.

I was also hoping that someone had found a way to avoid the huge waste of blank material that occurs in the original tutorial's construction.

 

[jttheclockman]

This is correct in all that you said. At that time I did not know about the varied thickness or else I would have run it through my sander or used some other material to use as a spacer. Again I used spacers because I thought it would save me from reading a rule that many times and trying to get exactly on a ruler marking is not easy.

Yes you can use any thickness of material. As I said I had material of different colors and thickness set up to do a few more. In fact I was going to mix and match different sizes throughout the blank. It is not like a knot where you have to match the blade thickness.

Yes you can vary the 3/16" distance and close up the scallops or make them wider. Again no set numbers. He just did his that way so I did the same. It was my first as turned out the only one I did. I finished cleaning the shop the other day and in fact found the material I set aside for that project. Also found a few other pen projects that were started but never completed. Hazards of having a very active mind I guess.

If you are looking for an alternative to do that type design, there is definitely is a few. I thought there was another tutorial in the library showing this. I maybe mistaken. But it is easy to do. The basic jist of it is keep building on the first set of scallops.

Here was one I found that was done a different way. You can do a search here and am sure within a thread a method will be explained.

I know, boy now his name escapes me but he does all the fancy segmenting blanks here and on FB has done a scalloped pen using a different method. He does the diamond pattern stuff too (no not Mark) Dale Parrott is his name. Check his work out.

https://www.penturners.org/media/scalloped-pens.34369/