New member in Mackay Idaho

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IDmtnlife

Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2021
Messages
3
Location
Mackay, Idaho
Long time woodworker and rock cutter/polisher. New to pen turning. Currently working in wood but would like to explore working pens with rock (agate/jasper etc.) Lots of great rock in Idaho but very little good wood. Yeah... I know...good luck šŸ˜€ Don't know where Mackay Idaho is? You are not alone LOL.
 
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magpens

magpens

Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2011
Messages
15,911
Location
Canada
Ya shoulda stopped in for a coffee !!

IDmtnlife said:
Thanks Mal. Drove by your place on my way to and from Sechelt a couple years ago on vacation. Beautiful country up there.
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I've been through ID lotsa times when I was a kid . . . travelling to and from Saskatchewan before the Trans-Canada Hwy was built.
My parents both grew up in Sask. and many relatives still there. . Never got very far off the main E-W road tho' and never heard of Mackay b4.

I just checked it on the map . . . south-central ID.
 
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Mach4

Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2016
Messages
97
Location
Boise, Idaho
Hi and welcome. I'm a fellow Idahoanā€¦.a recent political refugee from the Peoples Republik of Kalifornia and someone interested in Gemstone pens (Idaho is the Gem State after all). Gemstone pens are definitely possible, but requires that you forget everything you learned about making pens out of wood, acrylic, resin or even metal and be prepared to do lots of experimentation and testing. For example, I designed and built my own lapidary lathe to turn the blanks. I designed and built my own CNC slab saw. I make my own drill bits. And built special tooling to trim the barrels. In working stone there is no "cutting" there is only "grinding"ā€¦.diamonds are your best friend. Even little stuff like pressing in pen components is different because stone is so brittleā€¦ream and glue are the techniques.

Craters of the Moon is on my must visit list so it might be fun to meet up sometime.
 
I

IDmtnlife

Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2021
Messages
3
Location
Mackay, Idaho
Mach4 said:
Hi and welcome. I'm a fellow Idahoanā€¦.a recent political refugee from the Peoples Republik of Kalifornia and someone interested in Gemstone pens (Idaho is the Gem State after all). Gemstone pens are definitely possible, but requires that you forget everything you learned about making pens out of wood, acrylic, resin or even metal and be prepared to do lots of experimentation and testing. For example, I designed and built my own lapidary lathe to turn the blanks. I designed and built my own CNC slab saw. I make my own drill bits. And built special tooling to trim the barrels. In working stone there is no "cutting" there is only "grinding"ā€¦.diamonds are your best friend. Even little stuff like pressing in pen components is different because stone is so brittleā€¦ream and glue are the techniques.

Craters of the Moon is on my must visit list so it might be fun to meet up sometime.
Click to expand...
I did a search earlier and your thread came up...so that's why I joined this forum. Seems like you are the only one that does this kind of stuff. I was planning on contacting you so I'm glad you responded. I understand everything you pointed out, having already worked with Idaho gemstones. We're not too far from each other. I'm open to meeting and seeing what you do and how you do it. Thanks for responding. Jim
 
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