Not terribly happy with it

[alamocdc]

If I didn't know better, I'd think this was my first pen!

I was commissioned by a lady to make a FP in Irish Bog Oak for her husband. He is a FP guy and likes a larger pen that posts. This will be a surprise for him. Only the El Grande and Churchill came to mind. Kinda wish I'd gone with the latter. Anyway, this is the result. The Oak turns nicely enough, but all of these I've turned have LOTS of pores to fill. And getting it done without white pots proved more challenging for me than I remember. But I managed (the white flecks you may see is lint that I guess I missed. The finish is 3 coats of lacquer (dipped - you didn't really expect anything else, did you?). And I put a Heritance nib on it. C&C welcome as always.

 

[thewishman]

Looks good, Billy! Nice and shiny. No Billy bump?

 

[alamocdc]

Thanks, Chris. You're just being nice!

No Billy bump?

Thought about it. You know I hate B2B. But it wouldn't have looked good here, I don't think. But stay tuned. It's coming!

 

[RogerBean]

Looks great. I like it. Worth the effort.
Roger

 

[Katya]

Beautiful, elegant pen! I just got my first old bog blank.. any suggestions? I've heard that CA can be a very difficult finish to apply.. wondering what it looked like without *any* finish. Could it just be buffed, or does that not do the blank justice?

 

[alamocdc]

Beautiful, elegant pen! I just got my first old bog blank.. any suggestions? I've heard that CA can be a very difficult finish to apply.. wondering what it looked like without *any* finish. Could it just be buffed, or does that not do the blank justice?

Thanks, all! Catherine, while I don't know if all Bog Oak is like what I have turned, none that I have used would polish well. Maybe if it were stabilized. And that would help with the open pore issue as well, I think. At least some. My favorite is the Baron RB I made years ago. I did not fill the pores with that one. I just sanded it up and dipped it in lacquer. So it still has that wood look with the grain structure openly visible. And the owner of that pen loves it that way. I considered doing this one the same way, but decided against it. I'm wishing I'd gone with my original consideration at the moment. But I'm a perfectionist. I guess we'll see what the client says when she picks it up.

 

[ghostrider]

That looks pretty good. I didn't know that the El Grande was potable? May have to look into that.

 

[mikespenturningz]

Nice pen great fit that is for sure.

 

[Fishinbo]

This looks great!

 

[Jjartwood]

The workmanship is there,sometimes you can do everything right and still not be happy with the results but to the rest of us in the world it's GREAT!

 

[skiprat]

I don't see why you are not satisfied with it. But we are our own worst critics:wink:
I'm glad you went B2B, it's the right shape for that pen. I reckon that it will go down a treat and he will love it!!

 

[alamocdc]

Thanks, everyone, for the kind words! And you are right, Steven, we are our own worst critics. I've made and sold worse, but like I said, I'm a perfectionist. And I know it could have been better. But this too shall pass.