Patriot in Alchemy #117 - RE-DONE

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EarlD

EarlD

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May 5, 2011
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Location
Albany, GA
This is my first Patriot and I must say I like it much more than I thought I would just based on pictures I'd seen. This one is Rhodium plated and I used an Alchemy blank from Exotic Blanks. Tube was painted black. As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.

EarlD

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It may just be me, but I think it's hard to make a Patriot look good but you've done it. I did one of the Alchemy blanks a week or two ago, and I really like it. Nice job.
 
Earl---
You asked for suggestions and I know there isn't anyone else going to mention it. I only say it hoping that it's taken as constructive criticism to make you a better craftsman.

The finish needs work. Radial scratches ruin all the hard work that goes into creating a finished piece. The finish is the second thing that is noticed when someone sees your pen. The material is usually what captures their attention.
It takes less time to get a perfect finish than you may think and it can be done without MM and all the other popular methods. In three minutes, you can have a finish free from ANY scratches.

I hope this is received in the manner it was intended.:wink:
 
Dozer, you're right, of course. I started not to post these pictures. The pen looked fine in the shop. I usually use mm to 12k then Beall's white diamond and wax. I saw a post where someone used the Beall's tripoli after sanding to 1000 so I tried that today - went to 2400 mm then tripoli, white diamond, and wax.

The pen looks good to my tired old eyes, but when I saw the enlarged photo's I went back and the scratches are visible. Lesson learned. And I may start bring the turned blank in and photographing it to get a really close look before assembling.

Thanks for the comments!

EarlD

Edit: I don't mean to imply that someone else's finishing system doesn't work. It just didn't work for me the first time and I didn't look closely enough before stopping.
 
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OK, I tried again....

After the above I decided to try this again. A couple of weeks ago I bought a HF Center Punch set and this was a good opportunity to try it out. It worked fabulously to disassemble this pen.

Went back to 1500 MM then on through 12k MM and my usual Beall's White Diamond and Was. I think it's an improvement. I also took this opportunity to refine the fit at the nib slightly and to reposition the clip to show the best side of the blank (tip from the LOML).

It may not be perfect, but it looks really good through the flip down magnifier. :wink:

Thanks, DozerMite, for being honest and helpful.

EarlD
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I think that is one great looking pen Earl. I've made several pens with that same blank, but never a Patriot. Always thought that blank needed to be on something special, like a Majestic, but it looks just fine where you put it.
 
That's a big improvement, Earl. Looks real good in the pics.

Thanks for understanding my point from my comment.
It looks like your normal finishing method works well for you... keep it up. It's worth the little extra time when you can achieve a finish like that.
 
Looking very good. You did a really great job, and the pen looks good. Can't go wrong with that blank either.
 
Earl,

I'm not a big fan of the Patriot but you did an excellent job. I really like that blank, very good fit and finish as well.

Carl
 
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