Rare Orange Bakelite Emperor

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mrburls

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I finally decided to use a piece of this rare orange bakelite I got over a year ago from Ed and Dawn when they first started ExoticBlanks. I knew one day this would be some awsome material to use. Was saving for bottle stopper but got to thinking I would get much more dollar wise as a few pens. I hated to waste the 1 1/2" blank for just one pen so decided to cut in half length wise to make two blanks :biggrin: Two pens, twice the money, right :rolleyes: See the picture below how I spilt blank. Ended up with an 11/16" dia. blank from one half. Big enough for an Emperor if I'm careful right. Tried the drilled out blank over one of the Emperor cap fittings and all that was needed was a bit of sanding :eek: Talk about cutting it close and possibly wasting a great blank just to make a few extra bucks on a second pen.

This is the only orange bakelite I've seen since doing pens out of bakelite for awhile now. I was floored by the amount of white swirl throught the blank. I am very well pleased with this one. I may try another with a Imperial or Lotus kit that has the brushed satin finished appointments to see how that looks with the orange.

Keith "mrburls"
 

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Nice pen Keith, good idea on cutting the blank in half to make two pens. Many would have just chucked the 1 1/2" "Jumbo" blank up and started turning away!
 
Sure wish Bakelite wasn't so expensive and difficult to come by. That is beautiful as most bakelite pens are. I hungry for one of the dixie cups that were 1/2 ice cream and 1/2 orange serbert....
 
well,way to go buddy you had me seeing the blanks for a long time and I was wonderinf if the day would ever come ,but look how nice they turned out. See I told you that you just needed to throw them on the lathe. But most amazingly is that you got two blanks out of it than one. Talk about Mr. Saver not Mrburl. Youguys gotta see his drawers. keith has enough blanks and kits that he can make one for each member of a betalion.
Great job buddy hope I get to watch youmore and learn some more tricks form you.
 
OKLAHOMAN said:
Absolutely stunning!!!!!! How did I miss that blank when Dawn and Ed had it?
Click to expand...

They had two I know of at the time, but bakelite was not all the buzz it is now. They said buy me, buy me we won't disapoint you :biggrin::biggrin: I think people were afraid of turning it then, but now is a whole new story.

Keith "mrburls"
 
OKLAHOMAN said:
Absolutely stunning!!!!!! How did I miss that blank when Dawn and Ed had it?
Click to expand...

mrburls said:
They had two I know of at the time, but bakelite was not all the buzz it is now. They said buy me, buy me we won't disapoint you :biggrin::biggrin: I think people were afraid of turning it then, but now is a whole new story.

Keith "mrburls"
Click to expand...

Somehow it got past my radar, I bought 8 or 10 of the cream swirl they had at the beginning and a few others...
 
Very nice! I've been thinking how to do the same with a blank I have the same size of a more recent Bakelite purchase. Thanks for the pic!
 
That is a gorgeous pen. To bad there isn't more of that stuff around.

I bought some bakelite and haven't decided what to do with it. Being it is over 1 inch in diameter I didn't want to waste it. But I see I don't have to. All I need to do now is figure out the best way to cut it.
 
I don't want to give anyone the idea this was easy to do cutting the blank in half length wise. I don't know if I would do this if it is less than an 1 1/2" in dia. I feel bakelite is best used on a larger high end kit which the cap end is larger than most pen kits. You could do two Jr.'s easily (I've done that). My next 1 1/2" dia. blank I cut, I'm going to cut just alittle more than half the blank (mybe a 1/16") for a larger kit and the other half for a Jr.

I cut mine on the band saw (thin carbide blade 1" wide) against the fence and clamped a board on the other side of the bakelite blank to help guide it through straight and keep it from turning while pushing through the band saw. It takes some careful measuring, but can work. Also you will need to drill on lathe with collet to hold the blank while drilling.

Just some advise and warning before you go cut up your blank.

Keith "mrburls"
 
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