Success! Bright purple pens!

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woodscavenger

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I have been trying to do an eye-popping purple pen for a while. I have tried several things with limited success including violet BEB (to light, not attention grabbing), violet acrylic from BB (was as much blue as violet), purple crushed velvet (too dark and hard to see the colors except under bright light). Additionally, each of these can get to be expensive after a while.

I tried something new. This pen is a curly maple blank with a chrome streamline kit. The color comes from a marker picked up at my local art supply for about $3.50. The marker is prismacolor violet PM-50. It has a broad tip and a thin tip. Here is a link to a site that shows many of their colors. http://www.artsuppliesonline.com/catalog.cfm?cata_id=1890

Here is a picture of what the marker looks like (this is a red one, not the violet that I used.)
prismacolor-marker.jpg


This is the pen. Tell me what you think. The finish is CA/BLO.
violet-maple.jpg


I am going to get some more curly maple and some more markers. Green is my next one.
 
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Shane, That is nice. My daughter wants a purple pen. Think I will try some of that marker. Was it easy to use? Did it penatrate the wood very far? Thanks for sharing that with us.
Ben
 
I am not sure about penetration but I doubt very far. I turned the blank and sanded to 1200. I touched the broad tip to the wood while it was turning and slid back and forth a couple of times then buffed with a paper towel and pinched it like a friction polish to heat it up and evaporate any volatile chemicals. Then I just added my CA/BLO just like normal. Super easy. In the light this thing really shimmers. I had to beg my wife to let me take it and show it around. She has never been so pen-possessive.
 
Tried the purple heart trick and didn't have good results. Secondly, I hate turning purple heart. It is hard and brittle in my hands and although I have a couple of beautiful bowls and pens from the stuff, I shy away from it if I can. Third, I have not seen purple heart with great figure in it.
 
Thanks for the tip Woodscavenger,
I have had at least half dozen people ask me for a purple pen, but nothing I have tried (including aniline dye) have made them purple enough....gotta try that....

...never realized purple was that favorite a color till I started making pens..
 
I agree, the pen-size pieces are pretty plain over all, although the bigger sizes have some nice figure (as I'm sure you saw with the bowl). I'm surprised you think of it as brittle...I've had worse times with Brazilian Rosewood and Wenge than Purpleheart, but that's just my experience. Great tip for the markers; the Sharpies aren't bad, but I've seen those in the store and they have a much wider variety of colors.

And yes Queso, I'd recommend that you work with sealed color applicators as much as possible! :)
 
Great Purple there, If the other colors work as well you may have a great answer to the "How to Get School Colors" Question.
 
Definanlty a winner if the color holds up. The purple just jumps at you and locks your eyes in. Very beautiful pen! The curly maple compliments the purple nicely.
 
Wow! Very nice. I am a purple lover as well and I would definitely buy this purple pen. Great job!! Great! Great! Love the colour!
 
Purple heart is not near as figured and it is rock hard and in my little experience a pain to turn. The color ranges from brown to bright purple but can change dramatically over time. I tried this and loved it.
 
It really is great looking. I will have to check my local art store for something. That site you listed has crazy shipping rates. Thanks for sharing.

Fangar
 
Rob,
In my limited experience, Purpleheart isn't as vibrant; however, it does have a really great color, which can be enhanced by heating it. Purpleheart isn't as delicate as some of the other woods I've turned, and it really takes a finish well (i.e., even just after sandpaper and MicroMesh, it looks great).
 
Look's great and thanks for the tip. I have a customer that is after a purple pen. I have a piece of violet maple burl, but she wants alot of figure and I'm not sure that the burl is going to get it for her. This is definately on my to try list.
Richard
 
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Shane (woodscavenger), thanks for the inspiration and the information on coloring the wood. I picked up four Prismacolor markers and used them on some curly maple and birdseye maple I had. I especially like the look of the birdseye.

200553231518_colored%20pens.jpg
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When my adult daughter saw the display box with these <b>four</b> and the other natural wood pens, her attention went right to the colors.

Thanks again.

Jack
 
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