Volicanic Ash Pen Blank!

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
I would like to try a Ash Black Lava blank as well so if anyone has tried this it would be great to hear how it went and any advice.
 
I've seen those, too. I would like to try one. It says not to apply ca. I was wondering how it feels.
 
I have done a few of these and they turn very smoothly, like the easier truestone blanks. I use a carbide pen pro to turn them.

I finish with micromesh up to 12000 but then I use a polish like novus or mcguires because I like the glass like finish. Some people leave it a matt finish like the instructions say.

They sell pretty well and are a conversation piece.
 
I made one before I had my pen pro and had to stop 3x to sharpen my HSS tools. I used my belt sander to knock down the edges and found once it was round the scraper was doing the best job of removing material for me.

I sanded to 12,000 and left it like that so that it maintained its ability to wick moisture away from your fingers and really, you wouldn't know from holding it that it didn't have some sort of finish.

I'm looking forward to trying another since switching to a carbide tool, I understand it should go much smoother.

Shown here with a slimline pro black Ti kit.
 

Attachments

  • Lava Pen.jpg
    Lava Pen.jpg
    24.5 KB · Views: 1,537
The blank is inspired by a fountain pen called the Homo Sapiens, made by Visconti.


Dan

I use one of these as my main writing pen, and I write a lot. I can't say that I specifically notice the supposedly hygroscopic nature of the material, nor whether it warms in my hand, but the pen is VERY comfortable to use. If the PSI blank material is similar I think it could make for some extraordinary kit less pens. I'm surprised to hear that it eats HSS lathe tools as the material feels rather soft on my finished pen.
 
Visconti may use a different resin, or the lava itself might be different than that used in the PSI blank. I wouldn't be surprised at all if that were the case, as they are working with large quantities, and a material that is that resistant to tooling would not be so good for bulk manufacturing.

Dan
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom