Wood Stripes

[Mike8850]

Thought I would try something a little different for me .



The pen is Purpleheart and Satinwood on a cigar.
All comments, suggestions or questions are welcome.
Mike

 

[plantman]

Mike; Nice job keeping the stripes even. Jim S

 

[brownsfn2]

That is really cool. I bet that one was hard to put together.

 

[Russknan]

Nicely done! As Jim said, you nailed it on the stripes! Russ

 

[Dalepenkala]

Cool looking pen Mike!

 

[jttheclockman]

Is this a blank that you made??? Can you share the method you did to make this blank???

 

[Bowl Slinger]

Nice job!

 

[Mike8850]

I've had a few folks ask how to make this blank so here goes.
I use 3/8 thick wood wide enough to safely cut thin strips from.
First cut several strips at what ever angle to give you the number of strips you want. Mine are 11.25 degrees.

Glue up enough to make 2 havles. Here is one half.

Glue the 2 halves together. Drill by what ever method you use and then epoxy your tubes in.
Here are the blanks I made for a Jr. Gent just need to epoxy in tubes.

It's not really that hard to do. I hope this makes sense.
Feel free to ask any questions.
Mike

 

[Fishinbo]

Cool striped pen! Like it very much, great wood combo, fit and finish as well.

 

[lucky13]

that is a wonderful pen, I really love the segmented work.

 

[jttheclockman]

Mike thanks for taking the time to post some photos and answering some questions. Believe me it gets overlooked when people do these things. Much appreciated.

Could you show what method you use to cut these stripes ??? Do you use the tablesaw??? Do you have a jig for holding??? Things like this would also be of value to people. Thanks again for sharing.

 

[firewhatfire]

Looks good to me. That's how I did mine also. I cut mine on a table saw.

 

[Janster]

Thanks for taking the time and sharing your " how to" !!! Be well............Jan

 

[Mike8850]

John I cut the strips on my tablesaw with a 7 1/4" thin kerf blade.
By using the smaller blade I waste less wood.
I use a simple jig to keep all the strips the same size. I'll get some pictures posted tomorrow.
Mike

 

[pensbydesign]

like the pen looks cool, look forward to seeing the pic of the jig
cutting the stripes safely seams key

 

[tommy2tone]

Looks cool.. Could a novice like me just use square stripes without cutting them?

 

[nanosec12]

Mike,

I think your pen is awesome. Your description of how to make the blank, while still a bit outside my skillset, makes me want to give it a try. Sure beats paying through the nose for a segmented blank that someone else made. Plus the personal pride in YOUR finished product..

Nice Work

 

[jttheclockman]

Looks cool.. Could a novice like me just use square stripes without cutting them?

Jeff I will give my opinion to your question but others may have different views.

The reason that Mike cut staves (angled cuts) is so that they form a circle to encompass a pen tube. You now have consistant stripes all around the tube. If you cut square strips and now drill the center you get a different look all around the pen. There is no consistancy with the thickness of the stripes because as you make them round some are elliminated and some are wider than others. This method will work if you use 4 equal square blanks and drill the center. Not sure if this makes sense or not to you.

 

[Mike8850]

This is my set up for cutting thin strips.
My saw is a right tilt so my fence is to the left of the blade.
The blade is a 7 1/4" set to 11.25 deg.
I make a trial cut to figure out where to place the stop (bottom of picture).
The stop and feather board ends are cut to match the strips angle of 11.25 deg.

This is the setting for the first cut

After the first cut flip the board over.

I now use the board as a spacer to move the rip fence over to the stop.

Make the cut and flip the board then use it as a spacer to move the rip fence to the stop again .

Keep repeating the above steps til you have enough strips for your blank.


It is also safer to make a zero clearance insert with a splitter for your saw.

I also use a push stick with self sticking sand paper to keep the board secure while making the cut.

When the board gets to narrow I hot glue it to a scrap board thats the same thickness and finish cutting it up.


I'm kind of lousy at explaining the way I do stuff but I hope this clears up some questions if not fire away.
Mike

 

[pensbydesign]

makes sense i'll have to give this a try

 

[tommy2tone]

Yeah that makes sense.. Has in aother post the "cutting speed" will be different for the wedges..
Sorry to highjack the thread...

 

[butchf18a]

Been doing same thing for some time. I too use tablesaw with 7 1/4" thin kerf blade. I like to work with larger pieces 12-15 inches long. No jig for me, i maintain consistency with the use of Incra tablesaw fence. 3/8" thick is good minimum thickness though i have used up to 1/2" when making blank for larger pen. So many variations to this technique, a little imagination goes a long way to some unique pens.