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Rob Price
02-27-2012, 9:11 PM
Nothing crazy, and I didn't have time for a formal photo shoot, some of these are going in the mail tomorrow.

The top two are BOW on Black Titanium/Titanium Gold Sierra kits from Bear Tooth Woods. My FIL is a minister and my BIL is studying for his PhD in seminary, so I felt these would be good gifts for them (they are a surprise so you are sworn to secrecy). I may try to get some closeup shots before they go, I bought the 'exhibition quality' blanks and they are very cool- the wood looks almost like marble and is great to turn. I went from skew to burnish to finish on both of them. General WTF, buffed to a satin sheen.

Next is a Kingwood pen/Black Titanium kit- My 'dealer' gave me a 3"x12" board of it in exchange for a pen. I think I will add this one to my personal collection, I had some issues with chipping and I think I can do better for him next go around. I cut the wood at an angle which ended up with a very cool looking pen. Behlen's friction finish (my understanding not very durable) with the idea of it wearing off slowly and developing it's own patina from oils from use- but gives it a little shine for now.

The plastic blank I actually bought from a pen maker at a local craft fair when I first bought my lathe. He was nice enough to spend some time talking to a non-customer (I wasn't paying $100 for his pens) and I bought a couple of blanks from him. He casts them himself, so I have no idea what went into it, but it has lots of metallic bits/reflective bits and really looks incredible in the sunlight. I'm not crazy about plastic pens, but it's cool looking. I think it will go to the MIL along with the BOW pens, so she's not left out.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-20GfmQ6zGWg/T0vav9R5-uI/AAAAAAAABos/YU643jquHdU/s800/IMG_1830.JPG

Comments appreciated- especially on finishing the oily woods. I'm hoping the water based WTF sticks to the olive. I've heard CA glue can get cloudy on oily woods so I avoided it. I'm contemplating mixing the kingwood with some ebony ala Jim Burr once I get up the nerve and time.

James Combs
02-27-2012, 9:20 PM
Rob, all are great looking pens. I would be proud to own any of them so just send any left overs my way.:D Just a comment on the CA, I use in on everything including African blackwood and cocobolo and have not had any issues, clouding or other wise.

John W Dixon
02-27-2012, 9:55 PM
Great looking set of pens. I think your FIL and BIL will love those.

Jim Burr
02-27-2012, 9:59 PM
Great work Rob!! You'll be charging & getting $100 a pen before you know it! Let me know if you want any wood...there's plenty you know! A trick you can use on oily wood is to wipe it down with alcohol..Isopropol works fine...DNA is expensive! The cloudy usually comes from to much accelerator to close, so spritz from 2-3' is good.

Billy Tallant
02-27-2012, 10:38 PM
Great looking pens Rob! I'm sure everyone will be happy with those. I'm with James on the CA, I use it on all of my pens & no issues.

John Terefenko
02-27-2012, 11:05 PM
Don't believe the talk about cloudy on oily woods. When all done with your sanding, wipe down with acetone. Let dry and apply CA. I do it all the time. I have yet to find a finish to really challenge a CA finish. Nice work on the pens all around. The acrylic has some nice colors going for it. Job well done and I am sure they will be well received. Thanks for showing.

Russell Eaton
02-28-2012, 7:23 AM
+1 for John's acetone trick. Works like a champ. Good looking pens, all of them.

Rob Price
02-28-2012, 9:21 AM
Thanks for the comments. I have a few more BOW pens to make (I ended up with twice as many blanks as I intended to get, long story), I may try the CA on a couple to see how it does compared to the WTF. I was hesitant because I had a CA finish peel right off an ebony pen I tried last week. I had put some teak oil on it first hoping for a more natural finish- then it cracked, severely, so I sanded it down, filled the cracks with ebony dust, and tried to clean it with acetone before the CA. Got a wonderful glassy/glossy finish but when I pulled of the bushings the finish came with them in big chunks- maybe I didn't get it clean enough. It's in the trash now... I think part of the problem is the Sierra pens end up being a super thin layer of wood and the ebony just can't hold it together. I may try a thicker Euro pen in Ebony, or resort to using it for accents. I only have a little left.