Siberian Husky Pen

[Michael Doyle]

The pen is white Corian, engraved on an Epilog Helix, and color filled with black ink from Laserbits

[David Somers]

Cool Michael! Very nice. Corian worked beautifully for that and the photo engraving turned out really well.

Just a thought, but would this be eligible for SawMillCreek's currently running photo engraving competition?

Dave

[Scott Shepherd]

I hope not David because if it does, I don't stand a chance! That's beautiful and EXTREMELY well done! Great job Michael!

[Mark Sipes]

and just in time for the Iditarod next week "The Last Great Race"

Nice work!

[Keith Outten]

Michael,

Thats a beautiful pen.

Now, tell me why you used ink instead of paint. I'm sure the answer must be obvious but for the life of me I don't understand. Is ink more durable?
.

[Michael Doyle]

Kieth Its the stuff laserbits sells Ink ? Paint?? They just call it color fill

[Dan Hintz]

Nicely done, Michael... come to think of it, I haven't been to the IAP website in a couple of months, at least. Time to head back over there soon...

[Chuck Stone]

Nicely done.
I'm making 30 of those right now.
(not huskies, but the pen blanks)
Sent out 30 more yesterday.
I'm sick of drilling Corian..

[Chris J Anderson]

Thats a really nice job...

excuse my ignorance, but what is 'corian' ?

Is it a type of stone or manmade plastic ?

cheers,
Chris

[Mike Null]

An all round doggone good job! I would enter that in the contest.

Thanks for posting your work.

[Keith Outten]

Chris,

Dupont Corian is an acrylic solid surface material mostly used for kitchen counter tops. If you search our forums you will find hundreds of pictures of pens, signs, lithophanes and a host of other items made from Corian or various other manufacturers solid surface material.
.

[Keith Upton]

That does look really good, great job!

Would anyone mind sharing a source for those pen blanks? I did not buy my laser to do this kind of stuff, but I find my self wanting to just "play" with them anyway and see if any of the products stick with my current customer group. lol

[Scott Shepherd]

Would anyone mind sharing a source for those pen blanks? I did not buy my laser to do this kind of stuff, but I find my self wanting to just "play" with them anyway and see if any of the products stick with my current customer group. lol

It's not a store bought item. They are hand made out of counter top materials.

[David Somers]

Keith,

There must be someone out there selling wholesale corian pen blanks with pen mechanisms that you could use. I am not aware of them though, never having needed any. A finished corian pen, ready to engrave, will run you $25 to $40 each depending on the design. Usually a woodturner will buy wood or corian or acrylic of some sort that has been cut to a wide enough cross section (3/4 to 5/8" square cross section) for a pen and they will turn that themselves. Or they will use a band saw or table saw and cut their own blanks to turn. If you know a woodturner in the area doing pens (many do just for fun, if not as a serious enterprise) you could probably get them to do however many you wanted at a better price.

Anyone out there know of a wholesaler for these?

Or you could become a better all around person and improve your karma by taking up wood turning yourself! <grin> Just sayin'!!!!

[Mike Null]

Keith

One of the perks as a contributor is that you can run ads in the classified section. A member is likely to see it and contact you.

[Keith Upton]

Keith,

There must be someone out there selling wholesale corian pen blanks with pen mechanisms that you could use. I am not aware of them though, never having needed any. A finished corian pen, ready to engrave, will run you $25 to $40 each depending on the design. Usually a woodturner will buy wood or corian or acrylic of some sort that has been cut to a wide enough cross section (3/4 to 5/8" square cross section) for a pen and they will turn that themselves. Or they will use a band saw or table saw and cut their own blanks to turn. If you know a woodturner in the area doing pens (many do just for fun, if not as a serious enterprise) you could probably get them to do however many you wanted at a better price.

Anyone out there know of a wholesaler for these?

Or you could become a better all around person and improve your karma by taking up wood turning yourself! <grin> Just sayin'!!!!

Thanks. One of my buddies at work keeps talking about buying his CNC machine... and I keep pushing him to do so! lol

As for turning them my self, I'm sure that would make be a better person... but not in the eyes of the wife as I spend more and more "personal" time on these things.


Keith

One of the perks as a contributor is that you can run ads in the classified section. A member is likely to see it and contact you.

Yep, but I thought these might be a massed produced blank type of item I could just go order. I can see a need to have maybe a half dozen of them for me to give out as awards or gifts on my community sites.

[David Somers]

Keith,

If you can't convince your wife to take up turning as a way to remain in harmony with the universe (it really is a versatile hobby with lots of benefits <grin>) you might contact either Woodcraft or Rockler there in St Louis. Both are stores that supply stuff to turners and could probably connect you with someone local who could bang out however many Corian Pens you wanted.

Dave

[Keith Upton]

Thanks Dave. So far I've managed to appease the Wife-Goddess by making here some wood veneer embellishments for here scrapbooking in the scrap spaces of my wood sheets. Not sure how far I can push here though. lol

[Mike Null]

Dave

It might be easier if he contacted those stores in Colorado, but I would run an ad on SMC.

[David Somers]

Snort....Not sure what i was looking at, but thought he was in St Louis! Sorry Keith! Both stores are in CO as well though. And also as Mike said, a herd of folks here who would like step up to help. I would but until I can clear some company from my house I am not getting much turning done.

Dave

[Dan Hintz]

Keith,

Check out the IAP forums... plenty of them (us?) could supply you with Corian blanks. Full pens, if you're willing to pay for 'em.

[Amos De Pasquale]

I love the work on the pen, could you please tell me or guide me to a picture of a Husky, and how you got it down to that size without losing definition? ps--I am also a Pen Turner and am really impressed with it. Amos

[Keith Outten]

I have a couple thousand 1/2" thick sets that are cut and drilled for 7mm kits in my shop ready to turn. Been using them to make Freedom Pens.
I also have a limited supply of 3/4" thick Glacier White Corian that I am getting ready to start engraving.

[Keith Outten]

Engraved pens.......check out Chuck Stone's pens in post #10 in this thread.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?163810-Anybody-have-3d-engraved-pieces-to-show&highlight=mount+rushmore

[Don Corbeil]

yes - the mt rushmore pen engraving... I just happened to be looking at that thread just the other day. What an innovative technique to get his greyscale.

[Don Corbeil]

Very Nice. I like it for two reasons - one is that it is beautiful work. The other is that my first dog was a husky - love that breed!

[Joel Matteson]

I'm a pen turner and engraver ... and I'm very impressed! Do you have special optics on your helix to get such definition? I feel like it's greater detail than I'd get with my 2.0 lense.

[Michael Doyle]

Joel - No special lens, just a lot of photo preparation (and perspiration)with at least 3 programs.

[Keith Upton]

Engraved pens.......check out Chuck Stone's pens in post #10 in this thread.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?163810-Anybody-have-3d-engraved-pieces-to-show&highlight=mount+rushmore

Thanks for the link, some rally nice work in there. But now you have me looking down the rabbit hole that is 3D engraving. So yeah, thanks a lot! lol

[Keith Outten]

Don't blame me, I'm in the same boat you are. When I saw Chuck Stone's pictures I just had to order a rotary attachment for my laser engraver......cost me over $1800 bucks. There are others here like Chuck Sone and Michael Doyle who have uploaded pictures of their work that are definitely inspirational.

I have four pen blanks in my shop turned and ready to engrave, these will be the first projects for my rotary and all I need now is to prep some pictures but thats the hard part isn't it :)

Mike Null uploaded a lithophane he laser engraved that was pretty slick and it was the first one he has made.

I often load up my Laser Engravers Forum CD and just cruise the pictures to make sure I don't miss anything, thats how I found Chuck Stone's pictures as I missed the thread when it was active.
.

[Michael Doyle]

Keith Outten "all I need now is to prep some pictures but thats the hard part isn't it"

You are right on the money there Keith. There is an old computer saying "garbage in, garbage out". It may be a little crude, but still as true as ever.

[Dee Gallo]

Michael, I see you have not lost your touch whatsoever - that husky is fantastic!

Thanks for sharing, dee

[Michael Doyle]

Thanks Dee
I have been working on these for a while. I think I might finally have it figured out.
Here are a couple more I am working on
283269

[David Somers]

Those are really quite special. I love what looks like a Border Collie behind the Basset? I have a weakness for Border Collies and Aussies. Would it be impolite to ask what you are selling those for and what you think you have in them for time?

Dave

[Michael Doyle]

Thanks Dave - I wasn't trying to hide it- here is a closer look.
It's not so much the individual time, it was the overall trial and error phase that was a pain.
I probably burned a hundred images before I was satisfied that I could get acceptable results with a big variation in original images.
As to the rest of your question, your welcome to send me a message.
283270

[Keith Outten]

Michael,

I expect you are testing your graphics on flat Corian pieces before you commit the engraving to a pen blank. It sounds like you are doing your photo editing manually instead of using PhotoGrav or the Gold method.
.

[Michael Doyle]

Most of the initial testing was on flat stock. removing the excess colorfill was a pain, and some of the images were streaky. Now what I do is prepare the blank and turn it kinda close to size, then polish - engrave - colorfill - evaluate. If good, I put the blank back on the lathe and finish it, that removes any traces of the original test, and I can re-engrave. If I don't like the initial result, I tweak the image, reduce the blank dia, and try it again.
Of course once I like the image, then it's ready to go anytime I want to use it. This way I am accumulating a pretty good library of dogs.
The photo work is varied, but once I scan an image I never compress it, I save as tiff. I have an old Epson flatbed that I paid a bundle for many(maybe even many many) years ago. It has a lot of useful options.

[Amos De Pasquale]

From the answers I understand it is much trial and experimentation, although I wouldn't mind the Laser Engravers Forum CD, where would I download that from???? Amos

[Chuck Stone]

Michael.. having done a lot of these and going through lots of the same trial-and-error
that you're going through, I can offer a couple of suggestions that might help.

1) rather than the color fill, I've been using tubes of artist's acrylic paints. Much less
expensive, and easy to work with. Dries in a couple of minutes, the excess comes off
with a damp terry cloth towel. If you really overload it with paint, denatured alcohol
takes it right off. I get the sets at the dollar store for $3-4, lots of colors.


2) I've started using the Abranet sanding discs with a felt block for sanding.
220, 320, 400, 600 and then straight to PlastX or Hut Ultra Shine polish.
As you know, the faintest scratch will hold paint and show up like a beacon.
2-3 seconds with each step has gotten me a high gloss that doesn't hold paint.
(except where it is engraved)

3) with the acrylics, you can vary how much color you get. I slop it on and let
the blank dry on a little rack of dowels I made. By the time I've engraved 3 or 4
more blanks, the first ones are bone dry. The damp (not wet) towel removes the
paint that isn't in the engraving, but once you have a cleaned blank, you might find
it is darker than you want. The towel dampened with denatured alcohol can lighten
up the amount of paint so you don't lose detail.

4) When the detail looks good, it might be too dark. Any topcoat is going to give
that paint a boost. So I shoot for slightly on the light side. Then when I finish with
CA or lacquer, , the color gets a big boost.

5) Since Dupont dealers (mostly) stopped stocking the thicker material, it is getting
harder to find. Gluing up two thinner sheets will leave a visible seam, even if you buy
the expensive epoxies in the correct color. Some insist that you can't see the seam,
and I'm beginning to wonder if some people can't see it. My eyes aren't very good, but
that seam is obvious to me. My local dealers still have some pieces, but now they sell it
to me, whereas the 12mm stuff is out back and they'd really appreciate it if I would
take a few tons off of their hands for free. You can order the 18mm, but it's a bit pricey
for making a few pen blanks!

Below are pics of the acrylic paints, and a pen I made for a friend who is a rabid,
drooling Elle McPherson fan.

Hope this helps..

ps.. we need a "LIKE" button

[Scott Shepherd]

and a pen I made for a friend who is a rabid,
drooling Elle McPherson fan.



Is there any other way to be a fan of her's?

[Michael Doyle]

Thanks Chuck

You certainly included a lot of excellent tips in your comments. I will have to try the acrylic, and letting it dry. I remove the color while still wet. I think that is mostly paranoia on my part, about not getting all of the excess off.
That is really nice job on your friends pen, but then, how could she ever look bad.

[Chuck Stone]

Is there any other way to be a fan of her's?

well .... umm...

no.

[Chuck Stone]

I was removing it wet, too .. for the same reason you mention. I was afraid it would be there
forever if I didn't get it right away. At one point I was using india ink!
But I've found that with the acrylic, I can even remove all of the color if I really need to.
toothbrush, DNA and lots of patience. Once I knew that, I could breathe easier.

[Keith Outten]

I am finally able to join this group as I finished the first Stonewall Jackson Prayer Tree pens yesterday. They are Streamline pen kits which I normally ship to the Middle East as part of the Freedom Pens Project but I have plans to make Zen pens and some sterling silver pens. Last but not least I am planning to make ten shadow boxes for the sterling silver pens that have a dye-sublimated picture of the tree and Stonewall Jackson. Aaron Koehl is working on a design for a Certificate of Authentication that we will provide with each pen.

The Zen pens will be much larger in diameter so the graphic will be more prominent. I have started a thread in the Turners Forum (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?218702-My-First-Stonewall-Jackson-Prayer-Tree-Pens&p=2277696#post2277696) for these pens but I decided to post here since these pens are also about laser engraving pens.

[Chuck Stone]

Nice!

(or as they say downunder, noice! )