Curly Maple Cigar Pen....

[Corey Hallagan]

Well here is my latests. It is a curly maple cigar pen with a Berea black chrome kit. The finish is lacquer and TSW.

I learned alot on this pen. I ruined 2 light colored pens due improper technique. One was ruined by improper sandpaper that discolored the wood and the second was ruined by bushing dust that was pull on to the blank when sanding. So hopefully all my pens will be a little crisper in appearance regardless of the color of the wood buy more carefull sanding around the bushings and using only garnet paper and Micro Mesh and no dark gritted papers.

So I was bound and determined to make a clean light pen. I took 3 sets of photos and these were the best and it just doesn't do this beauitful wood any justice, nor the finish. Thanks to Chris Barton for the beautiful curly flame maple! The finish is about 5 layers of lacquer and sanded and is just absolutely flat after sanding. I hope I can duplicate the finish on future pens. Anyway, thanks for looking, wish I had better photos.

Corey

[George Conklin]

Hi Corey,
That one turned out quite nice. It has sort of a "tuxedo-esque" flair to it.
You definately want to do more of those.

[Bob Noles]

About time you got these pics posted..... I stayed up past my bedtime in anticipation of seeing them :)

That is a spectacular pen Corey. I love the overall look it has and the finish is excellent. I like cigar pens as they have a much better grip than the thinner ones.

I believe you got another winner on this one.

Thanks for sharing......

[John Miliunas]

Dang it, Corey...That's killer! :) I love CM and even in the pictures, it really looks beautiful. You done good! :) :cool:

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Lookin' GOOD, Corey. One thing I do with light colored woods is to wipe them down between grits with General Finish's Furniture Cleaner. I tried it with a sample bottle and it worked, getting the "Gray" from the bushings off, so I continue to use it.

Bruce

[Corey Hallagan]

Thanks guys! I appreciate it. I really enjoy doing the pens. Bruce, wish I had some of that last week. Ruined an ambrosia maple blank and a spalted maple blank. I turn it to the bushins on the end and just sand lightly at the bushings. and blow off the blanks between grits with the air hose where I would normally wiped down with DNA between grits. I carefully wipe down with DNA every 3 grits or so. Easy to dry the metal dust with DNA on the the pen. Anyway, thanks for the tip!

Corey

[Barry Stratton]

Beautiful pen, Corey!!!! I love the CM and the pen kit really shows it off.

[Vaughn McMillan]

That's a gorgeous pen, Corey. Also, thanks to both you and Bruce for the lesson in sanding. I noticed tonight that my black 320 and 400 paper was leaving tracks on some pine I was playing with.

I couldn't resist playing with one of your photos in Photoshop, just to see if I could see the grain any better. Dunno if it's closer to the real thing than your pics, but here it is in case you'd like it. (If you don't like it, let me know and I'll delete it. ;) )

38249

- Vaughn

[John Hart]

Cool Corey! The maple looks almost iridescent. I avoid light woods for the reasons you posted. Think I'll try Bruce's solution as well. Great pen sir!:)

[Chris Barton]

Great looking pen Corey! Keep up the good work!

[Keith Burns]

Excellent pen Corey, it's just downright beautiful !!:) :)

[Corey Hallagan]

Thanks fellas I appreciate it. John, you really just have to spend a little more time and I just covered most of the bushings with blue painters tape and slowed down a bit.

Vaughn, the pic looks awesome. Looks much better and very much like the actual pen! Thanks!
Corey

[Steve Ash]

That grain pattern is gorgeous Corey, very nice.

[Andy Hoyt]

Yup, that guy Corey's got it.

[Curt Fuller]

Nice pen Corey. There's a fancy word for that look in the wood, Chatoyance. That's probably not how it's spelled but that piece of wood sure has it.

[Ernie Nyvall]

That's a real beauty Corey. Very nice job.

Ernie

[Randy Meijer]

.....Anyway, thanks for looking, wish I had better photos......

Try a lighter background. It is very difficult to get good pictures with a black background.

[Corey Hallagan]

Thanks guys. Randy, I tried light back grounds, medium which is what this really is as it isn't that dark, and a navy background. Lighting was just hard to adjust as outdoors it got washed out. It was feast or famine. Probably one of those moments when a photo box is worth it's weight!

Corey