First Kitless pen (Elm Burr w/ Blue & Orange Resin)

Well well well it's finished but it was kicking and screaming all the way to the end. It even had a repair before finial sanding

so this pen is made in Elm Burr w/ Blue & Orange Resin I was going to turn in wood first but then Ash suggested I make my first pen in acrylic for the ease of making so I chose this blank as I had two blanks bought just before Christmas but one broke while I was drilling it out for the cap so I bought a third blank and yep it snapped and shattered while turning. So I rang Whcreations and suggested the blanks where faulty




Then I remembered Phil at Beaufort ink saying stay away from Burl but now I was in to far and spent time and money on three blanks SO onward I went even the thread on the barrel broke at the thread when I was turning a chamfer to the end. So I had to turn again and rethread it.

a lot of thin CA glue has been used to repair and enforce threads breaks.

when deciding on finish I turned the pen support to stop the pen rolling off a desk I used CA finish and instantly hated the look so I decided to just sand and wax polish.

anyway enjoy my quick photo's of the "twisted" yes I've called it twisted




















Thank you for looking C&C welcome
James

Looks OK to me.

A very nice first kitless James. Well done.

Well you certainly didn’t make things easy for yourself, but I admire your ambition.

A good first effort, and you will no doubt have learnt a lot.

Cheers
Ash

Well done that is a great looking pen.

That's really nice, great shape, great colour, what's not to like.... Very nice job

Well it looks pretty good to me. Given the struggle you had with it you should be proud of it. Well done.

Thanks for all the positive comments and yes I'm quite proud of this pen So I plan on turning more kitless pen's but first I have a kit or two to make first just wailing for some white paint to be delivered first

I have to take my hat of the people that make kitless pen's as it's not as easy as you would think plus to cost of equipment and the fact that most blanks are short so you have to buy two blanks to make a pen
Ash and Pierre where my inspirations for making this pen and thank you Ash for the advice on turning this pen.

James

You got there in the end nice job

Well, despite the sorry saga and the tale of woe, it's turned out pretty well from where I'm sitting James. I appreciate that you know all its secrets and faults, but I think you should be proud of your achievement, and you will no doubt have learnt a huge amount along the way. Looking forward to seeing number 2

Phil

thank you Phil for the advice you gave and I haven't forgotten your return it's sitting in my office waiting to be posted when I'm aloud out of the house sorry for the delay

James

Congrats James! I wished my first kitless would have looked like this one!
I don't know your process, but drilling and threading the inside first while the blank is still full sized, then taking care of the outside with no stress on the threads helps to avoid breaking.

Sounds like good advice to me. I am wanting to have a go at kitless but I am still reading up on the process at the moment.

What experience gives especially first in acrylic can not be measured.Breaking,patching etc thanks for bearing up mate.

Peter.

Tiny James said:

Phil

I haven't forgotten your return it's sitting in my office waiting to be posted when I'm aloud out of the house sorry for the delay

James

Click to expand...

No worries James. It arrived today in fact - thanks

Sounds like you had quite a challenge James, but looking at the finished pen it was well worth the efforts