Engraving thoughts please

[Unique]

Hi Greg,

I have a vinyl cutter and had a go at putting lettering down the length of the tube. Never got around to casting it.

But I must say the idea of putting the lettering around as a band to the exposed tube is great and I will give this a go.

Thanks
Paul

I'd also thought along the lines you suggest - I do like this idea from Greg.

Tony

 

[Gregory Hardy]

Hi Greg - I like this idea. It puts the message on the pen without becoming overpowering and looks like it doesn't add too much extra complication.
I had been testing out a message along the barrel and yesterday prepped a blank (drilled/tubed and then trimmed back to the edge of the tube on one side) to trial it.
The way that you've done it looks to be a more elegant solution. It would be nice to see the completed pen when you get there.

Thanks for not only sharing the idea but also showing how its done.

Tony

I hope to pop it free this morning - it should be ready to turn late this afternoon. If the pen gods are smiling upon my little shop, it shouldn't be long.

(I'm less pleased to tell you that I have plenty of photos of how NOT to do it too! I'll keep those to myself.)

 

[Gregory Hardy]

It came off the lathe - there are flaws in the pen that I can't live with, but I went ahead and put a finish on to show that the process (if not the craftsman) can solve the problem in the post.

Bocote for the body woods, gold Navigator kit (poor second to Berea's Baron kit but the only one I had in gold on hand), and the art was cast in Liquid Diamonds epoxy resin. (Additional "for what it's worth," I used the kit because I had the kit and I had the mold to match the kit...the idea stands alone and well beyond my limited tools and skills.)

"NYSCOSS" is "New York State Council Of School Superintendents" - a professional organization to which I belong. (Conference is in a few weeks in Albany - I have time to make another one to replace this test piece!) Seven hundred Chief School Officers will attend...and they buy gifts for their School Board members...donating one for a giveaway seemed like a good business move. Not as noble as the project starting the thread - and I do want one of those pens - put the sunken boat created the "perfect storm," and got an idea off the ground. ("Launched a vessel?") A bunch of my decaying neurons fired and here's a pen...save the criticisms, gents. I've already beat the hell out of myself over the flaws. It's a "process piece," and nothing more!
:wink:

 

[Bucks]

That looks pretty stunning to me Greg, the only flaw I can see is the possible floor the pen has been photographed on

 

[Bucks]

Did you turn away all the resin off the Bocote leaving just the resin on the band, then put a finish on it? or did you leave the Bocote also encased in resin?

 

[Paul hd]

It looks fantastic.

 

[Gregory Hardy]

Yeah...that's my set-up bench. Dog hair on the hardwood floors makes for bad photos. I moved my rocks glass and my pack of Camels off the bench to shoot a couple of pictures.

The original project in this thread is so cool - I wish I had a famous boat to saw into pens! This pen (and there ARE flaws - trust me...I hid stuff with the phone photos) was a "process piece," and it worked. Add a nice box and a certificate, and a fellow could do a Class-A job of a set of pens with the idea. I'll leave the rest to someone with the skills to do it right, and I hope the boat pens go to a good cause. This really is a special project.

Back to the shop. I have nineteen hours of time left in my weekend, and I have a special blank and a Mistral kit to marry into something special!

 

[Gregory Hardy]

Did you turn away all the resin off the Bocote leaving just the resin on the band, then put a finish on it? or did you leave the Bocote also encased in resin?

Paul - I turned it all away. Initially, I rough turned the blank so it would fit in the mold. (That also meant more space taken up by wood in the mold, so less resin necessary to cast.) Once cured, I simply turned to bushings. Wood was bare. CA finish over all. Done.

When I do it again, I will not put the tenon for the art right at the end of the barrel. I will leave a little wood at one end, I think. The end of the cast resin is prone to be difficult to work with - if it was "surrounded by wood," I would need only worry about the face.

Disclaimers...

First - I turn bocote fast - perhaps 2200-2400 rpms, and I get a very clean, polished cut. That is way too hot for the resin. Married materials have to be respected - each has its own properties. That withstanding, and with time on my side, the next will be turned slower and I will finish with paper, not a tool. I also "flat sand" a lot. Softer materials don't react the same way, and I wanted a "flat surface." That might have been one of the success points of this pen. Hold the paper down like a shoe-shine boy with no fingers touching the work and try to stay "flat."

Next - I didn't mention that I had to sand everything the way I would normally sand a wood blank. Knowing that I planned a CA finish, I then also had to grit my teeth and wet sand and polish the resin strip portion...that said, I was adding water and polishing compound to the adjoining raw wood. It seemed to work, but I don't like the idea, and I was as careful as I could be to limit exposure to the raw bocote. The upside (in this case) is that bocote is a rosewood family member, so it is oily and resisted absorbing too much of the foreign liquid. Don't try this with pine!

Most - Once you cover a polished surface with CA, it will never look any better. Make the CA finish perfect as a bride's smile, the resin below still (and only) stands on its own. "If it ain't shinin', it ain't gonna shine better later, brother." End of sermon.

Now..."What's the next major problem, boys and girls?" I wish I had one of my own projects completed, but R&D is fun!

 

[Bucks]

Sounds like you know exactly wooing mate, keep up the good work

 

[Gregory Hardy]

Beautiful wood (and other stuff) spinning...gentle touch...sanding softy...it is exactly like wooing.

(I wonder where my fife is right now...back in a while.)

 

[Gregory Hardy]

I meant "wife," but "fife" works too.

 

[Penpal]

We all like it when a plan comes together as yours has.

Peter.

 

[Gregory Hardy]

Not sure it "came together," but there is now food for collective thought. Good minds and talents on this forum.. Someone will make it happen the right way and I will smile.

 

[wm460]

Looks great Greg, well done.

 

[Unique]

It came off the lathe - there are flaws in the pen that I can't live with, but I went ahead and put a finish on to show that the process (if not the craftsman) can solve the problem in the post.

Bocote for the body woods, gold Navigator kit (poor second to Berea's Baron kit but the only one I had in gold on hand), and the art was cast in Liquid Diamonds epoxy resin. (Additional "for what it's worth," I used the kit because I had the kit and I had the mold to match the kit...the idea stands alone and well beyond my limited tools and skills.)

"NYSCOSS" is "New York State Council Of School Superintendents" - a professional organization to which I belong. (Conference is in a few weeks in Albany - I have time to make another one to replace this test piece!) Seven hundred Chief School Officers will attend...and they buy gifts for their School Board members...donating one for a giveaway seemed like a good business move. Not as noble as the project starting the thread - and I do want one of those pens - put the sunken boat created the "perfect storm," and got an idea off the ground. ("Launched a vessel?") A bunch of my decaying neurons fired and here's a pen...save the criticisms, gents. I've already beat the hell out of myself over the flaws. It's a "process piece," and nothing more!
:wink:

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View attachment 34987

Greg - this works superbly well. I'm sure that it provides the really neat solution to the question that I had.
Having thought (and slept) on it I envisage it as being central to a package that includes pen + bespoke box + certificate and info etc.
Will do some more on this in the next few days.
Once again - thanks so much for your input and the work in your cave to produce this - I now hear an inner calling (shouting perhaps) to enter into my cave and start some prototypes.

Tony

 

[fingwe]

Another option could be to use Phil's Mistral pen kits and turn a separate centre band in a similar fashion?

 

[Phil Dart]

Another option could be to use Phil's Mistral pen kits and turn a separate centre band in a similar fashion?

Oooh, oooh, oooh, I like that idea!!

 

[Dalboy]

Another idea is to get a brass tube the same internal diameter as the centre band and put the writing on as Greg did. This means that you could make 4 0r 5 per tube leaving enough room between the writing to part off and then use that as a replacment centre band.

 

[Unique]

Another idea is to get a brass tube the same internal diameter as the centre band and put the writing on as Greg did. This means that you could make 4 0r 5 per tube leaving enough room between the writing to part off and then use that as a replacment centre band.

Thanks Derek - That's a good idea. I'll keep that also as an option.

Tony

 

[Unique]

Another option could be to use Phil's Mistral pen kits and turn a separate centre band in a similar fashion?

Thanks Melanie - I like this idea particularly as Mistrals are high up on the options. I think Phil will like it as well.

Tony