Recent pens

Recent pens · 03-04-2009, 12:14 AM

I've been experimenting with different materials and had some success. This is my first attempt at intersecting segments. It's a Blue Saphire acrylic with white Inlace Acrylester accents at 60 degrees. (I gotta make a miter sled for my tablesaw - sanding the bandsaw marks away is a pain!) Maybe I can screw up the courage to try a Celtic knot soon.

The next is another Blue Saphire acrylic but with white plastic sandwiched between two aluminum sheets. This one taught me that different materials have different tolerances for sanding and heat. The white plastic melted at a temperature the acrylic was OK with. Only had to sand it three times before I got it right but it turned out pretty well I think.

Nothing like a snow day AND hearing LOML say I ought not waste it with honey-do stuff!

MikeL · 03-04-2009, 12:45 AM

Bruce, great job with the experiments! That aluminum accent really makes that satin kit stand out.

rcflyer23 · 03-04-2009, 12:49 AM

Bruce great looking pens. I really like the cigar. Where did you get your aluminum from for your slimline? I am working on segmenting as well, well working on scallops its not going so well. As far as the celtic knot, you are pretty much there just need a couple more cuts. Check out this video from AlexL he does a celtic knot in it. This was for a school project but can almost be a how to for celtic knots.

Also where did you get that acrylic blank from I really like that as well.

Sorry it was late when I responded here is the link: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showp...91&ppuser=2069

Gotcha6 · 03-04-2009, 04:03 AM

Great looking pens,Kevin. And Bruce is right. You're halfway there on Celtic Knots. The key(s) to good Celtic Knots are:
1. Consistent placement of the accent in the blank. I use a dedicated sled set up with a 45 degree miter for the blank and a fixed stop for the cuts. This ensures the accents are located in the same place all around the blank.
2. Consistent thickness to the accent. Be sure you cut all the accents to the same thickness and get a good clean glue face on them.
3. Consistent realignment of the cut pieces for glue up. Make a jig to hold the pieces aligned in both planes while drying.
4. Consistent drilling of the blank dead center. Be sure your blank is centered on the vise and the blank is square with the drill press table/bit. DO NOT START WITH A RECTANGULAR BLANK. IT SHOULD BE SQUARE.

Are you starting to see a pattern here? DAMHIKT

nblong · 03-04-2009, 06:58 PM

Kevin,

If I remember correctly the aluminum was just 0.025 (?) sheet stock from Lowes. I had some aluminum from Hobby Lobby's metal crafts section but it's so thin it's almost not worth the effort (it comes rolled up) but it might be good for following curves if you wanted a delicate line that wandered around through a blank.

The acrylic was from WoodTurningz (http://www.woodturningz.com). It's their Acrylic Acetate #07 - Sapphire Blue. They also discount almost anything Penn State Industries sells and their delivery is FAST. They can cram more stuff in an USPS box than you can imagine so it pays to buy enough to fill one up. They're a small operation in terms of people but you get great customer service.

Thanks for the video link. And thanks Dennis for the Celtic Knot tips. The pattern was consistent consecutive sentence numbering, right?

Consistent use of standard English?

Actually I hadn't thought of the square part but I can see how important it would be. Thanks again.

TracyP · 03-04-2009, 07:45 PM

Gorgeous pens!!

PChristy · 03-04-2009, 08:21 PM

Great job Kevin

rcflyer23 · 03-04-2009, 08:43 PM

Thanks for the info Bruce. I always forget about that site. I will have to check out Lowes and Hobby Lobby.

DaveO · 03-04-2009, 09:38 PM

Re: Aluminum for pen segmenting
I often use the metal from soft/hard drink cans...primarily beer cans. It's cheap and in my case plentiful.
Another good source is aluminum flashing available at the BORG.

There is nothing like giving a pen to someone and telling them that is was made of whatever wood with beer can, and credit card accents.
Guitar picks are fun too.

A little doubled beer can segment -

A little credit card segmenting -

Dave

nblong · 03-05-2009, 07:50 AM

DaveO,

Cool pens! I really like the 2nd one. I hadn't thought of using credit cards or guitar picks but I guess there really isn't a limit to what you could try. Do you glue everything at once or take it one section at a time? Also, what are you glueing with? Even thick CA sets too fast for me to get things aligned properly, especially if there are angles involved so I've been using epoxy. I clamp both pieces to a block covered with wax paper then add another clamp the long way to squeeze everything together. If there's a glue good jig out there I'd sure like to know about it.