Thanks Eagle. My biggest problem with it is the unevenness of the outline of the oval. That glares at me more than the vertical member of the cross not being plumb. It is interesting the you split you horizontal instead of the vertical member.
With your urging and others on other forums I believe that I will assemble the pen, and
give it to my friend instead of charging him for it. He can decide it he wants to give it to his wife or chuck it in the glove-box. I will try again, I will succeed.....someday
Dave
You and I both know how much time goes into something like this.It is not only the time in the shop,I know you didn't walk into the shop and just start to make the blank.
You mulled over the different ways you could accomplish this or atleast what would be the best way to try.
THis may have been when you were sitting down haveing your morninng coffee, driving somewhere or when a commsercial came on T.V..
At some point you became oblivious to your surroundings and in your minds eye you worked through the different steps mentally.At soem [point you amy even have come to a mental "stumbling block" and start from scratch.
I call that R&D.
At this point you have a couple of hours into the project and haven't even select what woods you are going to use.
You may have even thought of suuccumbing to the thught of having it done with a laser.
You finally decided the method you were going to use and put"saw to wood".
There may have been countless set backs depending on how well your mental plans gave you the results you wanted as you went along.
At some point you had the blank but were not out of the woods yet.
It still needed to be drilled center to the pattern(some cant even drill a solid piece of wood without having it blow up)In this case you KNOW you have to be center when you drill.
Then it needs to be turned without blowing out on the lathe.
Then sanded and finished.
If your friend decides to pay you for this custom pen, I seriously doubt he will pay you in money what that pen cost you to make.
What he
cannot pay for is what you
learned in making this blank.
Even if you wrote a tutorial on how you made this blank(which I hope you don't do) There is still the execution of the steps based on the standards and tolerances you have set up for yourself.
That cannot be taught.
Great job on the blank and the finish.
Now get the bottle of thin CA out(stabilize it while turing and go slow), finish turning it, assemble it, and "give" it to your friend.
