A useful mistake

A while ago I made a pen, not that unusual I guess.  I had bought a black acrylic with gold glitter in it from Gary Pye Woodturning Supplies and thought it would look great as a Cigar style pen with gold fittings.

All had gone well with the drilling and gluing of the blank.  I was ready to turn what I thought would be a great pen.  Unfortunately the fickled finger of fate hang in the shed that day and disaster struck.  A moments lapse in concentration?  A tool not sharp enough? A weak part in the blank? I don't know what it was, but I put a deep chip in one end.  It was not the life ending drama I had thought but enough to produce a few curse words and to kick the waste bin across the shed.  However I decided not to give in.  I took the blank of and re-squared the end with a pen mill and returned.

I knew that the pen would be too short for the cartridge, but had my fingers crossed I could modify it, or that by some miracle the pen nib would still retract enough.  I was wrong.

pen retracted

When the pen was fully assembled it did not retract all the way, not by a long shot, not even if I modified the transmission (something I have done before).  However I loved this pen.  It looked smart, had great balance of colour (something I haven't captured in the photo) and is extremely comfy to hold.

It may not have turned in to a sell able pen, or a display pen but it is my favourite everyday pen.  I use it when studying, writing lists and just leaving it lying around on the bench.  It may have been a mistake, but it has certainly been a useful one.  It also meant the pen got the use it deserved, not just sitting in the box with the rest of the pens.

Have you every made a mistake that worked out well?

Mystery Box

It's Mystery Box time of the year, a fun time for us pen makers on the woodwork forum.  Yes we are a crazy wacky bunch that live on the edge.  Contrary to popular belief we are not all old, glasses wearing, appron wielding wood lovers (some of us are actually young glasses wearing, apron wielding wood lovers).

Yes once a year we send a cardboard box from state to state full of wonderful pen making goodies.  A few days I got an email from the last recipient saying it was my turn.  I was excited waiting for the box of wonders.  What cool things would be inside?  What would I take and what would I leave for the next person?  The rules are simple, take out whatever you want and replace it with other things pen makers would like.  It could be wood pen blanks, acrylics, pen kits, something for casting, the choice is yours. The only rule is the box should way under three kilos and be posted on to the next on the list as soon as possible.

Now I can't show you what dark secrets lie within, that would spoil it for everyone. However I can show what I took out.

Having taken my goodies the box has been topped up and is ready to continue its cosmic journey.

Candy Cane Stylus

As we may remember I recently had a great prize pack from Timberbits.  In this pack I choose some of their newly stocked Slimline Stylus pen kits.  These are basic Slimline pen kits with a Stylus tip at the clip end for use with Ipad/Smartphones etc.  

I was very keen to turn one of these kits so I teamed it up with a Candy Cane Acrylic that I had picked up in a sale ages ago.

Being a slimline it was a quick kit to turn.  Just drill with a 7mm drill bit, cut in half and glue in the two tubes and trim.  Let the glue dry overnight and turn.

I love acrylics, so much colour and so quick to turn and no CA finish to take up time at the end (or stuff up!)

Acrylics polish up so well.  I usually work through 150 grit wet dry paper to 800 and then bring out the micro mesh pads.  That should have made it nice and smooth and removed any hairline scratches.  Now time to make it shine!  I give an over kill with some Brasso and then car polish, though the car polish is enough.  Then assembly time.

The finished article is great, and the fantastic thing about these kits (found here) is that because the stylus tip fits a 7mm tube it creates many more great possibilities (stay tuned).