A First for me

[Russianwolf]

A friend sent me the blank for this fountain pen. It was an experiment and I'd say a successful one.

Prairie Rattlesnake Skin on a Chrome Sedona Fountain Pen. I think I'll retake these pics on darker background, the pen in gorgeous in person and the pics don't do it justice.

And Two "BOWFish" Bethlehem Olive Wood on Two-Tone Christian Fish Pacificas.

[gad5264]

Very nice Mike, a very nice combination on the "BOWFish"

[crokett]

Rattlesnake skin? Is it cast in resin or something so you can turn it? You are right - that is a gorgeous pen.

[Russianwolf]

Rattlesnake skin? Is it cast in resin or something so you can turn it? You are right - that is a gorgeous pen.

Yep. the skin is glued around the tube, then the ends are plugged and the whole thing is cast in PR. Then you trim to length and remove the plugs and on the lathe it goes.

You have to be a bit careful at the ends of the blank as the thickness of the nib can be close to that of the skin. As I mentioned, this one came from a friend, but you can buy them from www.ArizonaSilhouette.com (Rattlesnake blanks) or from www.Glimmerznmore.com (Python and Cobra).

I actually placed an order for some of the colored Cobra, Python, Perch (yep the fish), and a natural Toad skin blank yesterday.

[jking]

As always, very nicely done. I've been thinking about trying to cast some blanks, but, have a hard time buying the supplies to "play".

Personally, I don't think BOW is the best wood choice for the Pacificas. Maybe it's the picture, but, the wood seems a bit too light for the amount of dark hardware.

[TB Roye]

Cool Pens Mike, The Snake skins are really nice. Like the BOW also but wonder if the BOW would look even better and the Two Tone TiGold kit that was offered? I was tempted to get some of the other plating but was talked out of it during the discussion on the Group buy. May have to order a couple to see what they look like.

I picked up 2 Diamond Back and 2 Prarrie Rattle Snake blanks and 4 Button click Sierra kits form AS over the weekend. Won't be turning them for a couple of weeks as Grandson is here. I did turn a Natural Cobra Euro Pen and it came out nice. The blank was already round and just had to turn it down to close to the bushing. I then managed to loose it some place. The blanks from AS seem to require a different method accord to the instructions. These blank are rectangular and need to be rounded with a file and such. I saw the other skin blanks on EBay so I might get some for a different style of pen. I think one of the Poker Sierra with Rattle Snake blank would be cool especially for my Brother in law Texas "Tex" Smith who was born in Texas and has played the big Poker Tournaments and wears Snake skin boots. Think I know what his Cristmas present is going to be. He also was a Pro Bass Fisherman and has the Bass Boat he won a few years ago in Texas wonder if they have Bass Scale blanks.

Mike

Just went on the Wooden Pen Pro site and looked at the various fish pens The two tone Gold and Black Enamel might work not a big fan of Enamel on a pen. So will not try one at this time.

Tom

[Russianwolf]

Tom, Check out www.glimmerznmore.com I just boght some of their blanks and one of them is a Dyed Perch Blank

I got one of the Gold/Black Ti kits during the buy to prove to myself if they were good or not. They look fine, but I messed it up when I was trying to knock the blank out of it. I then tried a quick experiment. I took a buffing wheel and hit the surface of the gold, the black Ti, and the chrome on another kit. The gold weas eaten pretty wuick, the chrome and black ti held up nicely.

I think the non-TI gold's are okay for gifts, but I wouldn't try to sell them.

[TB Roye]

Thanks for the Site and the other infor on the Gold. The instruction for the blank I got from Bill at AS scare the h+++ out of me but I will give it a try and see what happens. Who know it might be easier that I though.

Tom

[Russianwolf]

Thanks for the Site and the other infor on the Gold. The instruction for the blank I got from Bill at AS scare the h+++ out of me but I will give it a try and see what happens. Who know it might be easier that I though.

Tom

yeah, i read his instructions before I did this one. They are intimidating.

Here's what I did.

1) sand off the corners as much as you're comfortable doing.
2) put it between centers and use sandpaper to finish rounding the blank.
3) trim the ends (I do this on the lathe with the blank mounted in a chuck and sandpaper attached to a card scrapper, and is the reason I round the blank between centers)
4) use the skew as a scrapper to take the blank down close to final dimesions. A file would work as well, but can get clogged too quickly.
5) finish shaping with 80 grit paper
6) then finish going through you papers and polishing

Remember that I do all my turning between centers now, not on a mandrel so some of my steps may not work for you.

[TB Roye]

Mike

Thanks for the info. I may just have to look into turning between centers. Maybe LOML won't notice new tooling. I did do a Cobra blank but it came already round and the ends square so it was just a matter of finish turning and polishing.

Tom

[Whaler]

Beautiful pens Mike. As always you come up with some great ones.