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- 7,988
- Location
- falcon heights, minnesota
started out the day (last one off for 4 days) with the good intent of turning 6 celtic knot pens out of purpleheart and yellowheart. started out good, with enough blanks (8, as i cover all bases), and inserts that were cut the other day. then it went downhill from there. i got all the first cuts done, the first insert broke off clean halfway in, and the glue set up before i could get it out. one blank down. the other inserts went in nicely. then after i cut the second blank's second cut, i noticed something wrong. i hadn't watched where i was cutting, and made the cut in the wrong place. another blank down. oh well says i, i still have 6 blanks. the rest of the cuts and inserts went nicely. then it was time to drill. i marked dead center on the tops of the blanks, slapped them in the jig, and drilled them out, so far so good. glued the brass tubes in with no problems. i decided to turn the one that i thought might be a problem child of the bunch, and boy was i right. note to anyone else wanting to try a celtic knot pen, when it's spinning, and down to round, you can tell if you drilled straight by the image made by the inserts, found that out the hard way. then, as i was about to make the last pass, cutting the last blank, the one that looked like (and was) the best of the bunch, my dad hollered out to lock up the house before i left. needless to say, that distracted me just enough for a slight catch at the end of the barrell, and blew apart the end of the barrell. when i saw how perfect the knot was, and the busted end of the barrell, jesus wept. well, to make a long story bearable, of the 8 blanks i started out with, there were only 3 survivors. one bad cut, one broken insert, three ugly knots (if not drilled even a touch off, wide open on one side, bunched up on the other), and one blown apart on the lathe. of the three that survived, now that i am finishing them with a crystal clear poly, it looks like the purpleheart is bleeding into the yellowheart. what i think i'm going to do, is fall back to plan b (these pens are intended for a silent auction for the minnesota vikings, hence the purple and gold), is to make sets of the pens, one purpleheart, and one yellowheart. can't go wrong there. thank god i go back to work again tomorrow....
Attachments
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blanks and inserts.JPG65.6 KB · Views: 40
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third cuts and inserts.JPG77.8 KB · Views: 38
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second inserts in and sanded.JPG88.5 KB · Views: 41
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second cuts.JPG73.2 KB · Views: 40
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first sanded down.JPG75.2 KB · Views: 40
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first inserts.JPG76.7 KB · Views: 41
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first cuts.JPG77.5 KB · Views: 41
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fourth cuts and inserts.JPG109 KB · Views: 43
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all inserts in and sanded.JPG85.5 KB · Views: 40
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all drilled.JPG87.8 KB · Views: 46