Pens Away

Jon Lanier

Member
Messages
193
Location
Xenia, Ohio
Well, I got a couple orders done. I've got two Jr. Gent II in gold with ambrosia maple for some friends who do new church work in New Jersey. The other 7 pens are all Jr. Gents made with fiddle back maple with dyed to Teal color. I had one blow out on me... so I upgraded the pen to a Teal Box Elder.

Nine Jr. Gents in two days.... whewww... I'm tired. Thanks to Mike Helvey who did the engraving for me.


dsc03627ph3.jpg


barnabastrustee2it0.jpg


barnabastrustee1qm6.jpg


southjerseypenno6.jpg
 
Great pens!.

How do you apply the stain to them, and do you lacquer them afterwards?

I'm a completely ignorant about the process of making pens, the only thing I know is that you make them on a lathe. Apart from that the rest is unknown land for me:)
 
Great pens!.

How do you apply the stain to them, and do you lacquer them afterwards?

I'm a completely ignorant about the process of making pens, the only thing I know is that you make them on a lathe. Apart from that the rest is unknown land for me:)

Well, these blanks were purchased this way. They use a pressure pot of sorts. The teal blanks I actually had to had more color because the dye/stain did not penetrate very well. What I did was match the color with some analine dye. Then apply it over the pen. Heat gun dry, sand with 600 grit, the repeat until I got the color I was happy with.

I use a CA finish... 1500 - 12,000 micro mesh. White diamond buff, Renaissance Wax/buffing.

-Jon
 
Pen Engraving

Who is doing your engraving? Are you sending the pens off for engraving or having it done locally?
 
Those look great, Jon. :thumb: I've turned some of the stabilized figured maple, and it's sweet stuff.

...I use a CA finish... 1500 - 12,000 micro mesh. White diamond buff, Renaissance Wax/buffing...
I've experimented a fair amount with the CA/micro mesh/buffing approach and it does indeed make a nice finish. But, after seeing some acrylic finishing tips from Ed Davidson, I've dropped the micro mesh steps. On either acrylic blanks or CA finish, I sand to 600 grit (wet sand, if at all possible), then go straight to tripoli on a medium firm buffing wheel. The tripoli removes all the 600 grit scratches that I can see. (Ed stops at 400 grit, and claims the same results.) Follow that up with white diamond and Renaissance Wax, and it's good to go, with fewer steps involved.

Sometime when you're in an experimental mood, try finishing one half of a pen your way with micro mesh, and the other half Ed's way...going straight from 400 or 600 grit to the tripoli buff. If you're like me, you'll see equal results done in less time with Ed's method.
 
Who is doing your engraving? Are you sending the pens off for engraving or having it done locally?


Mike Helvey has been doing my engraving. He is local. Well, was local, they are or should have moved last monday to South Carolina. It'll take him 3 months or so to get set back up. He moved with an Air Force job.
 
Top