A Few Pens

Vaughn McMillan

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I was putting together some pics to send to a friend, and figured I'd show some of them here, too. Here are a some recent pens I've done (and one or two non-recent ones that I don't think I've shown here). I don't consider myself much of a pen turner compared to some of the guys we have here, but these came out OK...

This is desert ironwood in a chrome Streamline kit...

Desert Ironwood 1 - 800.jpg

Zebra acrylic in a black titanium Comfort kit (minus the rubber grip)...

Zebra - 800.jpg

Purple swirl acrylic in a rhodium Comfort kit...

Purple Swirl Acrylic - 800.jpg

Blue acrylic in a rhodium Comfort kit...

Blue Acrylic - 800.jpg

And a different blue acrylic in a black titanium Comfort kit...

Blue Acrylic 2 - 800.jpg

Malachite Tru-Stone in a chrome Perfect Fit kit...

Malachite - 800.jpg

Curly maple in a black titanium Sedona kit...

Curly Maple Closed - 800.jpg Curly Maple Open - 800.jpg

And turquoise Tru-Stone in a platinum Baron kit...

Turquoise Baron Closed - 800.jpg Turquoise Baron Open - 800.jpg

Comments and critiques are welcome as always - :wave:
 
They all look good to me!

The Zebra one "bent" neat optical illusion :D

They all appear to have a bit of a matte finish on them, is the just the pics, or were you trying for that?

Cheers!
 
...They all appear to have a bit of a matte finish on them, is the just the pics, or were you trying for that?

Cheers!

It's just the pics. They're all buffed to a high gloss (love them acrylics), but I'm doing something wrong with the lighting or something, so the camera focus is going soft. :doh:
 
Nice work as usual Vaughn. I am with Frank. I not too taken by the Acrylic types of pens. Look too much like a manufactured item as opposed to a material like wood which we all know to be natural. But hey thats just little ole me. I didnt do the psychedelic art era well either must be the cowboy in me.:rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
nice work Vaughn! Question... what are you using to sand/finish the acrylics? I just started playing with pen turning and am having a heck of a time getting the finish right with the acrylic blanks.
 
Thanks, all. I prefer the look of the wood pens, but it's hard to beat acrylics when you need to get a bunch done quickly. Also, the acrylics tend to sell better for me, at least in the lower-end kits like the Comfort and Streamline, so that's what I stocked up on for the Christmas season.

...Suggest a plain background for your next round of pics.

I concur. If not plain, plain-er. My photo tent backdrop is showing its age. I needed to get these pics quickly, and I was trying to avoid the extra Photoshop work to clean up the pics.

...Question... what are you using to sand/finish the acrylics? ...

I wet sand up to 600 grit, then buff with tripoli, white diamond, then a blue plastic polishing compound. BTW, Norton 3X paper works fine as wet sandpaper.
 
Thanks, all. I prefer the look of the wood pens, but it's hard to beat acrylics when you need to get a bunch done quickly. Also, the acrylics tend to sell better for me, at least in the lower-end kits like the Comfort and Streamline, so that's what I stocked up on for the Christmas season.



I concur. If not plain, plain-er. My photo tent backdrop is showing its age. I needed to get these pics quickly, and I was trying to avoid the extra P{hotoshop work to clean up the pics.



I wet sand up to 600 grit, then buff with tripoli, white diamond, then a blue plastic polishing compound. BTW, Norton 3X paper works fine as wet sandpaper.
KaLea; Let me be perfectly clear here, I am in no way attempting to steal Vaughn's thunder.

Here is another to way finish up your acrylics.

If you have spiral marks in your blank when you are done turning, they must be removed. Parallel sanding with Alum. Oxide paper up to 600 grit will do that for you.

When those are removed I use micromesh (a sort of rubber backed grit stuff). I have it from 1500 grit to 12,000 grit.

Some warm water with dish detergent, working from 1500 to 12,000 grit (about 15 seconds each is all that's necessary), wiping off between sandings. Then I use any number of stuff, depending on my mood. Silvo, Brasso, Flitz, Autosol Metal Polish, Nu Finish Scatch Doctor, anything in the automobile section that they use for polishing chrome or faded paint jobs.

Finish up with Hut Plastic Polish and Bob's your uncle or whatever you say in the U S of A.

attachment.php


It ain't wood but I'm betting it'll sell tomorrow at my craft show before any wood pen does. The BLING does it!
 
Mack, I also like the result from using Micro Mesh and polish, but for me the buffer is faster. I've done clear bottle stoppers that looked frosted after 600 grit, but after tripoli and white diamond they were optically clear. The tripoli especially is great at removing any remaining visible sanding marks (assuming they're in the 400 to 600 grit range).

On the other hand, with your method you get it all done in one shot on the lathe without having to go to another machine. ;) And there's no disputing your results. :thumb:
 
Mack, I also like the result from using Micro Mesh and polish, but for me the buffer is faster. I've done clear bottle stoppers that looked frosted after 600 grit, but after tripoli and white diamond they were optically clear. The tripoli especially is great at removing any remaining visible sanding marks (assuming they're in the 400 to 600 grit range).
Hi Vaughn; I've never even thought of using the buffer on my acrylics. DUH!:dunno: Worth a try though!:thumb:Thank you, Sir.
 
Hi Vaughn; I've never even thought of using the buffer on my acrylics. DUH!:dunno: Worth a try though!:thumb:Thank you, Sir.

I got the idea from a video Ed Davidson (YoYoSpin) has on the Web showing how he turns acrylic bottle stoppers. As I recall, he goes straight from wet 400 grit to the tripoli buff. I'll dig around and see if I can find the video.

By the way, what kit is the blue pen you posted the picture of above? I'm interested in getting into some higher-end kits. Any recommendations for good sellers?
 
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