copper pen.....

[NikNak]

Hi all,

one of the women at work asked if i could make a pen for her husbands 40th birthday..... "i'll leave it up to you to decide...." she said.

Well having only just taken delivery of a whole load of kits from the nice lady on ebay, one of which was a cigar type, i thought "that's the one...". He's a BIG bloke (not fat) with massive hands and fingers like potato dibbers..!! works in the construction industry......

he's currently working on a job digging out old copper cabling from the ground, so there's a bit of a joke attached to the pen as well.



Then i had a go at a Classic Elite pen (from the same ebay seller)....

not bad..... was i bit disappointed with the rather 'gritty' feel to the threading. Other than that was a nice kit. However the instructions said to put the 'O' ring Wood side of the thread fitting (hope that makes sense?) which i did. But it left the pen-top feeling a bit... not-quite-right. But hey that's what it said. Been back down the shed again this morning and found another set of assembly instructions..... the second says to fit the 'O' ring other side of the screw fitting (i think you can just make out what i mean in the pic...). So..... which is right..? I'm inclined to think the second instruction as that would then make the top close down on the 'O' ring rather than just 'meet' it.




then a quick 'fancy' slimline in Walnut with chrome fittings...

have also bought other kits (and colours) from the same seller and (other than the threading) am very pleased with all of them.



Took 10 items into work with me last Friday, the 3 above plus other slim-lines, key-ring pens, and some 'secret compartment' key-rings.... all sold within an hour, and came home with orders to make more....



Nick

 

[loz]

Beautiful pens Nick,

I particularly like the Classic Elite one, with the threaded top.

Regs

Laurence

 

[greggy]

hiya nik, great looking pens you've done there.
the fit and finish look good too, but be careful selling the copper and cheap gold plated pens though as the plating will come off in a matter of weeks. but keep up the great work.

 

[wizer]

All very nice. I do like the copper. To my eyes, it looks better than brass any day.

I'm not normally a fan of bulbous slimlines (having done them myself), but I like this one, it's very subtle!

I quite fancy doing a few actually. nice gentle project to ease me back into woodturning.

 

[wizer]

greggy, are there good quality copper kits?

 

[Bodrighy]

Tom, slightly off topic but we have a turner in out club who is in a wheelchair, obviously the lathe that he uses is lower down but it made me wonder, would you be more comfortable, less strain on your back if you had a stool or something at the lathe. Obviously it would be for smaller work but just wondered if it might be helpful in some situations. Feel free to ignore if it's a daft idea or you have thought of it already

pete

 

[wizer]

Thanks Pete. When I first got my Woodfast, Blister showed me an adjustable chair\stool that he'd got from Lidl. I bought one a few weeks later. It's no good for faceplate work as I prefer to have more freedom. But it's good for pens and stuff. However, sadly sitting down is really not much better than standing. The only thing that relieves the pain is to lay horizontal. After about an hour the pain subsides and I can continue. This is generally how I manage to do anything in the workshop and it works reasonably well. But obviously is going to make being employed really tricky.

Thanks for the suggestion tho. I would like to try one of the proper sit down lathes to see if I can get more comfortable with a proper ergonomic chair. Maybe even one of those chair where you kneel into it. There's normally the guy with the wheelchair lathe at Ally Pally (which is next week). So I will have a chat.

 

[greggy]

greggy, are there good quality copper kits?

tom, the short answer is no. the most durable platings are and in order,,,
titanium black or gold,
rhodium,
chrome, but not the coloured types ie red, black,green
then you have some kits in sterling silver, but its very soft.
you can get upgrade gold but its no better than the rest of the cheap platings, i hope this helps.

 

[wizer]

It does help, thanks. Where might one buy this top quality pen kits? I mean top of the range (pukka).

 

[John. B]

Tom,
Are you going to Ally Pally next week?
If you are, have you bought your ticket on line?
I've tried, but it requires me to open an account and log on to hobbywhatsit.
All I want to do is buy a ticket. I don't want to subscribe to the hobbyshop.
I know you can phone them, but only on a high cost premium number - 0844.
How did you get yours?

John. B

 

[wizer]

yeh I got mine online a few weeks ago. I can't remember if I had to sign up. I think it's just the same as your account on their forum. It's only a few boxes to fill in

I'm not sure what day I'm going yet. Probably Friday. Should be a good one this year.

 

[greggy]

tom, it depends on how many you want and what type you want.
if you only want a couple i can sell you some. pm me and i will see what i can do for you, and it will only be at cost.

 

[WoodAddict]

Great looking pens.... top work