The Pen Makers Boat: 2014

#182

NOW SOLD (well mum's Christmas pressie anyway!)

Mahogany and Chrome Ballpoint Twist Pen

Sadly no pics of the finished product as we had to rush off with to the post office with no time left to set up my mini photographic studio.

MAHOGANY - Swietenia mahagoni, commonly known as the West Indies Mahogany, is a species of Swietenia native to southern Florida in the United States and islands in the Caribbean including the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica and Hispaniola.

This pen was turned on 15th of December 2014 at the sunny end of the Atherstone visitor moorings jist before the old industrial buildings. The ducks and swans are well looked after here with a lady from the bungalow opposite coming out at least a couple of times a day with loaves of bread duck food. I turned this pen as a nice simple every day use kind of pen for one of mum's Christmas pressies. Its not just any old bit of mahogany though, this was made from an old house sign of theirs 'Kilnbrook Cottage' (possible to rent on the banks of the river Tivy in west Wales - (holiday cottage))

One of the things I love about wood turning is that you never quite know whats inside until the turnings done. The day after this pen was cut and glued I noticed a slight blemish had developed into a hole, I suspected a beastie was hibernating! Luckily it turned (literally) out to be a little feature inside the wood along a growth line. It looked quite pretty so i stopped turning earlier than intended and gave this pen a slightly wider top half.

The Old Cottage Sign - Lovely morning in Atherstone
On The Lathe Ready To See Whats Down The Hole
Luckily Its All Natural
Finished Ready For Assembly

#181

NOW SOLD (well dad's Christmas pressie anyway!)

Mahogany and 24ct Gold Plated Ballpoint Twist Pen

Sadly no pics of the finished product as we had to rush off with to the post office with no time left to set up my mini photographic studio.

This pen was turned on 15th of December 2014 at the sunny end of the Atherstone visitor moorings jist before the old industrial buildings. The ducks and swans are well looked after here with a lady from the bungalow opposite coming out at least a couple of times a day with loaves of bread and duck food. I turned this pen as a nice simple every day use kind of pen for one of Dad's Christmas pressies. Its not just any old bit of mahogany though, this was made from an old house sign of theirs 'Kilnbrook Cottage' (possible to rent on the banks of the river Tivy in west Wales - (holiday cottage))

The Old Kiln Brook Cottage Sign
Ready To Turn
All sealed and ready to assemble

#180

NOW SOLD

Tracey's Pen

Purple acrylic and Titanium Plated Rollerball Pen

This was a bit of a special pen commissioned by Martin the Master Manufacturer of Stained Glass ~ (Martins website) for his partner Tracey.

We decided that only the best was going to be good enough and I set about talking to my suppliers about a top notch pen mechanism in premium plating. Martin had already chosen a first and second choice of pen blank just in case the worst should happen and I had a problem with the turning. I was pretty confidant as I hadn't had one fail so far this year - I was going to regret my last thought.

Saturday 6th December, job one was to rough up the surface of the inner brass tubes and paint them a suitable colour for the blank. The red one (second choice) was a no brainer it was cherry red so had had to be similar for the brass tube. It's not vital that the tubes are painted but a proportion of the acrylic is a clearer colour that you can see through (I've recently made another pen that I purposefully kept the tube as brass to make the clearer green a more sea green to contrast with the blue). Inspecting the first choice purple now it was drilled out showed a higher proportion of clearer to more solid purple, and I wasn't sure how it would turn out. I chose a darker maroon colour. Next was drilling.

Monday 8th December. Both pens have the barrels glued up and have had a day to cure. The purple one doesn't feel right, far too much clear purple and the red one is only just a bit better. My supplier is 12,000 miles away in Australia, I can't send Martin a message asking for a third choice. Thinking cap time. We were going to pop in for a pint in the Greyhound in Hawkesbury Monday evening and I had loosely arranged to meet up with a fellow boater and FaceBook friend for a coffee on Friday. Plan B. We pulled pins and set off into the gales and drizzle. There is another supplier I have used before in Basingstoke... and they have a branch a couple of miles from the canal near Nuneaton.

Stopping for water en route

We made it to a suitable mooring by early evening and legged it in the non boaty sense to Axminster Tools. I had checked on the way that they had some options for me. We looked at every single purple pen blank they stocked, most were too narrow for the pen style Martin wanted but they did have some excellent quality larger ones but they were a much darker purple but I should be able to lighten the finished pen up by painting the barrel white rather than purple. This really makes a difference as by the time I'm finished turning the acrylic veneer will only be about 1.5mm thick. We bought the best purple one along with another red one and went back to Lois Jane via Frankie and Bennys where we really needed a drink and something to eat.

Made it to Axminster before closing time

Morning view from the rear deck near Nuneaton

Tuesday the 9th December. Back to square one, marking, drilling, painting, drying, gluing and curing - each drying stage needing 24 hours. Whilst waiting for the barrels to dry we moved a bit closer to civilization in Atherstone ready for tomorrows turning of the two original choices and the two new ones that Martin still didn't know about.

Friday 12th December. A much milder day that was forecast to stay dry but I'd still have to wrap up warm, I was going to be on the towpath for at least four or five hours. The original purple ones turned quite nicely indeed and the clearer acrylic looked almost stained glass like which I quite liked (and don't forget Martin is an Artist in Stained Glass!). I was actually looking forward to seeing what it would polish up like when on the final pass of the newly sharpened chisel - CRACK - a lump of it flew off and sank into the canal always to rest in Atherstone. Bugger.

Red sky in the morning - time to turn!

Purple One - before disintegration

Purple Two

A quick stop whilst Mark and Callie from Calisto refuel

A quick brew and a warm of the hands inside and onto the next one. Purple two, which I was sure would be the new first choice. It turned beautifully and the white painted brass tube turned the blank into a very soft sugary purple/lilac. I was pleased with the result. On to turning Red One, which will still make a nice pen but the colours and patterns in Red Two looked like they may throw up something special when it was turned and polished.

I wasn't wrong. Red two turned into a fantastic bright cherry red pen I matched it to a Rhodium plated mechanism, 12 times the price of gold and the brightest, most reflective metal known to man (according to wikki). I sent Martin some pictures of the pens preassembled so he (or Tracey) could make the final decision and choose a pen to buy.

Should be on the for sale blog soon #179

Tracey's pen was posted on Monday, received on Wednesday from the Facebook comments I think both Tracey and Martin were very happy with my work. Happy Christmas both from James and Debbie on The Pen Maker's Boat.

#179

NOW SOLD

Ruby Red and Rhodium Plated Rollerball Pen

What a lovely pen blank to start with, really good quality. It did look quite a dark red to start with with fairly heavy black lines running through. Once it was turned though I could start to see flashes of lighter colour that gave a fantastic depth of ruby red.

What really makes this pen stand out though is the truly amazing pen mechanism, the pictures do not do it justice. It's not chrome but lovely bright Rhodium plating. Rhodium is the most reflective metal on the planet and is rather high on the precious metals list. In fact most sources put it second on the metals list and third on the substances list. Top metal is Californium 252 at a mere USD $27,000,000 per GRAM!!! With the winner of the substance list being Antimatter. How cool to have a Californium 252 pen!

This pen was made Friday 12th December. A milder day that was forecast to stay dry but I'd still have to wrap up warm, I was going to be on the towpath for at least four or five hours Today.

#178

NOW SOLD

Blue and Sea Green Acrylic and 24ct Gold Plated/Chrome Ballpoint Pen

Loads of swirls and colours in this one. There was a lovely, nearly clear seam going through the blank. I left the brass inside tube unpainted to try and get a proper sea green, wave pattern rather than too blue.

This particular pen was turned on Saturday 29th November 2014 a short distance below Hilmorton locks. The towpath was just about wide enough for me to set up and the shavings from turning kept the path relatively firm.

Blue and Sea Green Acrylic and Two-Tone 24ct Gold Plated/Chrome Ballpoint Pen
Beautiful early winter sun in Hillmorton
I get covered in confetti when I turn acrylic pens

#177

NOW SOLD

Teal/Pink Acrylic and Two-Tone Chrome Ballpoint Pen

Loads of swirls and colours in this one. I left the brass inside tube unpainted to try and get the teal a little greener rather than too blue.

This particular pen was turned on Sunday 30th November 2014 a short distance below Hilmorton locks. The towpath was just about wide enough for me to set up and the shavings from turning kept the path relatively firm.

Teal/Pink Acrylic and Two-Tone Chrome Ballpoint Pen
Half way there
Polishing nearly done
This blank will make two pens
Low evening winter sun

#176

NOW SOLD

NB Birchills Oak and Chrome Twist Ballpoint Pen

EUROPEAN OAK - Quercus robur

Usually straight-grained, the heartwood of European Oak varies in colour from light tan to brown. Quarter-sawn pieces show attractive flame figuring. The wood is fairly hard, heavy and dense, clean but with the occasional knot. European Oak is a beautiful timber and with an oil finish, the grain will turn a deep golden brown.

This particular piece of oak (probably English rather than European) is just a little bit special though. It comes from the rear cabin side gunwales of Narrowboat Birchills. I was given a few off cuts by the superb craftsmen who were carrying out a little light refurbishment to this historic boat, in fact the guys had cut the whole back cabin off!

Birchills is an historic, ‘Joey’ boat with a small day cabin, built in 1953 by Ernest Thomas of Walsall, ‘Birchills’ it is one of the last wooden day boats made and was used to carry coal to Wolverhampton Power Station. This boat is double-ended and the mast and rudder could be changed from one end to the other. This enabled its use in narrow canals or basins where there was no room to turn the boat around.

NB Birchills Oak and Chrome Twist Ballpoint Pen
Turning from the rear deck today
The towpath is just too muddy here
It was a lot warmer than the next day though
And we're off to Sutton Stop, Hawkesbury Junction

#175

NOW SOLD

NB Birchills Oak and Chrome Fountain Pen

EUROPEAN OAK - Quercus robur

Unfortunately this pen had a problem with the threaded cap. I think I have narrowed down the problem to the way I assembled all the pieces. This style of pen is tricky to assemble because the grain has to line up as closely as possible to do this I thread the cap onto the finished pen and apply a little pressure to start the process off, it looks like I applied too much pressure. Luckily this was the one and only times I have tried to assemble a pen this way as it looked like it could save me quite a lot of time getting everything lined up - back to plan A then.

Anyway the new owner let me know straight away and luckily I had another NB Birchills blank glued up and ready to turn. It was turned, polished, assembled and posted the next day - good job the weather was good. Here's a few pics of #175 mk2 turned on 21st December 2014 at Fazeley Junction near Tamworth.