#349

NOW SOLD

Purple Acrylic and Chrome Rollerball Pen

We had been planning on mooring up for the night above the Calcutt locks but it was such a lovely day that we carried on for an extra hour past Napton Junction and to another favourite spot just down the hill from Flecknoe which left us a short hop to the village of Braunston, a historic center of the canal system.

It was going to really be touch and go as to what work I was going to be able to get done as the typical UK weather forecasts showed sunshine and heavy showers. Unfortunately there aren't many of the pen making processes that I can carry out inside the boat because of all the wood chippings and sawdust but we had one really fine day sandwiched between two rotten ones that saw a fair few soggy boaters go by.

Whenever I start to make a pen from an acrylic blank I always remember the negative points. Acrylic turning is messy, I really try to clear every last scrap of it up; it can also be smelly; the sharp little chips get everywhere and it can blunt the turning chisels really quickly. By the time the pen shape is turned and I start the messier job of wet sanding through about fifteen different grades I'm usually trying to convince myself that maybe its better to just concentrate on turning wooden pens.

Then the final grades of sanding and polishing start to reveal something special and I really like acrylic again... until the next time.

Pen #349  was turned on July 25th 2015 just outside the village of Flecknoe.