#381

A Commissioned Pen

Jess's Pen

Pink/Teal Acrylic and Chrome Ballpoint Pen

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.

I started work on pen #381 way back when we arrived in Birmingham to visit friends trading at the floating market. We had a great time in Birmingham as ever and were treated to some spectacular entertainment at the arts fest which was a relaxing way to spend some time after a long hard day helping fellow traders Dan and Keri up two long lock flights with their boat and new (to them) 1930's butty boat Lyra (see Keri in the tunnel below). Time for some turning but as you can see from the picture above it can be quite messy and not very environmentally friendly with bits of acrylic flying everywhere if the weather is too windy to catch them so turning had to wait until we were further out in the sticks. 

Next mooring was a few hours away in Tipton, hmm the canal was clearer than I've seen for a long time with some quite large shoals of fish swimming through the ribbon like weeds. Next planned mooring was after a few hard days taking the boat through industrial Wolverhampton and down through the 21 locks  and up onto the Shropshire Union Canal but, just as you approach Wolverhampton there is a junction off to the right and a canal we've not been on yet the Wyrley and Essington - known as the curly Wurly.

We turned right and headed through industrial Walsall and out into open countryside towards the edge of Cannock Chase. In Pelsall the sun came out and the wind finally dropped so I could carry on making pens.

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