Thread: Latest pen - double closed end

Looks great, and very appropriate.

Looks good, I like the gold leaf touch.

The cap end looks a little long though.

Originally Posted by dai sensei

Looks good, I like the gold leaf touch.

The cap end looks a little long though.

Thanks Neil, the Gold leaf was harder than I expected, I had to redo it about a dozen times, and then to top it off I had it almost perfect but when I put the CA finish to seal the gold, I cut back too much and removed some of the gold.

This cap is the shortened version!! It was much longer, and really looked out of whack, this still looks a touch long but is so much more in proportion of the 50/50 I was looking to achieve. So much so it was ridiculous, I think I was nervous about getting too close to the tapped thread, so with the finest and most accurate measuring tool I had, a bamboo chicken skewer, I measured where the thread finished then ground it down on the sander, then remounted and finished it off going through the grits.

I'm hooked on the black and gold, so there could be more leaf to come. The black does teach you the finer art of finishing with micromeshed though as any wrong move or corner cutting will appear in the finished product.

Yeh you have to plan your drilling depth in anticipation of the final lengths. I used to take a normal pen with a kit and measure the overall lengths with all the fittings and aim for that.

An alternative to gold leaf is using gold wax. Make and actually finish the barrels, including the CA finish, then engrave and wipe on the wax (RUB N' BUFF - Metallic Wax Pigments - 14 Colors Available. Spotlight also sell the gold & silver)

Originally Posted by dai sensei

then engrave

And there lies the problem, my engraving skills are about as handy as they with a size 00 brush!!

i will give it a go next time. And the length is due to my mandrel it's home made so using the thread from the pen mandrel. I will try and shorten next time. And they will when using wood as the thread won't bite into the timber with enough gusto.

I have a good mate who is a sifu (martial art school owner) who would love one of these either in ball point or fountain pen. Would you be so kind as to PM me with a price? I haven't progressed to being able to do embossing or similar yet.