What a Racket :)

[gawdelpus]

One of my regular customers (a bit of a collector ) has asked me to make him a Tennis racket pen ,he already has a custom cricket bat and baseball bat :) I hummed and haaarrrd for a while ,but started this yesterday, based on a credit card kit, ,the second pic shows a slim for comparison :) The handle is a piece of tassie oak dowel ,and the head is a wood common as muckand I can never think of the name.its quite stringy and the used to make ladders from it in the old days lol. The head will screw off the handle section ,and all just coated with clear acrylic spray , It may not be to scale but doesn't look too out of kilter :) Cheers ~ John

[MBUMIK]

great job mate, thinking outside the box can cause a bit of a racket in the noggin' thats for sure

i reckon a few of the Aussies should have used one of these in the Australian Open and we could of had an all Aussie set of finals:U

MIK

[gawdelpus]

Thanks for the comments Mik ,with 111 views I am a bit surprised that its only worth 1 comment :) Ah well I guess it falls into the general lassitude of the forums lately ,eventually this may lead to nobody bothering at all :no:,cheers Mate ~ John

[skot]

Great job...I love the odd ball , out of the ordinary stuff.

What are the strings made of...and how did you fit them

[MBUMIK]

Thanks for the comments Mik ,with 111 views I am a bit surprised that its only worth 1 comment :) Ah well I guess it falls into the general lassitude of the forums lately ,eventually this may lead to nobody bothering at all :no:,cheers Mate ~ John

i can do better mate 124 views, 0 replies, and yet on the IAP it had heaps of replies and likes

30 Cal. Bolt Action (http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=179348)

just the way the cookie crumbles i suppose

MIK

[gawdelpus]

Skot the strings were the easy bit hehe, a small piece of flyscreen , and a saw cut right through the centre of the head ,slid the flyscreen in and a touch of thin CA ,then trimmed off the excess with a small scalpel :)

Mik ,You win LOL, I might have to start posting On the IAP :) cheers ~ John

[skot]

Great stuff...had an idea it was flyscreen but wondered how you got it fixed centrally through the thickness of the head....didn't think it would look right if stuck on on side.

[tdrumnut]

Maybe its the title John, I only noticed it tonite and I've been on here four times in the last two days. Anyways aside from the proportions it looks cool, and as long as the customer likes then its freakin fantastic:2tsup:

[Christos]

It does look a little odd for a racket. It sort of reminds me of a very old tennis racket.

[gawdelpus]

It does look a little odd for a racket. It sort of reminds me of a very old tennis racket.

Yes he was thinking along the lines of the old fashioned woods like slazenger etc from around the fifties and sixties , I had a look on the internet but hard to get scale right without a lot of measurements, Fortunately The head screws off the pen section so can be modified if needed :) cheers ~ John

[BSea]

Now that is very cool. I really like the "Special Interest" pens. I don't like it when they are in a kit though (like the shock absorber pens). I think it's fun to come up with something totally unique in a pen. Great job!!:2tsup:

[Ironwood]

Hey John, a collector pen for sure, nice work.

re- views vs replies, I started a thread on that a long while back.
I've got a few theories on it, lurkers viewing our threads seem to vastly outnumber the members, so thats one aspect.
Since the "quick reply" feature was removed, I think the number of replies have decreased. I know I am very guilty of this when I am on a slow computer ( most of the time). Just takes too long to reload the pages.
And the like button. While I "like" this feature (pun intended), I think it has also contributed to the reduction in replies. Though most of rhese replies would have been the short "Great work" or thumbs up replies that in reality didnt really contribute very much to the thread anyway. I think a "like" is just as valuable as one of those replies anyway.

Thats my view anyhow, yours may vary.

[gawdelpus]

Thanks Brad, I feel you are right in your assesment of feedback ,in my case I get all the feedback I need or want at the markets ,where strangers have to make judgments and part with cash :) I probably finish between 10-20 pens a week for sale , too many to keep posting as a lot are just basic ,good quality, but in some cases a bit boring,at least to me hehe. I try to show what I think are different or special .mainly to try and get folks thinking outside the square ,especially the newer turners who just might not have realised how diverse and how far pen turning might take them ,encouragement if you like :) It's all about sharing and helping out where possible :) Might be a while till I get around to another special worthy of the name hehe, cheers ~ John

[plantagenon]

Brilliant piece of work. I would never have thought of that possibility :U It certainly starts the brain ticking over.

[Ironwood]

Yes John, as you say, the best feedback is when a customer hands over their hard earned cash. Even better if they are a return customer.

Though feedback from your peers, especially if it is constructive feedback, can help you grow as a penturner.

[plantagenon]

Been thinking about what you said about the lack of people on the Forum in the last few months, John. From what I have seen a lot of the members are now using Facebook because of the instant chatrooms. You have to keep up with technology to keep people happy. If the Forum introduced the instant chatroom concept everyone would be back in droves. I have mentioned it but alas.

[plantagenon]

I just put a post in the Forum Info, Help, Discussion and Feedback under the title Members Declining - have a look

[Nai84]

Wow John I love it that is a one wacky pen :-P

Ian

[mkypenturner]

Wow thats really cool and thinking outside the box, and yes sadly I notice the lack of replies to all our posts

[PenTurner]

John, today is the first time I have seen your racket, and what a racket it is!:2tsup::2tsup::)Amos
I don't like the "like", I will not use it--it would make me super lazy and I would not answer most threads.
If I like it, I will spend a little bit of my life to say so in words;
Some people trawl the Forums for ideas only, they use forums as their source of ideas-inspirations etc, and continue in a selfish world of egotism.
I reckon it is good we get inspiration and ideas from the Forums, that is how I learnt, however, I believe we should contribute back to the Forums,
I look at Neil and Fred and John, I see how they have not held back in sharing knowledge and ideas, and I know there are many others who also have
given back to the Forum, Sam just came to mind also.
We enjoy our hobby, and if it pays back in some way-great,;
Meanwhile, the way for us to improve is for all of us to put in, to take time and effort to actually write something constructive,
sometimes it may be just that "boring" pen, but it meant something to that person, if it is a beginner we encourage, if it is a regular we encourage and give constructive input, I noted that in the rumnut post, that the nib and clip were not in line, there is another thing to keep in mind.!
Having said that, I encourage trawlers to become genuine members, and for all regulars to keep the chin up and encourage one another, Amos:)
John, hope you don't mind, I just made a racket in your racket thread:D:)Amos

[gawdelpus]

Not a Problem at all Amos , hopefully some of this thread will encourage more real feedback, I am a 2 fingered typist (sometimes 2 thumbs hehe) I also am not a fan of likes , if someone takes the time to photograph upload and give details of their work then the least you can do is a comment with substance in appreciation of the effort ,we all still need to encourage each and every member to post and be given feedback at whatever level of this addiction they are at :) If the balance of givers and takers gets too one sided,then maybe the givers will be less likely to give ,and eventually the takers will have to seek ideas elswhere ,and that is a bit sad :( cheers~ John