Thread: A few new ones

All well done indeed shame about your mishap, but it happens in the best of circles so you are not alone hehe . Always satisfying to complete a batch like that ,cheers ~ John

I've got to learn how to take those damn photographs. They have all come out too dark.

Looking good. Nice array of pens.

Originally Posted by plantagenon

I've got to learn how to take those damn photographs. They have all come out too dark.

Photographing your pens can be almost as frustrating as getting the finish just right.

Nice work by the way, I like that first Roman Harvest, looks great with the dark timber.

Very nice collection there Greg!!

How did you find the Coachwood to turn, and did you enjoy the smell of it?

Very nice pens. Well done. They all looks great.

What a beautiful bunch. I love the old silky oak, what a great get.

Hey Greg awesome pens mate nice work on them cant pick which one I like the best they are all so good well done mate

I have read that the best light to do your pens in is sunlight, give that a go.

Really nice work Greg, lovely all, and yeah the pics can be a challenge and do try the biggest lighting tent in existance..natural sunlight. I rekon its almost an art unto itself as well.

Neal.

Very professional work on all these beauties Greg. Nicely displayed & photographed too. I've just ordered a set of those clear pen display stand thingies off Timberbits, so I can retire my pet stone and lump of charred wood that I usually use for my pics, ha ha.

Nice work Greg, as for photography, Photoshop is a great help. Amos

I'm with you on that Amos. Unfortunately, I don't know how to use photoshop. I will try photographing them under the sun on Sunday as suggested by Neal. I will even try them under the sun in the photo tent to see if that is any better. Eventually, I will stumble onto the right formula. Still as I don't expect the website will receive the traffic of Parker Pens, Waterman, Sailor or Mont Blanc or any of the others it won't matter that much. It is more of a place I can refer people to if they want me to make a pen for them. Saves explaining the timber and pen types. I might even CA some timber pieces and photograph them and then put them on the website to show other timber variations I haven't used before.

I am just making a SN Gent Fountain Pen and pen set in Euc Burl for the surgeon who recently saved my mother within hours of death. Euc burl is nice but the splits in it are a bugger to get a nice piece cut for a blank. I had to end up cutting 4 blanks to get one good one for the short end of the pen. I coated (almost a soaking) in thin CA to strengthen them before I even try the turning on Monday or I think bits will break off at the last minute and have me swearing very loudly.

Thanks for the feedback everyone and thanks very much to Neal (Thompy) who gave me advice on setting up the lathe rest properly to get maximum feedback, minimise vibration and lessen the chances of ruining a blank in the final stages. I have so much to learn yet!

Thanks for the mention Greg, hope its helped some.

After talking your ear off the other day and seeing it, i rang Bruce today and ordered a pen pro to try out and finally got around to getting some of those opal blanks as well, should arrive mid to late next week. Your advice on it was pretty good, looking forward to seeing how it goes.

It can be a fickle thing this pen turning, but the community here and the shared experiences we would never otherwise have acsess to, means we all still learn every day, good luck on the Doc's pens sounds like a challenge.

Neal.