Thread: My First Higher end Pen Set (Jnr Statesman)

Doing the "High end kits" is a very satisfying experience and warrants the extra care and detail required to get a great product with matching craftsman ship. Usually people can see straight away the difference in quality from the usual run of the mill kits we tend to put forward . I myself prefer to dress these in the best materials available to me ,and hence ask a decent price. Somehow I just can't find it in me to to dress them in acrylics ,no matter how nice they may be ,ebonys ,amboyna and buck eye burls and aussie burls truestone and the like ,the list goes on hehe. That said you have done a great job of this pen and they are hard to photograph in all their glory, all of us penmakers know that the pens are always much nicer in the hand than in the pictures
Cheers ~ John

Very nice But like John I only do them in timber blanks and find the buyers just love them

Originally Posted by AuS MaDDoG

Hi All,

Over the last three or four weeks and as a first time pen turner, I have worked my way through a number of different pen kits, however today I thought I would take my time and work on putting together one of my Jnr Statesman sets.
Kit and blank were bought from Gary Pye, I was very pleased with the outcome, however the photos do not do the colour justice

Thanks for looking
Cheers
Tony.

A great effort for your first high end pen set, JR Statesman are a fine kit to hold in your hand and to use. I am with John that I have never used acrylic on any high end pens. The blanks John have mentioned are some of the best, truestone is on my to do list. The only acrylic that you might get away with is maybe Artificial Ivory, and another blank is buffalo horn.

Photography is hard, but a light grey back ground i have found the best for me and I tend to take photos of single pens, rather than together. I always say I am a pen crafter not a photographer, it is all a learning curve and I am still learning

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the comments and I really take on board what you are saying regarding the Acrylic/Timber option. I have another set of these pens to make which will be my next ones and they will most definitely be of the timber variety. I am still building my stock and trying to provide options in what I have available hence the different options. I am still learning and finding my way around as well as looking for some good supplies of quality timber pen blanks. So if anybody would like to advise some good suppliers of some really good stuff please either post here or drop me a pm.
I will keep all of the ones in mind that John suggested (ebonys ,amboyna and buck eye burls and aussie burls truestone) I just need to find out where to get them.

Cheers
Tony.

Tony ,it takes a while to get all your contacts and suppliers in order, But a good place to look for pen blanks is a search on E-Bay ,lots of good stuff to be found there ,some suppliers also have some nice stuff Sometimes you will pick up good bargains from other members on forums ,check the for sale on this site for a few examples ,IAP an american site for pen turners is also a great place to pick up good stuff at fair prices .One of the members there at the moment has Truestone blanks on special for around $7 AU plus postage ,usually around $14 USPS 2 weeks delivery approx. I got 10 of them hehe.
Cheers ~ John

Hey Tony

Well done mate AWESOME pen mate


Ian

Nice work and a nice looking pen. I would choose a plain background for the photographs. The background you used does detract from the pen. Nevertheless an excellent piece of work.