Thread: Sassy and Captive Ring pens

A couple of hours in the shed this afternoon to make a pen and finish one off.

The first is a Streamline gold with a Sassy blank that was sent to me and displayed on the forum a week or two ago. Sanded 120 to 600 and rubbed with 0000 stainless steel to remove scratches, then metho to remove the dust and a light coat of BLO. Then 1 coat of thin CA followed by 4 coats of medium CA and then another 10 coats of thin. MM followed by canuabra wax polished in with sheepskin. It's set aside for my doctor's receptionist who loved the pen I made for him. She wasn't sure of what colour she wanted so - now she has many. Maybe I won't have to wait so long to get an appointment now

The other photos are of a captive ring pen I have been experimenting with. Its on a Polaris kit without the clip. This is my third attempt. On the first try the ring blew out (wenge with huon pine centre). Second try and the blank shattered (wenge with silky oak centre) This time I used softer timber all round to see if I could get there. Its Silky Oak with Huon pine centre and for the ring. The ring was cut from the timber with dental tools I got on Ebay. The darker colour at the nib end is because I got distracted and turned the bloody timber to much and the ring slipped off So I built up the end with silky oak shavings and CA and sanded again. The whole trick is the ring being made from the blank while contained on the blank and not being put on afterwards. Finished with the usual CA, MM and canuabra wax.

It's not the prettiest pen but it was a learning experience and now that I have managed this one I will try more with better shaping. Any comments and ideas on this pen appreciated.

Forgive the photos. My computer is out of action so I had to use the SWMBO computer. It doesn't have my normal photo reduction program on it so I had to learn Photoshop in 30 mins as I was reducing them for posting. I have never used it before.