# The Weekend's Work



## Sprung (Sep 6, 2016)

Have been feeling pretty good and it felt really good to spend some time in the shop again this weekend. This was this weekend's work, though all of the blanks had already been tubed and prepped for turning. Worked on these Friday through Monday.

This first one is my favorite of the group. It is a Lou Metcalf blank that I was able to purchase when Lou's pen turning supplies were being sold after he passed away earlier this year. Lou was one of the pioneers of pen turning, so it was an honor to be able to receive and to turn this blank. This one is Bloodwood with a Bethlehem Olivewood cross on a Chrome Sedona. I made it for my wife as a gift to her. I have one more of these blanks, Bethlehem Olivewood with a Bloodwood cross, that I eventually plan to turn for myself.



 

A Patterson Grant Tru-Card blank on a Monarch (Sierra clone) - made from a real playing card, tube in casting



 

Orange Circuit Board casting on a Sierra



 

Yuzen-Chiyogami on a Virage - real Japanese Origami Paper, tube in casting by Marla Mills



 

From left to right:
Caballero with Bethlehem Olivewood
Vertex Click with Bethlehem Olivewood
Atlas with dyed Black Ash Burl from @Schroedc 
Atlas with Spalted Hackberry from @Jerry B 



 

And a whole mess of Slimlines. These were all blanks that were cast by Mike Allan.



 

From left to right:
Sycamore dyed with blue and green alcohol based dye
Buckthorn I salvaged locally
Lebanese Cedar
Lilac from @Treecycle Hardwoods 
Spalted Apple from @norman vandyke 
Bocote



 

Thanks for looking!

Reactions: Like 3 | EyeCandy! 8 | Way Cool 4


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## manbuckwal (Sep 6, 2016)

Dang u got busy , lots of beauties in there .

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Sprung (Sep 6, 2016)

manbuckwal said:


> Dang u got busy , lots of beauties in there .



I had two weeks worth of doing nothing, binge watching Netflix, stir crazy to get out of my system!  (And I still managed to take it easy and not push myself since I'm still recovering.)

Thank you!


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## Kevin (Sep 6, 2016)

I really like that origami and the kit it's on. I like the 4 below it as well, but especially the dyed BEB.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Jerry B (Sep 6, 2016)

Sprung said:


> I made it for my wife as a gift to her.


Uhmmmm, she hasn't taken enough pens from your hard work and toil? She has more pens than you ever plan on selling for the next couple years 

All great looking pens, and agree on your favorite  , only difference I would've done, is put that gorgeous Bocote on a different kit

Reactions: Agree 1


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## CWS (Sep 6, 2016)

Awesome!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Tony (Sep 6, 2016)

All beautiful pens Matt! My favorite is the Black Ash Burl. Tony

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Sprung (Sep 6, 2016)

Kevin said:


> I really like that origami and the kit it's on. I like the 4 below it as well, but especially the dyed BEB.



Those are a couple of my favorites too. I like the Virage kit that the origami is on. I haven't done many of those kits, but it's going to be one of my staple kits that I use going forward. The only one of these pens that has a home yet is the one I made for Katy, though that dyed BAB is likely to end up as mine - it really stands out to me too.



Jerry B said:


> Uhmmmm, she hasn't taken enough pens from your hard work and toil? She has more pens than you ever plan on selling for the next couple years
> 
> All great looking pens, and agree on your favorite  , only difference I would've done, is put that gorgeous Bocote on a different kit



She's up to about 3 dozen pens already with a handful more blanks sitting on my bench that she wants made!  But, at least she didn't take that one from me - when I bought those two sets of Lou Metcalf blanks, I did so already planning on making that one for her. I've also found that the more pens I make her or that she takes, the more supportive she has been of this hobby. One of these days I'll try to gather all the pens of mine she has and get a group shot of them...

I definitely agree that Bocote could've really used a nicer kit, but it was from a slice just over 1/2" thick leftover from processing a larger block, so a slimline was about all I could get out of that thickness. Good thing I've got lots more of that Bocote with that level of figure! Some of it will be going on some nicer kits in the near future - I love working with Bocote. 

BTW, that's the "bad" side of that Spalted Hackberry from you. I should've laid the pen the other way for pics - it's an outstanding blank!

Reactions: Like 1


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## Schroedc (Sep 6, 2016)

@Kevin and @Sprung - I still have a few pieces of that BAB, also in a blue dye...... and a green one....

Reactions: Like 1


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## Sprung (Sep 6, 2016)

Schroedc said:


> @Kevin and @Sprung - I still have a few pieces of that BAB, also in a blue dye...... and a green one....



I had a blue one from you too, but my oldest ran off with it and I haven't been able to find it!  That was last November, right after you gave them to me, so I've given up on finding it.  It looked awesome and I had really hoped to turn it! Maybe I'll find it when I clean out the shop next month...

Reactions: Funny 1


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## norman vandyke (Sep 6, 2016)

Sprung said:


> Have been feeling pretty good and it felt really good to spend some time in the shop again this weekend. This was this weekend's work, though all of the blanks had already been tubed and prepped for turning. Worked on these Friday through Monday.
> 
> This first one is my favorite of the group. It is a Lou Metcalf blank that I was able to purchase when Lou's pen turning supplies were being sold after he passed away earlier this year. Lou was one of the pioneers of pen turning, so it was an honor to be able to receive and to turn this blank. This one is Bloodwood with a Bethlehem Olivewood cross on a Chrome Sedona. I made it for my wife as a gift to her. I have one more of these blanks, Bethlehem Olivewood with a Bloodwood cross, that I eventually plan to turn for myself.
> 
> ...


I've been wondering if I'd see any of that spalted apple show up on a pen. Looks great!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Sprung (Sep 6, 2016)

norman vandyke said:


> I've been wondering if I'd see any of that spalted apple show up on a pen. Looks great!



Thanks! I've done a few prior with the same spalted apple from you - but they all found new homes quicker than I could get pictures of them! I think I'm down to one or two piece left that look like this - every piece of it I've turned thus far has produced a fine looking pen.


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## Az Turnings (Sep 6, 2016)

Nice work! @Sprung especially like that one with the playing card cast into it!!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Jerry B (Sep 6, 2016)

Sprung said:


> BTW, that's the "bad" side of that Spalted Hackberry from you. I should've laid the pen the other way for pics - it's an outstanding blank!


Dunno if there can be a "bad side" to anything spalted, other than my burls, spalted woods are my next favorite, 
the looks I get from people when I tell them the wood is all natural and the fabulous graining is strictly from mushrooms, is priceless ......
I've taken to start double/triple dyeing most of my spalted woods to "highlight" the grain/figuring, but sometimes I think it hides more than it emphasizes .....
I've got a couple pieces of spalted maple that's been carbon dated at over 400-600 years old from Alaska, those I refuse to touch with any color as they are simply gorgeous all by themselves ....
I use the selling point of "think of what these trees have been through, and "seen", in this world for over 4+ centuries and still standing" (well, until they were harvested .... after felling from natural causes)

My favorite bowls & platters usually come from Spalted Pecan I get from the East Coast

Reactions: Like 1


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## Sprung (Sep 6, 2016)

Jerry B said:


> Dunno if there can be a "bad side" to anything spalted, other than my burls, spalted woods are my next favorite,
> the looks I get from people when I tell them the wood is all natural and the fabulous graining is strictly from mushrooms, is priceless ......
> I've taken to start double/triple dyeing most of my spalted woods to "highlight" the grain/figuring, but sometimes I think it hides more than it emphasizes .....
> I've got a couple pieces of spalted maple that's been carbon dated at over 400-600 years old from Alaska, those I refuse to touch with any color as they are simply gorgeous all by themselves ....
> ...



Yeah, there is no real bad side to any blank I've received from you! All of them that I've turned have made outstanding pens.

If you've got a picture handy, of either the wood or an item from it, I'd love to see what that old spalted maple from Alaska looks like. Definitely some special wood!

I'll be set up to stabilize & dye by the end of the year. I'll have some Boxelder Burl on the way soon to play around with, but next on the list to acquire for playing around with when that time comes is some nicely spalted stuff.


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## gman2431 (Sep 6, 2016)

Wow! Awesome pens Matt!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Jerry B (Sep 7, 2016)

Sprung said:


> If you've got a picture handy, of either the wood or an item from it, I'd love to see what that old spalted maple from Alaska looks like.


LOL, again, you pick pens that were lost in the hard drive crash I had 

I do have 1 set of pics left that survived, one of the 1st pens I made using the wood, was pretty much a test on a Concava, if I remember correctly, this one was dated at around 400+ years old .......
once I saw the finished wood, the rest was used strictly on Rollerballs & Fountains ..... I _think_ I have enough to do maybe 5-6 more pens sitting in storage
as always, pictures don't do any justice, looks a helluva lot better in person

Reactions: EyeCandy! 4


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## Sprung (Sep 7, 2016)

Jerry B said:


> LOL, again, you pick pens that were lost in the hard drive crash I had



Of course we would! 

Very nice looking wood! If I had that wood, I would have done the same - saved the rest for the nicer pens. (But it still looks great on that one!)

Reactions: Agree 2


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## gman2431 (Sep 7, 2016)

That pen kit looks really confortable!! The wood is amazing also!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## rdabpenman (Sep 7, 2016)

Nicely  done.

Les


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## barry richardson (Sep 7, 2016)

that's a whole lotto fine pens! Some very unique ones. Love the bicycle playing card, kinda art nouveau......

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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