# Something Different.



## Schroedc (Jan 13, 2014)

Earlier today I was looking at the kitless fountain pen another member had built and wanted to look at doing something new, an hour of surfing other forums and watching a few youtube videos and I came away with a great piece of advice- start eliminating the kit parts one at a time to expand your skill set. So I decided to clean out my box of miscellaneous parts and see what was in there. I had an extra center band and a tip and said to myself, "I've got that closed end mandrel on the shelf I've never used, Lets come up with a one of a kind pen for kicks and giggles"

An hour or so later, a piece of Amboyna Burl from Marcus and some trial and luckily very little error I came up with a cross style pen with a thicker comfort style band in the middle and no pocket clip (I tend to snap clips off when I'm not paying attention )

C and C always welcome

(Finished with a couple coats of CA, sanded to 1500, polished and waxed)

Reactions: Like 9


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## Fret440 (Jan 13, 2014)

I like how the color seams uninterrupted as it changes from one end to the other.

Jacob


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## Schroedc (Jan 13, 2014)

Fret440 said:


> I like how the color seams uninterrupted as it changes from one end to the other.
> 
> Jacob



Yes, I try hard to match the halves up. When I'm cutting and turning I always make an index mark to remember which faces go together so I can line up the grains at the end. this Amboyna was a wonderful two tone so I specifically cut it there to get that flow.


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## duncsuss (Jan 13, 2014)

Very nice work!

You don't have to stop there, Colin -- try another experiment, such as making your own center band from a piece of contrasting wood ... or even simply leave out the center band altogether (I usually leave a little extra wood at the middles to compensate for the missing band, i.e. don't trim all the way up to the ends of the brass tubes.) Examples: first is lignum vitae with a katalox centerband glued to the nib end of the pen; second is brown mallee burl, no centerband.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Schroedc (Jan 13, 2014)

duncsuss said:


> Very nice work!
> 
> You don't have to stop there, Colin -- try another experiment, such as making your own center band from a piece of contrasting wood ... or even simply leave out the center band altogether (I usually leave a little extra wood at the middles to compensate for the missing band, i.e. don't trim all the way up to the ends of the brass tubes.) Examples: first is lignum vitae with a katalox centerband glued to the nib end of the pen; second is brown mallee burl, no centerband.
> 
> View attachment 39480 View attachment 39481




I appreciate the input. I like the wood band idea or no band...... Kinda like Doc's pepper mills....


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## duncsuss (Jan 13, 2014)

Schroedc said:


> I appreciate the input. I like the wood band idea or no band...... Kinda like Doc's pepper mills....


The liberating aspect of it is that after the blanks are rounded down to less than the diameter of your barrel trimmer (or from the very outset, if you trim the ends down on a sander) you can simply remove the center bushing and make the diameter at the split absolutely anything you want and the top and bottom barrel will match where they meet.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Schroedc (Jan 13, 2014)

duncsuss said:


> The liberating aspect of it is that after the blanks are rounded down to less than the diameter of your barrel trimmer (or from the very outset, if you trim the ends down on a sander) you can simply remove the center bushing and make the diameter at the split absolutely anything you want and the top and bottom barrel will match where they meet.




Thanks for the idea, here is what I spent the last hour working on.....

Reactions: Like 8


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## duncsuss (Jan 13, 2014)

Now _*that's*_ taking it to the next level ... great job

Reactions: Like 1


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## rdabpenman (Jan 13, 2014)

Great looking writing instruments.
Well done.

Les

Reactions: Like 1


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## manbuckwal (Jan 13, 2014)

Really like the last one !!! Well done!


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