First Alumilite/wood pen

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Texatdurango

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Thanks to Curtis (MesquiteMan) and Eugene (ElMostro) for sharing their knowledge on using alumalite, pressure pots and mixing tips. Without their guidance, I would still be staring at my pressure pot sitting in the corner of my shop wondering if I would ever use it or not. Now I have to figure out where to keep all the resin, dyes, pigments, scale, mixing cups, etc!

John (jdwhip96) had some gorgeous Dalbergia cochinchinenis, or Flamewood-burl blanks and I talked him out of some of his cut offs thinking they would look good with some blue water. Here is the result, my first worthless wood pen, "A River Runs Through It"
 

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PaulDoug said:
great pen and I'm not a WW fan. Slowly being converted though. Like the flow from top piece to bottom. Real nice job.
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I really wasn't either until I got some of Curtis' algarita blanks last year. Then at the IAP Central Texas get together last month, Curtis did a demo on the worthless wood and explained the ins and outs of alumilite and I met Eugene and saw some of his "Cancun" blanks and they looked so much better in my hand than in a photo. I left with the basics of casting my own blanks but the fun really started when I sat down to clean up some scrap end cuts using my Dremel tool. I actually felt like an artist creating something rather than just drilling and turning.
 
You scoundrel, so this is where the scraps went to, I was wondering where they went, I was only showing them to others at the IAP meeting, never thought they would get legs! Others say you really have to watch George, now I know what they mean. By the way, very nice pen, how much more wood is missing:)
 
jdwhip96 said:
You scoundrel, so this is where the scraps went to, I was wondering where they went, I was only showing them to others at the IAP meeting, never thought they would get legs! Others say you really have to watch George, now I know what they mean. By the way, very nice pen, how much more wood is missing:)
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Hey... they were in what appeard to be a SCRAP box! Besides, I paid through the nose for the other blanks!
 
That pen is beautiful. It is what I would nominate as a "Best of" or "Hall of Fame" because of its color, balance and design. The redish wood at both ends, the graduated swirls in the blue and the graduated swirls in the beige/tan woods seem to balance too. (Those swirls in the wood seem to be chatoyance.)

The flowing of the Alumalite from the cap to the pen is perfect. Eye catching and it says "Pick me up, Hold Me, Look at me, Show me off to everyone"! :biggrin:

Now if the powers that be would create a "HOF of Best of" forum here. While the pen is super, the photo layout does not meet what is 'generally' liked for front page posting. This pen does not need to 'die' under layers and layers of deep internet pages / stacks - a couple of months down the road.
 
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There is no scrap box after we went to see Curtis last month...lets make that clear:)
Did you give the check to Sherry for the other wood blanks??? I have to watch her.
 
That's a beautiful pen George. You were obviously paying attention to Curtis and Eugene if that is your first attempt at casting!

I love the name as well, A River Runs Through It. Very cool.
 
leehljp said:
That pen is beautiful. It is what I would nominate as a "Best of" or "Hall of Fame" because of its color, balance and design. The redish wood at both ends, the graduated swirls in the blue and the graduated swirls in the beige/tan woods seem to balance too. (Those swirls in the wood seem to be chatoyance.)

The flowing of the Alumalite from the cap to the pen is perfect. Eye catching and it says "Pick me up, Hold Me, Look at me, Show me off to everyone"! :biggrin:

Now if the powers that be would create a "HOF of Best of" forum here. While the pen is super, the photo layout does not meet what is 'generally' liked for front page posting. This pen does not need to 'die' under layers and layers of deep internet pages / stacks - a couple of months down the road.
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Wow Lee, that was nice to say! Actually I did layout the pen so the red on the bottom would match the red on the top but alas, the top red got turned away! But the blue flowing down into the lower barrel still worked. It's nice to see my effort was noticed.
 
ElMostro said:
Beautiful pen "Grasshopper". Sensei Curtis will be very proud!

Eugene
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And just think, that was without benefit of having the #644 violet! :wink:

Yeah, I think "coach" would approve.

I learned one very important thing.... When you pop the mold out of the pot, DO NOT put the slab of resin in a microwave to help the curing along.... it melts the alumilite!:eek::mad: Lickily I salvaged all of the blanks but it was dicey. Yesterday I bought a small toaster oven! :)
 
I love the design of that. Again, I'd love dog crap cast with that color blue. Seems like the kit doesn't do justice tho...I'm sure if you knew how well it would turn out you'd have made a nice Jr. Gent 2 or Emp. Jr. or something. Still tho, you can bet that design will be ripped off by many :devil:
 
GouletPens said:
I love the design of that. Again, I'd love dog crap cast with that color blue. Seems like the kit doesn't do justice tho...I'm sure if you knew how well it would turn out you'd have made a nice Jr. Gent 2 or Emp. Jr. or something. Still tho, you can bet that design will be ripped off by many :devil:
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The kit used is the black titanium Jr Gent. The kit I use most often is the Jr Statesman and I started to use one but thought that the gold embelleshments would conflict with the very busy pattern of the blank. I want the eye to go immediately to the blank, not to the embelleshments.

Perhaps the next pen will have a Statesman look so we can compare.
 
I agree with you on kit choice 100% on this one, I use the jr gent over the statesman everytime on a blank with that much motion and color. I might have considered a platinum over the bl ti, but, then again, I might not have.
 
Charlie,

If you have the gumption to actually cast dog crap and make it into a useable pen, I think you'd be the first. That reminds me of a true story my dad told me about his childhood. In 3rd grade he had a bully that would always steal his sandwich and take the first bite out of it.....you can see where this is going....well my dad got fed up with it and one day made a dog crap sandwich and sure enough, the bully dove right in. That was the last time he stole my dad's sandwich.
 
GouletPens said:
Charlie,
If you have the gumption to actually cast dog crap and make it into a useable pen, I think you'd be the first.
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Hey.. I was just putting in a good word for you for the holidays.. :biggrin:
Casting wouldn't be the problem .. polishing might be tough, though. :tongue:

"Turn carefully. Those soft spots will getcha every time.."
 
Very nice

Very Nice. Fit, finish beautiful. I do like how you photographed it. The reflection allows the viewer to see around the curve of the pen creating a more three dimensional effect and making the viewer desire to pick the pen up and examine the opposing side of the pen. Very nicely done. Btw I've been gone for a while but to return and see work like this is great!
 
Gorgeous pen, George! Terrific work on this pen.

By the way, John. I wondered where that $20 bill came from when I got home from the meeting.:confused:
 
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