Two of my least unsuccessful (to date) segment attempts

Two current segmentation attempts.

Montague with Cocobolo and white veneer+purpleheart (?) segments, finished with danish oil and
Things I like : The danish oil finish, while comparatively dull appearing, just feels better and brings the grain to a nice pop.
Things I'm not so keen on : I'll likely move the clip to center on the purpleheart segment to emphasize it. Also this cocobolo blank was more patterned than I'm used to, which means the purple segment gets lost.

Magnetic vertex with spalted tamarind and chrome with white rotocrylic, black acrylic and black I don't remember accents.
Things I like - the match between the chrome and the white rotocrylic is nice. It's also the most precise attempt at segmenting that I've tried that mostly worked.
Things I'm not so keen on : ..that _mostly_ worked. I missed the spacing between the center bands by about a mil and one end is a bit longer than the other. Also the blank is curved and not intentionally. And uneven finishing technique.

Tips, tactics, techniques & critiques all welcome.

Well, you've done all the critiquing, so I'll just comment - both are nice looking pens. You learn a little bit more with each pen you make. Sometimes you learn more than you planned on (when something goes terribly wrong), other times you get a pleasant surprise. You can learn from both.

Thanks for sharing, and I look forward to seeing your next pens.

The top one I say looks fine from what we see. The second one is a pattern I am familiar with because I have done a few times over the years. Ye the end bands are a tad different in size and that is correctable. The shape of the barrel is too correctable and yes some kits just scream straight bushing to bushing lines and that kit does. Some times a kit like the sierra line scream follow the lines of the kit and should have a nice sweep to them. The cross hatches I think need to be thinner or less of them in that size blank or skip the end design and spread the hatches out more. I will post a few examples I did. below to give you a better look at what I am saying. But let me say you always learn from your last attempt so keep at it and you will fall in love with segmenting for sure.

jttheclockman said:

The second one is a pattern I am familiar with because I have done a few times over the years.

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Who do you think I stole the idea from? Though I hadn't seen the white pen with the 1/3rd segments before. Which I will also be stealing.

An earlier and even less successful attempt on that pattern had, in my opinion, the center bands too thin - the kerf of the blade. I just have to dial in how much to adjust the guide when making the cuts.

I think I'm going to disassemble the vertex and see if I can get the lines and finish a touch cleaner. My OCD just won't let it stand.

Darios said:

Who do you think I stole the idea from? Though I hadn't seen the white pen with the 1/3rd segments before. Which I will also be stealing.

An earlier and even less successful attempt on that pattern had, in my opinion, the center bands too thin - the kerf of the blade. I just have to dial in how much to adjust the guide when making the cuts.

I think I'm going to disassemble the vertex and see if I can get the lines and finish a touch cleaner. My OCD just won't let it stand.

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There you go. Glad to be of help. As I said keep at it and you learn so much and the segmenting get addictive.

Nice pens. We learn by doing and experience is the best teacher.
"Imitation is the greatest source of flattery."

Both are well done. I really like the way that vertical segmentation, and grain, look on that Montegue. Those are some really heavy kits; quite top-heavy for me. The black looks great along with the spalting, too.

jttheclockman said:

There you go. Glad to be of help. As I said keep at it and you learn so much and the segmenting get addictive.

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Thanks. It already is. Or at the very least I'm going to keep going until I'm able to do most of these here

sorcerertd said:

The black looks great along with the spalting, too.

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Thank you. Still learning about what colors go well together and in what ratios. And by learning I mean asking smarter folks a lot of questions.

Smarter folks? If I was smart, I would have chosen a cheaper hobby. My wife asks when I'm going to get a cheap hobby. Anyone know of one?
Darios, keep working with segmenting. This is something I have done on a very limited basis by laminating three pieces length ways and turning. Came out decent.

Using a double negative ("least unsuccessful") results in a positive (successful) which actually represents what you have shown us. Both pens blanks are creative and well made. We are our own worse critics, as the pundits say.

Woodchipper said:

Smarter folks? If I was smart, I would have chosen a cheaper hobby

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Oh lardy I'm laughing so hard food went down the wrong pipe. Partner loves to remind me that "I just need this starter setup from PSI" I once said.