Second Diamond Knurl

Greetings from Nebraska!

This morning I finished up a Gunmetal Diamond Knurl kit that I got from Ed and Dawn at Exotic Blanks. It is becoming my favorite kit style over the Caballero. (Caballero is also supplied by Exotic Blanks, but the design was from Smitty's Pen Works). The wood Mango. I bought a small board at our local WoodCraft store on Monday and cut it up into blanks. I liked the pronounced grain and the various color shading throughout the board. Although it is classified as a hardwood, it turned very easy. When I made the cabochon I thought seriously about mounting the little scrap piece on it's side rather than on the end. That would have put the more interesting side grain on the top instead of the end grain, but all I did was think about it. I used my standard CA regimen for finishing. There are some concentric lines visible in some of the pictures. At first I thought it might be tool marks or sanding scratches, but I am pretty sure it is just the wood. - Dave

(Click on Thumbnails to Zoom-In)

Very sharp looking pen, I like the knurled accents. Curious, what do you attach the cabochons with, epoxy?

Very nice!

Hippie3180 said:

Very sharp looking pen, I like the knurled accents. Curious, what do you attach the cabochons with, epoxy?

Click to expand...

Yes, epoxy. I turn the cabochon first, then I use just a little dab of epoxy to glue it in when I am gluing in the brass tubes. - Dave

Very well done!

Dave, I like the timber and I like the kit. Good job.

That looks great, nice work!

That is a great looking pen Dave! I just turned my 1st Diamond Knurl ball point pen the other day. And yes, I really like the Diamond Knurl pens myself. Thanks for your input a few days back, along with Ed and others. This is such a great forum to be part of……..Smokey

I like turning Mango, and would vote for the side grain on the end of the Cabochon. I have done both (cabochon end grain vs side grain) and have been happier with side grain typically. My experience, Mango is easy to turn, and although is a midrange hardwood (Janka scale), is very easy. Nice grain in your pen. Thanks for sharing.

I definitely like the Diamond Knurl components. Mango is also one of my favorite materials. They definitely go well together.