Pearl and Shark Band It

This one gave me more headaches than any pen so far. Thanks to John U. for his input trouble shooting some of the issues. The pen and cap is Light Tahitian Pearl. For some reason the pen decided to give me fits during the casting process. The center band is an actual shark vertebrae. I knew I wouldn't be able to fill it with CA on the center band so I cast it in clear resin then mounted it on the pen part. That actually went fairly well. The shark tooth was a different story. Installing the shell was easy. When I started filling it in with CA I had trouble with voids and bubbles. I lost count at 12 attempts. I decided to make a mold and cast it in resin. That was the ticket as I achieved it on the first try. I'll give this idea another try with a few tweaks. There's a couple of things I'm not happy with but I was ready to finish it up. Questions and Comments are Welcome.
I just noticed the finial is cracked. I guess I'll be disassembling it and redoing it again. I found some smaller teeth so maybe that will help. I guess I need to look a little closer before posting!!!!

I admire your results!! But, even more I admire your tenaciousness!! I think I would have given up after all those attempts.

It is a beautiful pen that would sell for "big bucks" during Shark Week, especially!!

Nice job, Kenny!!!!

Great idea, makes it a very unique pen.

Thanks. I pressed the finial in last but then noticed the center band wasn't seated all the way. I guess it cracked then. I'll have to call a meeting with my quality control guy. The problem is he's half blind and family so I'm stuck with him. Ha Ha

I'm sorry it gave you fits, but the struggle is worth the reward. I've had plenty of struggles, the learning curve with some materials especially when you go outside the box is great…..but I'd say that was totally worth it. Very classy pen!

Hippie3180 said:

I'm sorry it gave you fits, but the struggle is worth the reward. I've had plenty of struggles, the learning curve with some materials especially when you go outside the box is great…..but I'd say that was totally worth it. Very classy pen!

Click to expand...

Thank You. I've already started redoing the finial. I found some smaller teeth so maybe it won't be quite so difficult.

That's really cool. Sounds like it was lots of work and lots of lessons. I totally get that "ready to be done" part. Also, I get that part about seeing things in the pictures and just having to fix them. I look forward to seeing other similar ones after what you learned from this one.

sorcerertd said:

That's really cool. Sounds like it was lots of work and lots of lessons. I totally get that "ready to be done" part. Also, I get that part about seeing things in the pictures and just having to fix them. I look forward to seeing other similar ones after what you learned from this one.

Click to expand...

Thanks Todd. I'm going to fix the finial on this one first. I have 4 more kits that will have similar ideas as the last 3 pens. I'll use different color shell with the same center band and finial. The others will be snakeskin with different snakes but one will be a Diamondback with an added feature. John U. has given me several great tips on how to improve some of my techniques. This has been as much fun as well as headaches trying to build what I wanted as a final pen. I've spent so much time on this pen so now I'm getting behind on a few other projects.

Absolutely Beautiful Kenny! Your vision, talent and perseverance as a pen maker and resin artist really show with this master piece. I can't wait to see what's next.