A pen for a US Navy 4 Ringer

[Ironwood]

I had a conversation with my cousin this morning, he is retired from the military now, he was a Warrant Officer in the SAS. His son is now living in the US, and has married the daughter of a Retired Navy Captain ( 4 Ringer ).
My Cousin wants me to make a pen for him with 4 gold colored rings and a gold star. I am at the very start of the planning stage, and would be open to suggestions, and would be grateful if anyone can post photos of similar pens they have made.

I haven't decided on the style or type yet. I have a couple of old stainless Lazerlinez Rollerball kits that could be a possibility, or I could go kitless, fountain or Rollerball.

I am unsure whether to go brass rings or use a gold resin. The brass will tarnish, unless I put a coating over it, but that might not be a problem for a Military man, who would be prepared to polish and wax when needed. If I leave it uncoated, the material between the rings would need to be able to withstand the same treatment, so perhaps also a metal, but this would make putting the star on the pen difficult.

Another thought is turning the brass rings and shaping the star from some brass sheet, then attaching then to a brass tube in the appropriate position, then casting it in resin , I am assuming black wood be appropriate, someone please correct me if another color would be better.

Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions.

 

[CjG78]

Gee wiz that's an insanely hard project to do! I can't get my head around how to do it but look forward to hearing ways from the experts!!! Great pen to make though mate!!

 

[CjG78]

Have you thought a out using a badge or pin that resembles your vision and using that as a rollstop/clip option?

 

[wolf creek knives]

There are quite a few blank casters on this site you might reach out too, they might be able to help you. How about Navy Blue instead of black. Just a thought. Good luck on your quest and search.

 

[jttheclockman]

Couple of thoughts and most involve casting. I assume the ring thing is a name for bars and or stripes. Use a retired navy or even just a navy watch dial as the focal point. incorporate stars which you can get from craft stores that are brass. get them in any size. Use brass colored acrylic or even brass cut in rings to resemble rings. (you can also buy some cheap wedding rings) on line. You can use a navy blue background on the tube. I can envision a pen made this way for sure. I would think money thing is not a concern to make this so go all out.

 

[walshjp17]

As a retired Navy officer, I can attest that "Navy Blue" is actually Black. Our "Blues" were double breasted black suits adorned with gold sleeve stripes and a device to indicate your operational specialty - star for line offices, oak leaves for medical officers, etc. My suggestion would be to use a black resin blank (or black bog oak if you want to stick with wood) and a clear decal of the captain's rank similar to that shown on the left in the below photo.

 

[Ironwood]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, much appreciated.
John, thanks for confirming that black is the appropriate color to use.
I would like to use brass for the gold rings and the star. Still working out how I can bring it all together.

 

[jttheclockman]

Boy from those photos that John posted other ideas come to mind easily. Again I would do navy watch dial on the cap and use gold stars instead of gears. The lower blank I would scrollsaw the star in and that dot at the top. Use brass rings or some gold colored acrylic for the rings and you can cut the top angles as a scallop and use white with the black. That would look cool.

 

[Ironwood]

Boy from those photos that John posted other ideas come to mind easily. Again I would do navy watch dial on the cap and use gold stars instead of gears. The lower blank I would scrollsaw the star in and that dot at the top. Use brass rings or some gold colored acrylic for the rings and you can cut the top angles as a scallop and use white with the black. That would look cool.

You come up with some good ideas there John. I hadn't realised the possibility of using a scrollsaw to cut the star. I am assuming you mean to cut the star into the black resin, and then fill it with gold ? Unfortunately I don't have a scrollsaw, so I will be looking for another method. I am still thinking to cut the rings and star, attach them to a brass tube, then cast that in black resin, probably epoxy.

I checked out what higher end kits are available in Australia now, it's been a while since I bought any kits. I was thinking maybe a gold titanium Harold, GPW used to stock them, unfortunately they seem to be gone from the website. The only other option I thought might be OK, was a Majestic from Steve's Woodwork, would definitely have to get rid of that crystal though, that's the only thing I don't like about that kit.

I am also toying with the idea of a kitless pen, I would have to look at a different metal for the clip than the usual stainless that I use, to tie in with the gold rings and star. Only trouble is that any gold or yellow metal that I could source would not be springy like stainless.

 

[Ironwood]

Been a while in the planning stage, but am starting to make a bit of progress.
It still is about 1mm oversized and not sanded and polished yet.
I was intending to orientate the blank as in the first photo,
but am wondering if it should go the way of the 2nd photo ?
I think the star towards the nib looks right when the pen is capped ,
but I think holding the pen in the writing position, the star towards the finial might look better.
What does the brain-trust think ?

 

[jttheclockman]

Been a while in the planning stage, but am starting to make a bit of progress.
It still is about 1mm oversized and not sanded and polished yet.
I was intending to orientate the blank as in the first photo,
but am wondering if it should go the way of the 2nd photo ?
I think the star towards the nib looks right when the pen is capped ,
but I think holding the pen in the writing position, the star towards the finial might look better.
What does the brain-trust think ?

View attachment 360253 View attachment 360254

Hey looking good. You struck on an age old question that I have asked many times here and have gotten mixed answers so about 50 /50. How to arrange the nib section with the pen closed or open. My vote is for second photo. If the star is always on top of bars.

 

[Ironwood]

Hey looking good. You struck on an age old question that I have asked many times here and have gotten mixed answers so about 50 /50. How to arrange the nib section with the pen closed or open. My vote is for second photo. If the star is always on top of bars.

Thanks John. Yes it's a bit of a " what came first, the chicken or the egg ?" question.

After asking the same question to my cousin, who has commissioned the pen, we have decided to go with the second photo version.