Ark of the Covenant

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Krash

Krash

Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
Messages
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Location
Albuquerque, NM
Good evening all.

I bought some shittim wood grown in the Sinai desert 8 months ago. Shittim means acacia in Hebrew and is the wood that the Ark of the Covenant was made from.

My plan was to somehow portray the Ark of the Covenant in a pen. My church is holding an auction to support some missionaries so I thought this would be a good time to start planning so I could donate it.

Here's the description of the Ark of the Covenant in the Bible. I cut out some and tried to just show the parts that may influence my pen.

Exodus 25

10 "They shall make an ark of acacia wood.
11 You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it.
12 You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it.
17 "You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold.
18 And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat.
19 Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end.
20 The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings,

I started with the pen kit. I wanted something understated and refined but without much ornamentation. I needed gold at either end and a band in the middle. I settled on a gold Atrax rollerball.

I figured I would segment 4 slices of brass, 2 at each end, to represent the 4 gold rings. My challenge was to find a way to represent the 2 cherubim at either end with their wings spread out over the mercy seat. I picture the Atrax gold bands at each end would do well to represent the cherubs. Since I wasn't going to make them all gold, I wanted a light colored wood for the wings. But also, I wanted the grain to look like feathers on a wing. Having done some segmenting, I knew that straight lines going at an angle to the cylinder produced round lines over the top of the barrel. I thought maybe zebra wood and even looked at some swirly maple burl, but settled on a blank I got from George, Holly Oak..

My first segment is attached.

As you can see, the grain in this Holly Oak is very strong and should produce some nice feathery looking effects.

Next, I'll splice in the brass. I'll keep you posted on my progress.
 

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I've moved your thread to the blank making forum. I look forward to watching your process, but its not really a SOYP (show off your pen) type post yet.

When you do finish the pen, feel free to create a 2nd post there.. But in the meantime this spot makes more sense for a build in progress.

Good luck! It will be interesting to see where you go with it.
 
I am doing the same for my pastors, but without the segmenting (not that advanced yet). I found the wood very hard and needed a carbide barrel trimmer. Your segment looks great!
 
TonyL said:
I am doing the same for my pastors, but without the segmenting (not that advanced yet). I found the wood very hard and needed a carbide barrel trimmer. Your segment looks great!
Click to expand...

Yea, I was surprised when I first cut into it. It was a lot harder that I suspected.
This is a fun journey to create something new and unique. I'll post the results in a few days. I'm taking my time to consider each step as I go instead of quickly forging ahead.
 
But if it represents the Ark of the Covenant then only a High Prist can use it once a year on the day of Atonement... Right? Just wondering
Great idea and I am also looking foreward to seeing the finished pen. May God guide your hands as He did thoes who build the Tabernacle and the instruments used in it.
 
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Seems like a good point to stop for a first try. Once you turn it round it's going to look a bit different anyway. I am curious to see the next step of round and on tubes.
 
I hear your words saying you probably have done enough to make the ultimate blank. If I have learned anything in the last few months of turning it is to trust my first thoughts. I am anxious to see it round as well! :)
 
A thought that just occurred to me, is there anyway of using the clip as part of the wings? It is raised after all and in depictions of the Ark that I have seen the cherubim's wings tips were touching forming a bridge over the ark. Just my 2 cents.

Can't wait to see the final product.
 
Ark of Covenant

Hi Folks,

I thought I would attach a picture of what the ark would have looked like. This might give folks ideas. This is from the Temple Institute website. They do all the research on the Temple and have made most items for the remaking of the temple.

Cheers,
Sean
 

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JD Combs Sr said:
A thought that just occurred to me, is there anyway of using the clip as part of the wings? It is raised after all and in depictions of the Ark that I have seen the cherubim's wings tips were touching forming a bridge over the ark. Just my 2 cents.

Can't wait to see the final product.
Click to expand...

I thought of that but wondered how the other cherub would be represented. In the end, I thought I'd do it in wood.
 
Wow Kelly...!

That is a beautiful pen, regardless what language you speak and or your religious inclinations, absolutely stunning and very well executed.

I particularly like of my Holy-Oak in there but, the segmented lines you added to the blanks, did improved the overall look of the finished product, considerably...!

Congrats mate, you done a stunning job...!:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George
 
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Thanks George! I really appreciate your words since I know you don't dole them out for nothing!

It was your and Mr. Anonymous's generosity that made the Holly Oak possible. That wood is a joy to work in!
 
That's amazing looking! Very well done on the planning and execution! The Shittim Acacia I bought looks nothing like that! It is very bland, white and straight grained. However, the logs of Huisache (Sweet Acacia) that I snagged from the neighbor's curb look like that.
 
See you DID know when it had just the right amount of things going on in it. The added segments really do make a difference. I think it is going to raise a lot of money for your cause. The choices you made of the woods make a gorgeous combination. Gorgeous work!
 
I like it alot. The story adds to it with having a plan and what you wanted at the end all set up. I think you did a great job showing the parts that needed to be shown and created a talking piece that should raise good money for your cause. Often times we just throw a blank on a pen kit and if we had a story it may help us try something new and create what our imaginations show us.
 
Thanks for all the comments and encouragement!

The last thing I may do is create a small stand for it. My idea is to build a simple holding fixture out of the shittim that would have two trapezoid-shaped ends and a cross member. Then I would use a couple brass rods that would sit in small indentations separated just enough to set the pen on without falling through. The rods would represent the carrying rods called out in the Exodus passage.

:)
 
Cmiles1985 said:
That's amazing looking! Very well done on the planning and execution! The Shittim Acacia I bought looks nothing like that! It is very bland, white and straight grained. However, the logs of Huisache (Sweet Acacia) that I snagged from the neighbor's curb look like that.
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Clark, when I bought the Shittim, I requested the dark heart wood.

The blank looked pretty character-less when I got it and I thought it would be pretty bland on the pen, but since it was from the Sinai, it had a different beauty. I was totally surprised when I put the finish on! It resembled other acacia, like Koa.

Maybe I'll bid on the pen myself! :biggrin:
 
That is an amazing and wonderful project. I will anxiously wait to see progress and results from this. I know it is going to be just amazing when done. This is fantastic.
 
Big said:
That is an amazing and wonderful project. I will anxiously wait to see progress and results from this. I know it is going to be just amazing when done. This is fantastic.
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Thanks Michael. One reason I posted early during my planning stage is for others to consider the process of creating something unique instead of what others are doing. The creative process is usually an iterative one where many ideas are considered and weghed against the final goal. Considertions like "Is this too much?" start to play into the final product since we all know we can keep putting stuff in just because we can. I like the feedback from the guys that said they thought I had done enough. That is good stuff and what is needed and encouraged on this forum. That's why people keep coming back.

Keep pushing the envelope Michael and you'll continue to progress. I did. I turned my first pen in February so I am still a relative newbie!
 
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Beautiful pen and you should be proud of it. I am thinking that if you had but a piece of the darker wood through the wings it would have made them look more like wings and enhanced the overall effect you were shooting for.
 
CabinetMaker said:
Beautiful pen and you should be proud of it. I am thinking that if you had but a piece of the darker wood through the wings it would have made them look more like wings and enhanced the overall effect you were shooting for.
Click to expand...

Oh ... That is a brilliant idea! Kinda wish I had done that. I have two mode blanks so maybe I'll give that a go next time.

Thanks man!
 
One of the hardest parts of finishing this pen was to match up the upper and lower barrels when the top was screwed into the bottom. It took me 3 tries to get them matched.

Does anybody know a foolproof way to do this first time?
 
Wow!

I just got on after being away for a while and saw this bump.

Thanks so much for relating to my quest of a theme pen. I loved the process and really appreciated the inputs. BTW, I donated this pen to the church auction going towards missions in north Africa.

This motivates me to dream up another theme effort! :)
 
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