Circles in a Quarry

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VisExp

VisExp

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This is my Circles in a Forest design, but I had to modify the name as I put it in Tru Stone :biggrin:

I have no idea what type of Tru Stone this is. It is the first time I've worked with it and this piece was an extra that Richard included with my order. I found the Tru Stone nice to work with. It cut and drilled well and although pretty hard to turn, it turned clean. Had to sharpen my tools a couple of times, but I do that normally when working with segmented blanks.

Your comments are appreciated. Thanks for looking.

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Nice stuff Keith - the pattern almost gets lost in the blank. I think I like some of your others a little better, but your craftsmanship is super as always.
 
Keith, I'm with Bruce, maybe in person the pattern and the segmenting won't conflict, but as always your craftsmanship is top notch.
BTW if you want to send it to me to see in person so as to give a true critique I will avail myself:wink:.
 
I saw the same thing as Bruce and Roy, the danger of losing the
circles in that particular blank.
HOWEVER .. I think it would look great in the black w/ gold matrix.. the
gold veins are erratic and unpredictable, the circle lines are clear both in
color and in pattern. At least that's what it seems like to me.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still in awe. :biggrin:
 
Keith this pen and the others you just posted are excellent. The fit and finish are spot on. Yourr photography is great also. Can you tell us a little about your setup for the photos. Are you using a light tent and if so what type lights??? What are you using for the background and under the pen??? Thanks and keep them coming.
 
To get each cut as consistantly smooth, I reckon you have learned to hold your breath when doing the cuts.:eek::biggrin:
But you need to be carefull!!!! You know what they say about people that can draw a perfect circle, freehand?:wink:

The same thing they say about people who jump out of perfectly good airplanes!!!!!:biggrin:
 
Well Keith, you certainly do get a lot of comments on your work.

I thought I was going to be the only one to tell you how GREAT your precision looked, but I would have chosen a different blank. Now, I'm just parrotting back what the others have said.

Get some of the pearls or a contrasting color metallic to insert your metals - SHOW OFF your work, don't camoflage it!!!

JMO!!
 
Thanks for the comments everyone. I was trying for a sublte design, but at the same time was worried that it would get lost in the blank. In person it is far easier to see the design, as you rotate the pen the light catches on the aluminum.

I've exchanged PM's with Richard and he has suggested some other Tru Stone colors to me which are not so busy.

akbar24601 said:
Does the tru-stone tend to chip or flake when working with it?
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Steve, the Tru Stone cut very well. I did not sand the joints, just glued them as they came off the saw. I did find it to be a bit "grabby" on the upstroke of the scroll saw and had to focus on holding the blank down. I was also pleased that it did not "melt" with the heat of the cut. I've had that problem while cutting PR and Alumilite.

Nick said:
Beautiful pen, What kit is that?
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Nick, the kit is an Elegant Beauty that I got from Aaron.

jttheclockman said:
Can you tell us a little about your setup for the photos. Are you using a light tent and if so what type lights??? What are you using for the background and under the pen???
Click to expand...

John, I'm not using a light tent. I have diffusers on my lights. The background is a piece of lexan over a white piece of paper. I want to build myself a light box like the one Gerryr outlines in his tutorial. I get highlights on the hardware which I would like to tone down or eliminate.

Darley said:
Cool Keith did you ever think to do your design with brass or copper?
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Darley, I've used brass in other designs before but not in this one. I think I will give it a try. I do find the brass harder to work with than the aluminum. I've never done anything with copper, mainly because when I was buying my aluminum and brass sheets a while back the price of copper was through the roof :biggrin:

skiprat said:
The same thing they say about people who jump out of perfectly good airplanes!!!!!:biggrin:
Click to expand...

Steven, there is no such thing as a perfectly good airplane! That is why you have to jump out of them :wink:

ed4copies said:
Get some of the pearls or a contrasting color metallic to insert your metals - SHOW OFF your work, don't camoflage it!!!
Click to expand...

That's the plan Ed, just waiting on my order from Dawn :biggrin:

wdcav1952 said:
Awesome, Keith! If I tried that, it would have been named Circles in a Quandry!!
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Thank you Cav, you gave me a good laugh at the end of a long day :biggrin:
 
If I can throw my two cents in on the metal business, I feel that, so far anyway, Copper has been the hardest to turn, then Brass and the easiest being Aluminum.
 
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