Molten Metal Ores Silver Bullet

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Lenny

Lenny

Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2009
Messages
3,476
Location
Searsport, Maine
My most recent pen made from Molten Metal Ores acrylic from WoodPen
Pro, on a Silver Bullet kit in Black Titanium.


As was suggested by others in another thread, how about some honest feedback .... by PM if you really want to be brutally honest! :biggrin:

Thanks for looking. :)
 

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Lenny I looked at it as close as my 22 in monitor would let me and the fit looks great, It may be the angle the Finial end looks a wee bit proud, but with out being able to feel with my fingers I wouldn't bet on it, the thing I don't get is the cross on the center band, I'm guessing that's a camera reflection?? it's a sharp looking pen, and I do like the blank, I'd say it's a good pen!!!!
 
I think it looks great! The picture is awesome. I have to work on my white balance. Your background looks nice and white. I get hints of gray in mine. With that style pen do you have to part the blank down to the tube for the middle centerband to slide on? I have not done that style pen in awhile because of the whole parting thing.
 
The pen has no Wow! facture. The pen is top heavy because there is more color activity in the top section of the pen. The lower barrel could have been slightly thicker to off set the imbalance of the top section.

I believe you could have gotten the acrylic blank to a higher sheen. The fit of the kit and blank are excellent. Although I do not like the silver bullet kit the combination of silver metal color in the blank and the plating work well for you. If I were to judge the pen on a scale from 1-100 Lenny you receive a 78.
 
Thanks, that's some good constructive feedback I think!
Ken, it does have a little out of round issue and therefore you can feel a slight bit proud at the centerband. I actually had a blowout when turning (taking out some agrression from the day on the blank with my woodchuck .. :biggrin:) ... so I reversed that end of the blank and got away with it by covering with the center band.
The centerband receives a tenon but is not parted all the way to the tube on this pen.
I think I was so relieved to have gotten anything out of it at that point that I probably did rush through the polishing. :frown:
I had to go look at it again and now see the cross .... yeah, it must be a reflection. :rolleyes:
 
Good job on the fit, The match of barrel to kit looks perfect as far as I could see in a pic. Sometimes the fingers see things that the eyes can't, but it looks good from here. I can't tell for sure if you were able to keep the alignment of the two barrels the same as it was in the original blank. Sometimes the pattern changes enough between the two diameters to make it harder to be sure. If I could see it from all sides there is probably at least one spot where a sharp near vertical line crosses the centerband, and that will tell the tale. I always mark my blanks at least two or three ways to try to keep straight which end was in the middle, and which one was on top, and where the two pieces are in the same alignment as they were when square. Most times with pr, there will be 4 distinct "sides" if a cylinder can have sides. blanks that have a lot of pearl in them tend to have two "shiny" sides and two darker or plainer sides. Must have something to do with the way the pearl either settles or floats after it's in the mold but before it sets up. But in any case, if you got them back in the same relationship, that's always a mark of a careful penmaker.

I have never made this particular kit, so I am not sure about this one, but I'll mention it anyway. The visible silver band at the top of the body just below the centerband throws off the flow of the pen, to my eye. I believe on most kits, it usually tucks up into the centerband. Did you maybe not push the pen together all the way, or possibly trim the top section a little short so that it doesn't fit up in there out of sight? If this kit requires you to part down to the tube to slide the centerband on, it could be that the bottom of the tube is too long and is keeping the tranny from sliding up all the way? If so you don't have to disassemble it, just use a deburring tool or reamer to remove some of the tube inside and then take a drill bit or transfer punch and roll it around inside the tube to flare the ends out and up against the bottom of the centerband assy. Or it may be that this one is supposed to show and I'm way off base. It happens sometimes. :)

And lastly, I can't tell for sure what that black stripe reflecting the length of the pen is, but it does throw off the reflection of your lighting and make the finish look less shiny than a single bright line from 1 direct light source (or "shine line") would. Are you perhaps shooting on top of a white counter, and the black line is the edge of the counter top and the unlighted area below counter level? Overall your photo is good, color balance is good, focus and depth are good, and the white background is clean and neutral. You just need to be mindful of the reflection of what's behind the camera as well.

Overall a really nicely done piece of work, and these are just a few things to keep in mind more than criticisms.
 
Boy Lenny these folks are picky...I thought it was a great looking pen...I like that blank...it's one I've never used but now that I've seen it want to try one. I like the Bullet pen kit....the only thing wrong with it? I think it should have pointed the other way in the picture! :biggrin:
 
I like the fit and finish, but I think that the blank would look better against a black background. Personal preference only. The fit on the top does look a little proud, but I think that it is a visual discrepancy that could only be ascertained by touching it.
 
Do you have to cut a tenon with this kit? I hate using a parting tool to cut a tenon. Which kits this style do you not have to cut a tenon?
 
Not too shabby Lenny, I did this style once and man it was very very brittle. Looks good though. Not sure what you are using for sanding polishing, but try Plastix (about $6 in Wally World) I use it after my 12K MM and it really makes the shine pop.
 
Thanks for all the comments. Actually the fit at the top isn't as bad (by feel) as it is at the center bushing... there it is ever so slightly proud in one area (an out of round issue). This kit does require a tenon cut for the center band. I had a blow out when initial turning it round so I reversed ends and turned the tenon where the blow out occourred, thus losing any grain match.:frown:

I wet sanded with micro mesh pads through all grits, polished with Plastic Polish and buffed using fine and xfine. (all done very hurriedly) :redface:
 
I'll throw in my negatives. I think the pen is severely off balance and because the lower barrel is so slim, the centerband becomes overwhelming. I am not liking this pen kit. I believe that if you were to beef up the lower barrel, then it would look odd too, because the way the nib is shaped, you have little choice but to run straight across...so you are in a no win situation with that kit design. But...take that centerband and toss it in the trash, and now you can turn the upper section slimmer and perhaps that would make a huge difference. The blank itself is in my opion rather boring..and apperently a few others feel the same way.

What you did with what you have there looks very good and professional though. The photo looks good, the fit looks good...it's just the kit and blank that I don't care for.
 
workinforwood said:
I'll throw in my negatives. I think the pen is severely off balance and because the lower barrel is so slim, the centerband becomes overwhelming. I am not liking this pen kit. I believe that if you were to beef up the lower barrel, then it would look odd too, because the way the nib is shaped, you have little choice but to run straight across...so you are in a no win situation with that kit design. But...take that centerband and toss it in the trash, and now you can turn the upper section slimmer and perhaps that would make a huge difference. The blank itself is in my opion rather boring..and apperently a few others feel the same way.

What you did with what you have there looks very good and professional though. The photo looks good, the fit looks good...it's just the kit and blank that I don't care for.
Click to expand...

That may be why they were marked down on closeout! :biggrin:
Honestly, I'm not overly enamored with this kit either, however for a little over $5 I thought it was worth trying a few to see what peoples reactions would be. (maybe this is indicative of what that will be .. :eek::biggrin:)

I like the idea of tossing the centerband .... which I often do on slimlines, ... never thought of it as an option on this one. Thanks! :)
 
Not thrilled

I won't be a bit critical of the workmanship which looks just fine to me. That being said I'm not enamoured with the end result, the colors in the blank look mushy and washed out. I wouldn't go crazy over the kit either.
 
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