Opal inlay #2 (dark)

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PatrickR

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My second attempt and I think it is much better. Holly bands, mahogany/maple/mahogany veneer, ebony, cats eye opal (med size) and 60 brass dots.
C&C welcome.
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WOW !!!

VERY B*E*A*U*T*I*F*U*L !!!!!!

Just for the record, here is the first :- "First Opal inlay blank" . . .

First Opal inlay blank

This is my first use of synthetic opal. Not exactly what I expected but the next ones should be better. I used large opal set in a 3mmx1mm channel. Medium would have been better. I should have chosen a different blank . I used wedding white and it is too transparent and not enough contrast...
www.penturners.org


I LOVE 'EM BOTH !!!!
 
Stunning work, as is your first offering. The similar style with the different colors and modified designs are a great unifying theme. Nice beginning to what looks like it will be a great body of work.

Keep it up!
 
I agree that they are both very nice, but this really stands out. I love the dots as an added element on this one, too. In my opinion, what I would change would be to somehow smooth the hard angled "step" at the top and to make the opal grooves a little narrower. (That is, if I had the skills to do this to begin with.) That's some awesome work, though!
 
sorcerertd said:
I agree that they are both very nice, but this really stands out. I love the dots as an added element on this one, too. In my opinion, what I would change would be to somehow smooth the hard angled "step" at the top and to make the opal grooves a little narrower. (That is, if I had the skills to do this to begin with.) That's some awesome work, though!
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I have done the step on a number of these but always very narrow and they are barely noticeabl. On this one i made it wider to match the distance from the dots to the edge on the body side. If done over I would have made it narrower.
its really about having the right tools. A lathe mounted rotary tool and an indexing wheel is what I use. i think it was KenB259 that posted a jig recently he made that uses a trim router that would do the job.
 
@PatrickR

What kit did you use . . . looks like a Slimline Pro ? . . Is that right ?

Sure looks good to me . . . have been admiring since you posted !!!
 
PatrickR said:
Interesting. I was going for basically equal widths wood/opal.
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Sometimes less is more. I might even think about some curves and small staggered inlay spots. Just some thoughts. I cut mine freehand with a Dremel tool. The last pen I did with some UV resin. looks decent.
 
Madman1978 said:
Sometimes less is more. I might even think about some curves and small staggered inlay spots. Just some thoughts. I cut mine freehand with a Dremel tool. The last pen I did with some UV resin. looks decent.
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I do agree with the idea and have made more than a few blanks that I thought would be great but in reality ended up as too much, no focal point. This one I don't have that problem with. To each his own. I like a symmetrical balanced design that flows with the pen.
If I tried to do this by hand it would look crude, to say the least.
i got some of the UV resin to try for things like this but had some issues with it in tests. I have found that it works great for doming finials though.
 
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