Shittim on Faith-Hope-Love pen

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sorcerertd

sorcerertd

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Location
North Carolina, USA
I finished this a few days ago. I found some beautifully figured Shittim at Griffin Exotic Wood. It might be the most I've spent on a couple chunks of wood, but I can get 4 blanks out of each piece (they are maybe 1.75" square. It finished nicely with HSS after rounding it out with carbide. The rollerball version of this kit is no longer made, but can still be found here and there. This one is Antique Copper, though I might do another in gold. The finish is GluBoost, 3 layers of medium and 3 of thin.

I'm pretty annoyed about the scratch ring around the section. I checked the threads and they were all clean. It was not scratched before I assembled it, but showed up after taking the cap off a few times to take various pictures. Also, the scratch meets up all around, not patterned like threads. Oh well. I like the kit, but if they bring it back, it needs some improvements. There's no plastic sleeve in the cap on this one, but just all metal threads. I don't think I can call it a "feature" on this one. You can see it in some, but not all of the pics.

20250317_170037.jpg

lean.4.jpg

Shittim2.jpg

journal-clip.jpgjournal.top-R.jpgjournal-B.jpgjournal-L.jpg20250317_170130.jpgblanks.jpg
 
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I don't know if anyone is interested in how I line up the grain, but thought I'd show it. If you know of any other/better way, I'm always open to new tricks.
  1. I start with making a line on the blank before I cut it
    align-1.jpg
  2. After drilling and gluing I mark the end of the blanks and the inside of the tubes since I'll obviously be cutting off the marks on the outside
    align-2.jpg
  3. I use painter's tape to mark them again on the outside before assembly
    align-3.jpg
  4. After pressing the main barrel, I screw the cap on and line up the lines on the painter's tape and press enough by hand to hold it in place
    align-4.jpg
  5. Then press the cap onto the center band, being careful that it does not rotate when doing so
    align-5.jpg
 
sorcerertd said:
I don't know if anyone is interested in how I line up the grain, but thought I'd show it. If you know of any other/better way, I'm always open to new tricks.
  1. I start with making a line on the blank before I cut it
    View attachment 383271
  2. After drilling and gluing I mark the end of the blanks and the inside of the tubes since I'll obviously be cutting off the marks on the outside
    View attachment 383272
  3. I use painter's tape to mark them again on the outside before assembly
    View attachment 383273
  4. After pressing the main barrel, I screw the cap on and line up the lines on the painter's tape and press enough by hand to hold it in place
    View attachment 383274
  5. Then press the cap onto the center band, being careful that it does not rotate when doing so
    View attachment 383275
Click to expand...
Hey Todd, thanks for sharing, this is exactly how I have done it too. Lovely pen!
 
sorcerertd said:
I finished this a few days ago. I found some beautifully figured Shittim at Griffin Exotic Wood. It might be the most I've spent on a couple chunks of wood, but I can get 4 blanks out of each piece (they are maybe 1.75" square. It finished nicely with HSS after rounding it out with carbide. The rollerball version of this kit is no longer made, but can still be found here and there. This one is Antique Copper, though I might do another in gold. The finish is GluBoost, 3 layers of medium and 3 of thin.

I'm pretty annoyed about the scratch ring around the section. I checked the threads and they were all clean. It was not scratched before I assembled it, but showed up after taking the cap off a few times to take various pictures. Also, the scratch meets up all around, not patterned like threads. Oh well. I like the kit, but if they bring it back, it needs some improvements. There's no plastic sleeve in the cap on this one, but just all metal threads. I don't think I can call it a "feature" on this one. You can see it in some, but not all of the pics.

View attachment 383253
View attachment 383254
View attachment 383255
View attachment 383258View attachment 383256View attachment 383257View attachment 383259View attachment 383261View attachment 383260
Click to expand...
Very beautiful pen and interesting tree, it's called the same in Hebrew.
 
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