thin blue line / police tribute blanks

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J

jphoto76

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Not new to pen turning, but I have never segmented before, and received an inquiry about these thin blue line pens. This would be an initially small order (20-25 pens), with possibility of repeating a few times over the next year or so. I had looked high and low for a pre made/cast blank and found none. He wants to see a couple of variations on the design as well.

I have a disassembled pen from another project screw up I am going to sand down the press fit part of so it hand slips into each of the blanks I make to do a quick demo of how each looks assembled.

My issue is I am prob going to be ok making the one off blanks for the proofing, but then I have to make anywhere from 25-100 of the same pen blanks at some point. My first two glue ups are curing right now, but that was a TON of work for something that looked like it should have been much easier.

Whats the trick/tips for keeping this all lined up, repeatable etc? Ill post pics once i unclamp them.. Thanks for any help.
 
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I think in reviewing my process so far, a better solution is to find blue acrylic in a 3/4 to 1" wide by 1 or 2 foot long thin strip. This would eliminate some of the precision cutting. Anyone know where to source that?
 
If you use a light wood such as hard maple, you could buy blue veneer from veneersupplies.com or Wood River Veneer OR you could use heavy weight blue card stock--which is the least expensive way to do it.
Card stock (that is, thick paper) is usually cellulose and it's mostly made from wood. :wink:

Take the maple, mill it square, then rip in half and glue the "thin blue line" in between and make a single billet again.
Cut to length, drill and turn. You could even rip and glue twice to have a thin blue line down in four places.
Making something like that won't take too much time so long as you have something else to do while the glue cures.
 
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I looked into the dying wood route- and its not feasible right now. I have none of the equipment to start and not looking to invest in it for this one project, so im sticking with acrylic. Hes given me a rough idea on what he wants to spend per pen but its a little flexible based on what i show him and if he likes something a little more complex. I can get blqck and blue ready to go in acrylic and eliminate some steps..
 
I think I responded to the wrong thread...I was saying that being a police officer myself, I have wanted to make these as well. I have not had much luck. I did, in fact, find a person on Facebook who perfected it. I will send you the photograph and if you have any questions, will give him your info so you can be in touch with him.

:)

I am including the photo here. Not sure if the person who made them is a member or not. Hope I do not offend. However, he did post on Facebook so I am not sure if he would be offended. Here is the tribute pen he created....
 

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I like those pens Michelle.. but I think I would like it if the blue was thinner.. Then it would be truly a thin blue line. But with you being an officer, you would know better than me, or most of us what would be the most meaningful
 
What's everyone's opinions of a horizontal band, like Michelle's, vs a vertical strip running top to bottom of the blank?
 
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Would you want to use a decal?
 

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To address this further now that ive gotten a couple of blanks glued up. A) a decal will not cut it. B) doing it vertical is going to complicate things even further due to it has to be so precisely drilled and centered or it will show that i think its beyond my current skill level and drill press quality. I could do it but the chance of needing 30 blanks to make 20 pens is greatly increased and not feasible.

I think im at the point now i just need to find some blue acrylic in a flatter strip instead of cutting a pen blank up. Ive glued up a blue stripe at a 45, with aluminum segment strips on both sides of the blue and when thats turned i think it will be the winner, so well see what he picks. Im still trying to figure out the best way to do a bulk glue up though, without buying 500 clamps, but that may be my only option for gluing up 10+ at one sitting since the 45 angle will keep me from doing one glue up on a block and slicing into blanks
 
Does anyone know a source for 3/4" wide by 1 to 3 foot long and 1/4"-ish thick strips of acrylic? I have had no luck for anything but plexiglass..
 
Bear Tooth Woods has some very thin sheets but they might be too thin for what you want.

Search their site for Segmenting Sheets .... they are listed under the Accessories category.
 
You could cast a solid black slab half thickness in PR or Alumilite, then when it hardens (come to think of it, PR may be the best choice) then pour a thin layer of blue then after it gels pour your second black layer. Cut into blanks and carefully drill. When the PR is fully set it will essentially be one solid blank.
 
I wonder if you could pour a black PR blank, once it's set, run it on a table saw and cut a double wide line lengthwise and going half the depth of the blank then casting blue PR to fill the void. The blue line should work.
 
In my honest opinion, the 'thin blue line' is the 'thin blue line' no matter what the orientation is. Above the thin blue line represents the good and below represents the evil. I don't think it really matters how it is displayed. :)
 
Aesthetically, the officers I've spoken with seem to like a vertical line better than a horizontal band. Of course, in different agencies and jurisdictions the officers might have different preferences.

As far as meaning, regardless of how it's displayed, it's still represents the Thin Blue Line.
 
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