Moonlighting Pens

This is the first time I have tried something like this. The NY, associated with this team, is in the public domain and can be used. I took the letters and laid it over some pinstripes. I then printed it on a label and affixed it to the brass tubing.
I then cut two pieces of 1923 Yankee Stadium wood seats, and place one on both ends of the brass tubing. I poured resin around the entire blank and waited for it to dry.
Popped it out, made it ready for turning, turned, sanded, applied CA finish, sanded, polished, and put together. I think it turned out nice. Comes with a certificate of authenticity for the wood.

I've asked the organizers to set the thermostat to 72 with light winds. We will see how good she is. I'll be there (sweating), will you??

Come out to The Strawberry Festival in Finksburg,MD. Alot of vendors today.

Anything I put on a pen has to be in the public domain or I have to have authorization. That is why my hand cast military pens have WWII posters. This one is for the Marine Corps Women's Reserve. I know its dated so don't go there! But, these ladies led the way for women to truly become soldiers in our military. I hope someone who's interested in this pen understands where I'm coming from and how proud they should be of those who came before them. Thank you to all the women, and men, who have, or are currently serving, in any branch of the military, or public safety.
FUN FACT: Bea Arthur, of The Golden Girls, was a Staff Sergeant in the Marines Women's Reserve during WWII.

The "Lady Liberty" pen. I took an old postcard from around 1908, and made this pen. As you can tell, I upgraded my pen stand. Amazing what you can do with this one.

Couple of new ones today.

I love history, and our military. Maybe that is why I love making these pens. I dont know if people will like them as much as I do, but here is the latest. The front says U.S. Marines on the top and Soldiers of the Sea on the bottom. Back looks just as nice as the front.

I will be attending this show on Saturday. Please come out and see us!! They have moved it indoors. So we will be in the elementary school.

Who dosnt like a Starry Starry Night?

Just made this pen. Pretty cool for pilots or WWII enthusiasts. Read the accompanying Cert. Of Auth.

Hot off the lathe. The bolt action is an example of what I can do with personal photos.

I will be at this show on April 27. Please stop by if you are in the area.

I've waited a long time to try this. Not sure why, once I got into it, its kind of fun. I can now make my own blanks. I have embedded WWII posters, pictures, and public domain cartoons/artwork into the blanks and placed them on pens. Its kind of a slow process since I have to find pictures, shrink them to size, cut them out and glue them to the brass tube. I then have to place them in a mold, pour a liquid resin over them and wait for them to dry (24+ hours). Pop them out turn, sand, polish assemble pen. Look under photos for captions. I can place any personal photos in pens of your choice. IM me if you have questions.

I made this pen out of American Chestnut. It is quite old. I realized there would be worm holes on the pen when I drilled the blank.
As I turned the pen, I knew there were going to be a lot of holes so I started saving shavings to fill them. I then started thinking of what I was making and how it applied to the significance of this weekend.
This pen will never be perfect because there are holes in it and no matter how you try to cover them up, you will still be able to tell.
We are not perfect and filled with just as many, if not more holes. Loss, sickness, injury, and so many things we have done and wish we could change.
The great thing is that we have someone to lean on. We have someone who loves us unconditionally and will never leave us if we trust in Him.
Over 2000 years ago, he suffered for us, took on all our sin and promised us a place beside Him if we just put our faith in Him. He then died a horrible death so we may live. Please think about this and search Him out. You will not be disappointed.
So, I finished the pen. I left the holes in, and I finished it off with a clip that serves as a reminder of His sacrifice for us.
I'm keeping this pen (I have only kept four of the thousands I've made). Because I have a lot of holes, but Jesus filled them all.

I normally don't make a slimline in acrylic, but I decided to make these with the breast cancer awareness clip. Acrylic is more difficult to work with than wood. Wood turns faster, and sands and polishes quicker.
For these acrylic pens, I had to paint the brass tubes white because I knew the brass tube would show through the light colored pink.
I think they turned out well.

A new pen for me. The Bee pen . The one on the left in acrylic, the right American Chestnut.

Sometimes you have high hopes for a pen blank. You drill it, cut it, glue it, turn it then sand it. Then you take a closer look and realize the blank is bad. When the blank was poured,, there were air bubbles in the mixture that formed tiny voids inside. After turning and finishing, the voids are very easy to see rendering the blank usless.
I am by NO means perfect, but I do have standards. So I had to redo the pen and thus the blue and silver was born. Look at description under each pic.
If you are looking at a pen at craft shows, check the turned portion to see if there are any holes on the acrylic.

A new pen i have not made before. It was probably one of the most difficult I have made due to the small pieces. Its a lighthouse inlay paired with a nautical pen. For those that like the ocean and beach, you may enjoy this one. See photos for individual descriptions.

Victorian pens on left, Celtic pens on right.

This is one of my customers favorite pens. Its a magnetic rollerball. The cap connects via magnet to the tip and end so you don't have to lay it down during writing. It is one of my smoothest writing pens due to the Schmidt rollerball cartridge. If your looking for an affordable handturned rollerball, this may be the pen for you.

American Patriot pens. I had a lady at a show that bought me out of these last year. If your following, thank you and I hope everyone enjoyed them. I only make these pens in either American hardwoods (these are American Chestnut read about them, you'll see why they are special), deer antler (whitetail), or colors that compliment the USA. Nice heavy pens, well balanced, with a parker style refill. The center band says God Bless America, and the cap says USA.

Every now and then, I kinda get excited with a pen I'm making. This was one of them. Its a hybrid blank of acrylic and wood. Its kind of a pain to make, but I decided to do it anyway. I used a CA finish to ensure it was smooth and protected. I then paired it with a Jet pen as it appears to be flying above the earth. Turned out pretty nice in my opinion. Update: SOLD!!! Can make more if someone is interested.

Something I have not made yet. Horse twist pens with parker refills. The first one is made from Goncalo Aves wood, two acrylics, and one Splated Maple Burl. I guess we will see how they do. Shows start in March........

Well, I learned something last week when the high was about 20 degrees. DON'T WORK WITH ACRYLIC!!! You can see in my first pic the crack in the Ohio State blank. Needless to say, didn't do a lot of work last week. Today I finished my other Ohio pen. I turned it with a Michigan blank, probably catch some flak on that.

As promised, Alabama and Georgia. Ohio on the way.

I've finished one Michigan pen, here are Georgia, Alabama, and Ohio getting ready to turn.

Michigan. Dark blue and mazeish....(goldish)

Made one for a relative and decided to make another to sell. Any Penn State fans out there? Dark blue and white colors hand segmented by me. Wood is from Beaver Stadium and comes with certificate of authenticity. Wood is OLD pine and needed some conditioning before I sanded and applied the finish.