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Made some pens... nothing fancy about the kits...just slim lines. A couple of the pens were made from pieces parts of kits. I've also been playing around with inlays. My lovely wife donated her mini food processor to the shop for crushing pearls, turquoise and etc...

I found a nice source for genuine turquoise, pearls, and other rocks and minerals. Pm me and I'll tell ya about it...don't wanna break any rules by posting it here.


hard maple celtic knot pen by EagleTa2, on Flickr



padouk with black pearl inlay pen by EagleTa2, on Flickr


cocobolo pen by EagleTa2, on Flickr


hickory with turquoise inlay pen by EagleTa2, on Flickr

Last one... didn't know there was a four picture maximum...

cherry with pearl inlay pen by EagleTa2, on Flickr

Nice looking pens. I don't know what rules you would be breaking by posting here. Thanks for sharing.

Nice work. How do you do the inlays?

One place to buy crushed stone is Rio Grande jewelry supply company -- http://www.riogrande.com/virtual_catalo ... g%20&p=647 -- In addition, there are gem and jewelry shows that travel around the country that are another source for crushed stone and it seems that their prices are much better than Rio Grande's. You probably could find some on E-Bay as well.

Another appliance you can use to pulverize the stone is with a coffee bean grinder. I've use thin CA/super glue to hold the powdered stone in place, but epoxy works as well. The CA dries so much faster though.

Thanks for the comments!

To do the inlays...first I ground up the stones or pearls and sifted them through a piece of window screen to keep the particles smaller.

Then I finished the pen blank and left it about .030 oversized. I cut the groove with a small skew about 1/8 deep or so. Put a drop of 30 cps CA glue in the slot and drop some powder on it.. then rotate a little bit and repeat CA and powder. Keep going around the blank building up the inlay until its a bit larger than the pen blank. Then give it a light coat of CA over the inlay and let it soak in. After the final coat of CA glue cures... then you can lightly turn the inlay and the pen to final dimension... then sand and finish as needed.

For the inlay materials, I chose to go to Sedona Stones, a bead shop in central Phoenix. They have a great selection of beads and prices are dirt cheap... they will even ship your entire order for $1.95. http://www.sedonastones.com/

Hope this helps...
Geo

Your pens are all charming and polished. Keep them coming!

The pens are truly special. What I appreciate most was the lesson in inlay and the names of sources. That is a great gift. Jim

These pens are made by a pro.

You did very well . That's is incomparable.