| Project by Douglas Bordner | posted 511 days ago | 450 views | 0 times favorited | 18 comments | ![]() |
Gaboon ebony Americana style pen. The blanks were drilled through at random angles and aluminium nails were then epoxied in place. Then the blanks were drilled to except the tubes and the regular process was followed in pen construction. Background box top was one of my first, a loose lid box of ebony and holly. Less than sterling in construction or finish, it really is just here to showcase the pen (it was a gift for my wife, in her favorite colors – black and white). One of those deals where you’d love to run it back into the shop for an overhaul, but she will have nothing of it!
-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.
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18 comments so far
Karson
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14326 posts in 941 days
posted 511 days ago
Very interesting Douglas. I’d never would have thought of using Alum nails.
Thinking outside the box.
reat Job.
-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
Douglas Bordner
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2742 posts in 604 days
posted 511 days ago
They were rattling around in the bottom of the standing chest of tools that was my Dad’s (Really an Kansas National Guard Surplus filing cabinet – Pop was in the guard for 41 years and we lived across the street from the arsenal). So once again one of those happy accidents of serendipity – not so much aforethought.
-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.
jockmike2
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4506 posts in 787 days
posted 511 days ago
Beautiful pen Doug, I’d like to try that. Sounds interesting. Aluminum nail huh? jockmike
-- Mike. Profisher50@yahoo.com
MsDebbieP
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12284 posts in 701 days
posted 511 days ago
oh I love the box!!!
(I think I’m starting to sound like Don!!)
Gorgeous pen and box. I’m with your wife: don’t you dare touch it!!
-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
David
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1833 posts in 679 days
posted 511 days ago
Douglas -
Beautiful pen. I like the use of aluminm nails. The box is very nice too!
-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com
Dorje
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1749 posts in 537 days
posted 510 days ago
Another nice combo – in harmony together…
What are they singing Douglas?
-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA
mot
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4863 posts in 576 days
posted 510 days ago
Great Doug! Just great!
-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)
oscorner
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4573 posts in 851 days
posted 510 days ago
Great pen. O.K., I’ve got to ask the question…did you epoxy the aluminum nails in it before or after you turned it? Great use of what you had on hand to use as a design element.
-- Jesus is Lord!
DAN
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3505 posts in 523 days
posted 510 days ago
great pen … even more unique idea to combine ebony and alumina
-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com
Don
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2586 posts in 717 days
posted 510 days ago
Very nice pen – I would like to see more on the box, because I just love small wooden boxes.
Douglas – please excuse my ignorance. Would aluminum pop rivets work in lieu of aluminum nails? [I’ve never heard of aluminum nails.]
-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.canterburybaptist.org/
Douglas Bordner
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2742 posts in 604 days
posted 510 days ago
I suppose so. How hard is it to get the rivets heads off, and are the shanks long enough to transverse the blanks?
Aussie aluminum nails here:
http://www.forestrytools.com.au/Marking.htm
A$10 per 100.
Stateside here:
http://www.mcmaster.com/
Along with every other thing you could think of hardware-wise.
I’m a serious hardware store geek, and for this reason, I have at times developed an antipathy to the big box stores for driving out the little Mom-and-Pop stores with their collection of odd stuff left on the shelf since the fifties, and their own unique smells (what is it about my olfactory-emotional connection? I actually have a clue based on brain physiology, but that is another blog. Hint – it’s about the limbic system).
-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.
darryl
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990 posts in 866 days
posted 510 days ago
that’s cool. I’m looking to step up my pens a little.
-- ~ www.darrylmasterson.com ~ www.woodworkingdungeon.blogspot.com ~
cajunpen
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5345 posts in 606 days
posted 510 days ago
Excellent combination of materials – I like the “stars” look that the aluminum nails give. I’ve made quite a few pens from aluminum tubing – never thought of the nail approach. Did you have any trouble drilling out the center of the stock (for the tubes) with the nails in place? I assume you ran the nail all the way through the stock and then drilled out the center to mount the tubes.
-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/
woodspar
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684 posts in 640 days
posted 510 days ago
Great idea using the nails. I thought those might have been left over pixels…
-- John
Douglas Bordner
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2742 posts in 604 days
posted 510 days ago
Cajunpen,
I didn’t have trouble with the longitudinal drilling. I did use epoxy to glue in the tubes, whereas in most pens I just use cyanoacrylics. I was concerned that the wood would be more likely to crack with the non-wood insertions. Tell us more about the aluminium tubing pens!
-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.
Bob Babcock
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1807 posts in 626 days
posted 510 days ago
Very cool Doug.
-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org
Todd A. Clippinger
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2675 posts in 639 days
posted 508 days ago
You do nice work, I like this.
-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com
teenagewoodworker
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2143 posts in 308 days
posted 277 days ago
thats cool. i would never have thought about putting that nails in. when i looked at it at first glance i thought that it looked like those fancy 100$ pens that you see at some stores.
great job