Starlight Pen

Very interesting Douglas. I’d never would have thought of using Alum nails.

Thinking outside the box.

reat Job.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

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.

Beautiful pen Doug, I’d like to try that. Sounds interesting. Aluminum nail huh? jockmike

-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com

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!!

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Douglas -

Beautiful pen. I like the use of aluminm nails. The box is very nice too!

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

Another nice combo – in harmony together…

What are they singing Douglas?

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Great Doug! Just great!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

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!

great pen … even more unique idea to combine ebony and alumina

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

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.hilsbiblechurch.org/

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.

that’s cool. I’m looking to step up my pens a little.

-- ~ www.darrylmasterson.com ~ www.darrylmasterson.etsy.com ~ www.woodworkingdungeon.blogspot.com ~

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/

Great idea using the nails. I thought those might have been left over pixels…

-- John

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.

Very cool Doug.

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

You do nice work, I like this.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

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