drgoretex
August 24th, 2015, 05:07 PM
Hello folks. I thought I would add some pics of my latest bamboo work (I see that Martin/Manu Propria has also been working with bamboo, so I feel to be in very good company :) ).
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd231/kcavers/Custom%20Pens/Custom%20Fountain%20Pens/Designer%20Fountain%20Pens/IMG_0674_zps0y62ro3f.jpg
It has been a while (nearly two years) since I worked on bamboo. I made a few back then, initially using compressed bamboo 'wood', then had a go at using an actual bamboo culm. Applying some of the techniques that I used to use when making bamboo fly fishing rods, I made one out of 'flamed' bamboo (http://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/3891-Flamed-Cane-Darkening-up-the-True-Bamboo) with a thread wrap at the joint of cap and barrel.
Unfortunately, good quality bamboo in the appropriate diameters is rather hard to come by here in cold Canada, so the bamboo work went on the back burner. That is, until last year, when I got my hands on some very nice stock. I put it aside to age for another year, and a few weeks ago began to work on a new bamboo pen.
This pen once again uses some of those fly rod building techniques, particularly the flaming process to darken the cane and give it that lovely caramelized 'susutake' look, and also the application of the thread wrap at the joint - a technique designed to strengthen the joints on the fishing rods, which translates rather nicely to the bamboo pen.
The grip section is made of excellent black ebonite, and the inserts created for the cap and barrel threading are of the same ebonite. The end-jewels are of ruby acrylic to match the garnet thread wrap.
The finish is multiple layers of cyanoacrylate buffed to a nice, natural looking semigloss, mimicking the natural enamel of bamboo (which in fact gets scrubbed away after the flaming process), and to finish the pen off, I have installed a nice two-tone 18K JoWo fine nib.
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd231/kcavers/FullSizeRender%20copy_zpslniyiae5.jpg
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd231/kcavers/Custom%20Pens/Custom%20Fountain%20Pens/Designer%20Fountain%20Pens/IMG_0680_zpsolrv8eye.jpg
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd231/kcavers/Custom%20Pens/Custom%20Fountain%20Pens/Designer%20Fountain%20Pens/IMG_0701_zpsypdyh3p4.jpg
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd231/kcavers/Custom%20Pens/Custom%20Fountain%20Pens/Designer%20Fountain%20Pens/IMG_0714_zpszay8i8rt.jpg
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd231/kcavers/Custom%20Pens/Custom%20Fountain%20Pens/Designer%20Fountain%20Pens/IMG_0688_zps4tmjxdrp.jpg
Overall, I am rather happy with how this one came out, and am looking forward to making more as time permits.
Thanks for looking!
Ken
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd231/kcavers/Custom%20Pens/Custom%20Fountain%20Pens/Designer%20Fountain%20Pens/IMG_0674_zps0y62ro3f.jpg
It has been a while (nearly two years) since I worked on bamboo. I made a few back then, initially using compressed bamboo 'wood', then had a go at using an actual bamboo culm. Applying some of the techniques that I used to use when making bamboo fly fishing rods, I made one out of 'flamed' bamboo (http://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/3891-Flamed-Cane-Darkening-up-the-True-Bamboo) with a thread wrap at the joint of cap and barrel.
Unfortunately, good quality bamboo in the appropriate diameters is rather hard to come by here in cold Canada, so the bamboo work went on the back burner. That is, until last year, when I got my hands on some very nice stock. I put it aside to age for another year, and a few weeks ago began to work on a new bamboo pen.
This pen once again uses some of those fly rod building techniques, particularly the flaming process to darken the cane and give it that lovely caramelized 'susutake' look, and also the application of the thread wrap at the joint - a technique designed to strengthen the joints on the fishing rods, which translates rather nicely to the bamboo pen.
The grip section is made of excellent black ebonite, and the inserts created for the cap and barrel threading are of the same ebonite. The end-jewels are of ruby acrylic to match the garnet thread wrap.
The finish is multiple layers of cyanoacrylate buffed to a nice, natural looking semigloss, mimicking the natural enamel of bamboo (which in fact gets scrubbed away after the flaming process), and to finish the pen off, I have installed a nice two-tone 18K JoWo fine nib.
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd231/kcavers/FullSizeRender%20copy_zpslniyiae5.jpg
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd231/kcavers/Custom%20Pens/Custom%20Fountain%20Pens/Designer%20Fountain%20Pens/IMG_0680_zpsolrv8eye.jpg
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd231/kcavers/Custom%20Pens/Custom%20Fountain%20Pens/Designer%20Fountain%20Pens/IMG_0701_zpsypdyh3p4.jpg
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd231/kcavers/Custom%20Pens/Custom%20Fountain%20Pens/Designer%20Fountain%20Pens/IMG_0714_zpszay8i8rt.jpg
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd231/kcavers/Custom%20Pens/Custom%20Fountain%20Pens/Designer%20Fountain%20Pens/IMG_0688_zps4tmjxdrp.jpg
Overall, I am rather happy with how this one came out, and am looking forward to making more as time permits.
Thanks for looking!
Ken