Ironwoods Pen Journey

I

Ironwood

Senior Member
Jonathan said:
What a fascinating thread. Thank you all. A tremendous voyage of discovery.

I'd need to understand the size of the pens so I'd like to see something in the shots to give me a sense of scale. I'm 6'5"/2m so can't be doing with small pens!
Click to expand...

Thanks Jonathan. The copper bullet on the 50 cal is 1/2 inch diameter, it is a large and hefty pen, but feels good in the hand ( small hands don't like it though )

My camera gear is packed away now, and I am about to hit the sack. Tomorrow I will take a photo of one of them with something for scale.
 
J

Jonathan

Senior Member
Ironwood said:
Thanks Jonathan. The copper bullet on the 50 cal is 1/2 inch diameter, it is a large and hefty pen, but feels good in the hand ( small hands don't like it though )

My camera gear is packed away now, and I am about to hit the sack. Tomorrow I will take a photo of one of them with something for scale.
Click to expand...

The bullet one does sound rather good. Thank you.
 
D

Deezey

Senior Member
Very nice looking pen!

Just curious but do you also have control over colors and such?

I have no idea about turning pens, so I don't know the supplies you purchase. I don't know if you can buy a blank and then wrap it as in fishing rod building or what....

Sent from my SCH-I405 using Tapatalk 2
 
I

Ironwood

Senior Member
Jonathan said:
The bullet one does sound rather good. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Jonathan, sorry for the delay, but here are some pics for a bit of size comparison.

This one shows the 50 cal pen with a Parker ballpoint on the left, my best friend gave me this pen in 1972 when his family was moving to the Solomon Islands to manage a sawmill, to make sure that I wrote him some letters.
The Parker Rollerball on the right was given to me as a Safety award by the company I was working for in the '90's.
DSC_3913.jpg


This one is the 50 cal and a mid sized fountain pen that I am using at the moment.
DSC_3921.jpg


Shows it in the hand (mine)
DSC_3919.jpg


DSC_3920.jpg
 
I

Ironwood

Senior Member
Deezey said:
Very nice looking pen!

Just curious but do you also have control over colors and such?

I have no idea about turning pens, so I don't know the supplies you purchase. I don't know if you can buy a blank and then wrap it as in fishing rod building or what....

Sent from my SCH-I405 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...

Thanks Doug, The colours available in the resin blanks is pretty well unlimited, I have to shop around sometimes to get the colours I need, some customers are very particular.
I don't cast my own resins so have to rely on suppliers and other pen turners who do cast.

Yes it would be possible to wrap a blank with cotton, like a fishing rod. I have made quite a few fishing rods, back in the 80's and 90's.
I learnt to do the diamond wrap, and made a few with some fancy designs, still have a few of them in the shed.
 
D

Deezey

Senior Member
Hmmm....the reason I ask is because I fly fish. And a pen in say brown trout or rainbow trout colors would rock. Or one wraped like or to match a rod would be sweet too.
 
J

Jonathan

Senior Member
Thanks Brad - those look great. It would appear I have a live one of those in my garage (had it for years)! I assume they're nicely weighted (they look like they could be top-heavy)? If you make international sales I'll have three for me and my boys (assuming the price is right). Seriously.
 
I

Ironwood

Senior Member
Jonathan said:
Thanks Brad - those look great. It would appear I have a live one of those in my garage (had it for years)! I assume they're nicely weighted (they look like they could be top-heavy)? If you make international sales I'll have three for me and my boys (assuming the price is right). Seriously.
Click to expand...

While the 50 cal wouldn't be the pen I would choose to write a long essay, it feels nice (for me anyway) to write a few lines here and there, or sign a cheque, it is slightly top heavy but not overly.

I am not sure how they would travel through the mail, I think customs would intercept them somewhere along the line.
But,,, if they could be expected to get through to you, I would happily sell you three.
 
J

Jonathan

Senior Member
Ironwood said:
While the 50 cal wouldn't be the pen I would choose to write a long essay, it feels nice (for me anyway) to write a few lines here and there, or sign a cheque, it is slightly top heavy but not overly.

I am not sure how they would travel through the mail, I think customs would intercept them somewhere along the line.
But,,, if they could be expected to get through to you, I would happily sell you three.
Click to expand...

Good point. PM me a price. I reckon wrapped up in tin foil and in a box should be okay, but then I've never shipped armaments!
 
I

Ironwood

Senior Member
Deezey said:
Hmmm....the reason I ask is because I fly fish. And a pen in say brown trout or rainbow trout colors would rock. Or one wraped like or to match a rod would be sweet too.
Click to expand...

I'll have a think about the cotton wrap, it would be do-able. Probably have to seal the thread, and cast in clear resin.
 
I

Ironwood

Senior Member
Jonathan said:
Good point. PM me a price. I reckon wrapped up in tin foil and in a box should be okay, but then I've never shipped armaments!
Click to expand...

I'll have a talk to a couple of people I know, they might have a bit of insight into the mailing of such instruments.

PM on the way.
 
D

Deezey

Senior Member
It would be cool to see. The stuff that can be done now a days in rod wrapping is mind blowing. Which got me to thinking about your pen turning.
 
J

Jonathan

Senior Member
Ironwood said:
I'll have a talk to a couple of people I know, they might have a bit of insight into the mailing of such instruments.

PM on the way.
Click to expand...

Thank you. The PM suggestion was for your commercial privacy. I don't mind discussing it in front of the class. I'm thinking maybe one-off bespoke pens, too - might that be possible? You know, a paint brush or baseball bat.
 
Last edited:
I

Ironwood

Senior Member
Jonathan said:
Thank you. The PM suggestion was for your commercial privacy. I don't mind discussing it in front of the class. I'm thinking maybe one-off bespoke pens, too - might that be possible? You know, a paint brush or baseball bat.
Click to expand...

Yes, I understood the reason for the PM, I wouldn't have it any other way as I am not running this thread to try and peddle my wares, this is solely for improving my photography.
But it does generate a bit of interest in my pens, I am glad for that, but I don't want it to take over the thread, so these things are better discussed by PM.
 
I

Ironwood

Senior Member
Well I didn't realise how long it was since I last posted in this thread :(. I have been very slack.:eek:

Lately I have been using my spare time gearing up ( and learning up ) to cast my own resins.

I have spent a large portion of the money I had saved for the Tamron 150-600 on the gear to do this stuff, oh well, will have to sell a few pens to get it back.:rolleyes:

Here are some of my first castings. I used Sky Blue and Gold because someone wanted a bullet pen in a local football team colors, it didn't quite turn out how I envisaged ( the colours aren't quite right ) , but I am happy with how it all went anyway.

Here are 2 pens I made with the said Resin blanks.

First is a Ballpoint twist pen, then the 30-06 twist ballpoint for the guy who wanted it.

Taken with the Nikon 16-85, because I was in a hurry and that is what was on the camera.

DSC_5853.jpg


DSC_5856.jpg


DSC_5857.jpg


DSC_5858.jpg


DSC_5861.jpg
 
Top