(again a bit late sorry)

• Pen Making

Well as you can see by the above image I finished the tiny pen that I made for a client. I have taken advice from a friend and started to take photos of the pens on dark backgrounds as it apparently brings out the detail more. What do you think?

The latest pen I have made I used another pearl blank, this time a green one. Unfortunately the light in my workshop makes it look more gold. I have put the ebonite ends on again but this time I went for a more tapered look to it. On my site it is a design called Aphrodite. My depression hit pretty bad earlier in the week and I needed some time alone. I ended up going from this , to this and ended up with this in about 90 minutes. Not bad going, I already had a section made and polished for it so I will be sanding and polishing that on Sunday.

As I currently have no active client jobs at the moment it is allowing me to spend time making some more examples of the designs I have come up with. I decided to start with the design that has opposing slanted ends. I turned the blanks down to around 14mm and cut the ends today. I will make the rest tomorrow ready to sand and polish tomorrow. Here is what I have so far.

I have been thinking off different options, I have a stick of white casein that I am not going to use for a full pen so I may use it as an alternative to the black ebonite I have been making into sections and ends of the barrel and cap. I am not sure whether making a section out of casein will be advisable.

I have figured out how to get around the heating issue when I am drilling out barrels. I bought a cheap pack of longer drill bits, I figure when one is too hot I can swap it out for another one that is cooler and let the initial one chill for a while. That will have to do until I can afford some decide coolant and coolant spray system for the lathe.

• Personal

So as I alluded to earlier, this week has been a struggle. My brain has utterly rebelled against me. I had a bit of a breakdown at work and was sent home, which is not good, luckily they are quite understandable. Hopefully things will get better.

Any comments good or bad feel free to leave them here.

That is it for this week. Have a good weekend.