Been ill most of the week but I managed to do some things and it was confirmed as not Covid so, yay!

* Pen making

Phew I finally did it. I finished off the pens I have been promising to show you for a while now. I also managed to start up other pens for a client, my biggest order so far. Three pens going to the same person. First of all let’s start with the [main image](https://i.imgur.com/wGvfGpb.jpg) this was made into a pen that I am very proud of. The way it turned out ended up so pretty and the client is very happy with it. Here is the end result with the [cap on](https://i.imgur.com/EaMs5II.jpg) and the [cap off](https://i.imgur.com/GtWJ6gN.jpg).

The other pens I made were all of my own blank pours, I am still practising doing clear interal sanding and polishing, I managed to make an orange one that has a clear part to it. Here it is with [cap on](https://i.imgur.com/ThOEj2C.jpg) and [cap off](https://i.imgur.com/Bsp1mV1.jpg). Then I did a green and black one with an almost entirely clear barrel, again [cap on](https://i.imgur.com/8gifLxj.jpg) and [off](https://i.imgur.com/okHUIro.jpg).

There is a zeus made from a blank that is based upon my new favourite mythological place. The place is called [Cockaigne](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockaigne#:~:text=Cockaigne%20or%20Cockayne%20%2Fkɒ,peasant%20life%20does%20not%20exist.) which is the medical mythical land of excess, where ‘roasted pigs wander about with knives in their backs to make carving easy, where grilled geese fly directly into one’s mouth, where cooked fish jump out of the water and land at one’s feet. The weather is always mild, the wine flows freely, sex is readily available, and all people enjoy eternal youth.’ Here is the pen with the [cap on](https://i.imgur.com/dCMYNin.jpg) and [off](https://i.imgur.com/GhtGTb2.jpg).

I have done a mars and a baldur, very similar designs but these two demonstrate how different they can look given the different materials used. Baldur with [cap on](https://i.imgur.com/hRYSFLG.jpg) and [cap off](https://i.imgur.com/wvrzJ3P.jpg), then mars with [cap on](https://i.imgur.com/0ZTE50z.jpg) and [cap off](https://i.imgur.com/sqKny5D.jpg).

Finally the two which I see as very special. One if special because when I made it and polished it up I just wanted to keep it but I know that I have to let it go. I can’t keep all the pens I make no matter how much I want to. This one I love so so much, it’s one of my more unusual designs where there is a concave curve along the pen with the widest parts at either end rather than in the middle. Here it is with the [cap on](https://i.imgur.com/FUtgwLd.jpg) and [cap off](https://i.imgur.com/TlSenrx.jpg). The other one I need to do a little testing on, the blank glows in the dark. [Normal light](https://i.imgur.com/iFxe0ie.jpg) and in a bit of [low light](https://i.imgur.com/IDUn9gX.jpg). I want to see whether it kicks out enough light to write by. If it does that will just be very cool.

* Blank making

Matching images to blanks is tougher than I thought but it is a skill I really need to master if I want my own blanks to go further. As you all know by now I am not shy to show off my mistakes so lets just jump in.

* [Bladerunner dvd cover](https://i.imgur.com/MqILWY7.jpg) – this is one of my favourite films and I think I kind of dropped the ball with this one, with hindsight I should have added in a bit of red to it.

* [Cthulhu](https://i.imgur.com/7itBzwF.jpg) – the first in the Lovecraft pen blanks, I actually really like this one, I think it is the most successful out of the blanks from this batch.

* [Cyberpunk neon](https://i.imgur.com/gd33v7Z.jpg) – again the ball was dropped, colours are all wrong.

* [Cyberpunk 2](https://i.imgur.com/XSzhvww.jpg) – this one isn’t too bad, sure there are things I would change about it but its ok.

* [Shadowrun 2^nd edition cover art](https://i.imgur.com/FkIkM8L.jpg) – one of my favourite table top rpgs I had to attempt to honour it in some way, unfortunately I messed it up. Once more the colours are wrong.

* [Space Lovecraft](https://i.imgur.com/CrA4ZrU.jpg) – this is the one which smashed it out of the park, my wife of course did this one, I should just hand the blank making over to her.

* Tool upgrades

So I am thinking of changing some of the threads I use for things like caps. At the moment any of the lids I produce will fit any of the barrels I produce and I like that. However I know that some people really like triple start threads and sometimes people wand thinner pens than I can currently offer. Do you think it is worth sacrificing the interchangeability of the caps and barrels to offer a wider range of pen sizes?

Oh and just a little shoutout to u/tommyboy3111 for a fantastic review that can be found [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/i5kpx1/a_belated_npd_from_our_very_own_usecurity_man2k/)

As usual feel free to give feedback or suggestions in the comments. Please take care of yourselves and your loved ones and stay safe.