* pen making

Well I promised I was going to do this for a few weeks now. I have gathered together the ebonite and the end of the day pens that I have made and got decent photos of them. We also sorted out the lighting in the living room so the photos should come out well. I haven’t run any of the photos in this update through any software so let me know what you think.

So working with ebonite is a strange thing. The stuff stinks to high heaven, it also heats up very quickly and scorches easily ruining any sort of finish. The other thing to be aware of is that it blunts tools very quickly. If you are doing a long run of ebonite pens then you may need to sharpen tools mid way through, or replace tips. I have two drill bits I use to drill out barrels and luckily I am quite good at sharpening drill bits by hand.

So first off is a red and black Vanargand, this one has a black section and a brass ring on it. Turning and applying the finish to the brass is luckily, quite easy. I do have to go up to about 5000 grit to remove all of the scratches. Tool marks tend to be deep so there is a lot of sanding of the metal before polishing. Here is a [closeup](https://i.imgur.com/xg5PsJ8.jpg).

This one is a Zeus in black and reed with a brass ring. This one was finished the same as the Vanargand above but the challenge with this design is sanding and polishing the flat ends without scorching the ebonite. With this one I have got a pretty good mirror like finish on the brass and the ends. Here is the [closeup](https://i.imgur.com/azAhTQW.jpg).

Finally this is the Gaea in blue and black with a stainless steel ring. Stainless steel is a total bitch to work with, it is so damn hard. Its also a pain to get any tool marks out of, once more a lot of sanding and a lot of heat build up. I had to be so careful sanding it so not to burn the ebonite. Turned out nicely though [see](https://i.imgur.com/BBLCjCQ.jpg). Here they are [together](https://i.imgur.com/LgIueH3.jpg).

The other set I am doing are the end of the day blanks, these blanks are made using the over flow resin from different blank pours to create small blanks. One blanks is enough to make a pen if you add extension pieces and use a different material for the section, these ones all have black ebonite sections. Here they are [together](https://i.imgur.com/CbpYjkF.jpg). I made two designs an [Aphrodite](https://i.imgur.com/lOT4JtV.jpg), and a [mars](https://i.imgur.com/7SJxviy.jpg).

When I say they are sets I don’t plan to sell them together by default but if people want multiples in the similar style this would be an option.

* Photography

I took some photos outside in natural light. What do you think?

* [close](https://i.imgur.com/RYaz9dQ.jpg)

* (https://i.imgur.com/dmCewzO.jpg)

* [far](https://i.imgur.com/W0WW1iu.jpg)

* [hand](https://i.imgur.com/4kdo9xm.jpg)

* Cat tax

[Her name is Lilly](https://i.imgur.com/sU7lOza.jpg).

As usual feel free to give suggestions for where these updates go in the comments. Please take care of yourselves and your loved ones and stay safe.