* Pen making

So the final push is upon me. The pen show is next week, well a week today. This time next week I will be either on my way home in a gloriously happy mood or seriously depressed. How well it goes, who knows? Will it be busy? Will it be quiet? Will we manage to sell anything? Will we sell nothing? All I know is that we have done everything that I can do now and so whatever happens it up to the fates, gods, luck or chaos, depending on your personal belief system.

So what have I done?

I have managed to finish up 7 or 8 of a new pen design to kind of do a launch at the pen show. This model is called the Icarus, it is called this because the end of the barrel is shaped sort of like a wing tip. Well in my eyes it is anyway. I have been isolating for the most part this week and so I have had a bit of time to get this done after I have finished working from home.

[These](https://i.imgur.com/bj0QPq9.jpg) were the blanks I chose for the pens, there are some brooks, some of our own some from TW blanks and an acrylic. As always the sections were done [first](https://i.imgur.com/dg9ywqB.jpg) these are always done first as they sort of dictate the length of the rest of the pen. None of them have the threads on the end. I need to practise that a few more times until I release them for sale.

The barrels were next. They have a slight taper going from the threads to the end of the pen. I then put this in a vice and I file either side of the pen towards the centre but stop before it reaches a point. I then file the under side to get the three sided flat facets. [This](https://i.imgur.com/XpyYAf4.jpg) is what I end up with. I finish this off with a pretty standard rounded cap which contrasts quite well with the end of the barrel. [what do you think](https://i.imgur.com/2vwK9Lu.jpg)?

[Greek sections](https://i.imgur.com/IMLpzCD.jpg) finish off the look of this lot and they provide a comfortable grip. They are then added to the pens which we have found micro scratches on which need a [second polish](). Looking for those tiny scratches are the last part of the quality checking and are sanded off before we can release them. They are polished, washed and they end up like [this](https://i.imgur.com/LTDDQs6.jpg).

And that is the end of the prep for the show. There will be no update for the next two weeks as the next week will be the pen show and the week after I have family stuff. It should give me time to write up a proper break down of the pen show and link some videos people have made.

Anways take care and stay safe.

Anyways as usual you can follow me on instagram [@denscustompens](https://www.instagram.com/denscustompens/)

and if you want to find the archive of these posts I host them on my website [here](https://denspens.shop)