# Bespoke Red Stripe



## Timebandit (Dec 8, 2011)

Hey guys! Here is the latest from the pen studio. This was a custom pen for a famous tattoo artist here is Austin. He is actually from England, so you  foreign guys may know his name. His name is Steve Byrne. My wife knows his wife and my wife wanted a tattoo. So since he is an artist and likes to outline his artwork with a fountain pen, i made him this in trade. I took all my pens to his shop to check out and was shocked that he picked this material. Out of all of the beautiful materials i showed him, he chose this. I was shocked because i only took the other red stripe pen to show him and truly didnt think that he would chose, it. Why is this a big deal? Because it is the hardest thing i have had to work with. Why? Because there is only a single small stripe down the middle that has to be absolutely perfect!!!!!

This has been the hardest pen to make. I think the material is jinxed. I had to order a full rod because i was out of this material. The first time i tried to make a pen from this material a long time ago, i cracked the barrel. So i havent used it in a long time. A month or two ago, i made another, but didnt get the stripe perfect and some issues with the cap threads. so this was my third attempt at a perfect pen. So i had all of the pieces made and ready to turn. Turn the barrel fine, move on to the cap. Turned fine, sanded through 600 grit, went to wipe of the water and the paper towel got caught and tightened the cap on the mandrel and cracked the cap threads. CRAP!! So i get another piece. Get it all ready, turn it, sand through 600 grit, and go to sand with my micro mesh and again the cap tightens form the micro mesh and cracks the cap threads.CRAP!!! Figured out it was the delrin bushing i was using was worn out and was causing this cracking. So i make another bushing and grab another piece. Some how i was just a little off on my drilling so the line didnt line up properly. At this point almost the whole new rod that i bought was gone, i had enough for 1 more cap and a piece form the previous rod, which was enough to make 1 cap. So i grabded the smallest piece, got it ready, tapped and screwed it on.  CRAP!!! The red stripe on this piece was thinner then the barrel piece. I must have grabbed the left over from the first rod and the stripe was smaller. So, 5th times a charm right, yep 5th times a charm. So i grabbed the last piece i had and i prayed. If this didnt work out i was going to have to order another rod and start from scratch. Well it work, finally!!!!! So this is the first pen that i was able to make out of this material that was worth going to someone. This will also be the last time that i use this material. I will be removed from my stock

So here it is. This was made custom for him. He wanted the longest pen i made, as he has large hands, he wanted it clipless, with a curvier front section than i normally put on this model of pen and he wanted a #6 Broad nib for outlining artwork. Hope you like.

Thanks for Looking 

All Comments Welcome

Justin


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## MarkD (Dec 8, 2011)

I know first hand how frustrating it can be when things are not going right but it looks like your perseverance paid off in the end. 
The pen is stunning! I love the shape and the workmanship is outstanding. The threads even look perfect! 
I just hope that he don't have as much trouble with the tattoo!


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## Frank Nemke sr (Dec 8, 2011)

Tattoo's are mostly lines and I think he relates to that pen.  It looks like penstriping


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## cnirenberg (Dec 8, 2011)

Yup, 5th time's a charm.. I turned out awesome.  You have sucessfully steered me clear of that material, thanks in advance.


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## wiset1 (Dec 8, 2011)

Out of all of your pens, this is the one that speaks to me.  Nice!


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## bitshird (Dec 8, 2011)

Justin Sir, you have far more patience than Jobe, I think after the 3rd or 4th try there would have been much swearing, and placing curses on the maker of the material,and smashing of the parts. But you being above the normal standard of mortal pen makers, you persevered and WOW what a nice job you did, is the material Ebonite or Bakelite?


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## Andrew_K99 (Dec 8, 2011)

Although the festive colours don't work for me personally your level of perfectionism is outstanding and inspiring!  I'm nervous about drilling a segmented blank dead center, that would have given me fits!

AK


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## Timebandit (Dec 8, 2011)

MarkD said:


> I know first hand how frustrating it can be when things are not going right but it looks like your perseverance paid off in the end.
> The pen is stunning! I love the shape and the workmanship is outstanding. The threads even look perfect!
> I just hope that he don't have as much trouble with the tattoo!



Thanks!! He did the tattoo before he saw the pens and it is beautiful!!



Frank Nemke sr. said:


> Tattoo's are mostly lines and I think he relates to that pen.  It looks like penstriping



Thats true. Thats probably why he picked it. Nice and simple.....for him at least:biggrin:



cnirenberg said:


> Yup, 5th time's a charm.. I turned out awesome.  You have sucessfully steered me clear of that material, thanks in advance.



LOL!!Thanks. Actually, if it werent for the bad bushing, i think this pen would have been perfect on the first try, and i would have just moved on. The bushing caused the first break, and i didnt realize it until the second break....then the doors for disaster were open:frown: But it made me think twice about using it again, just because



wiset1 said:


> Out of all of your pens, this is the one that speaks to me.  Nice!



Thanks!! I love it to, but it was quite the headache



bitshird said:


> Justin Sir, you have far more patience than Jobe, I think after the 3rd or 4th try there would have been much swearing, and placing curses on the maker of the material,and smashing of the parts. But you being above the normal standard of mortal pen makers, you persevered and WOW what a nice job you did, is the material Ebonite or Bakelite?



Thanks Ken!! Trust me, there were many more superlatives used not mentioned here:biggrin: Did i also mention that this took place over a two day period...the first time i broke it, i took the day off:biggrin:the second day, i had to finish it no matter what.....or die trying And i do think its jinxed:biggrin:

The material is Lucite


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## Drstrangefart (Dec 8, 2011)

That's a winner for sure. I'm quite blown away. It LOOKS like such a simple pen, too.


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## MarkD (Dec 8, 2011)

Timebandit said:


> Thanks!! He did the tattoo before he saw the pens and it is beautiful!!


No picture...didn't happen! :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:


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## firewhatfire (Dec 8, 2011)

and just think that is the pen everyone on here wants you to make them since it just became a limited use material.  

I like it.


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## thewishman (Dec 8, 2011)

The final results is very striking. I understand about taking the material out of your inventory.


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## Chatham PenWorks (Dec 8, 2011)

LOL. The first thing I thought, even before the WOW, was how much of a )(%^ that stripe must have been to keep perfect. 

That pen is a beautiful piece of work. Simply stunning.


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## flash880 (Dec 8, 2011)

I love it!! But i have been trying to stay away from things that have to be drilled and aligned just exactly right. Great job on entire pen!!


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## vtturner (Dec 9, 2011)

Hope he doesn't take that many tries to get your wife's tattoo right!!!!


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## Timebandit (Dec 9, 2011)

Drstrangefart said:


> That's a winner for sure. I'm quite blown away. It LOOKS like such a simple pen, too.



LOL!!! Quite deceiving isnt it



MarkD said:


> Timebandit said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks!! He did the tattoo before he saw the pens and it is beautiful!!
> ...



Will see if i can get one for you



firewhatfire said:


> and just think that is the pen everyone on here wants you to make them since it just became a limited use material.
> 
> I like it.



LOL!! I know right..........actually its not in limited supply anymore..........its NO LONGER AVAILABLE:biggrin:



thewishman said:


> The final results is very striking. I understand about taking the material out of your inventory.



Thank you! I actually like it a lot, but i wasted a lot of time making one pen, when i could have made 2 or 3.



Chatham PenWorks said:


> LOL. The first thing I thought, even before the WOW, was how much of a )(%^ that stripe must have been to keep perfect.
> 
> That pen is a beautiful piece of work. Simply stunning.



Thanks!!



flash880 said:


> I love it!! But i have been trying to stay away from things that have to be drilled and aligned just exactly right. Great job on entire pen!!



Thanks!! I dont mind this kind of stuff for the most part, but this one just has one perfectly straight stripe right down the middle, so it was much more difficult.



vtturner said:


> Hope he doesn't take that many tries to get your wife's tattoo right!!!!



As mentioned above, he did it before he saw the pens:biggrin:


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## BSea (Dec 9, 2011)

Timebandit said:


> Thank you! I actually like it a lot, but i wasted a lot of time making one pen, when i could have made 2 or 3.


I wish I could waste a lot of time & end up with something like that. 

I'm not sure that's my favorite pen you've made, but it's in the top 3 for sure.


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## DurocShark (Dec 9, 2011)

Classy. I like it.


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## Scott (Dec 9, 2011)

I think this pen is beautiful!  I bet he will really enjoy having and using this pen.

Scott.


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## Jim15 (Dec 9, 2011)

The tatoo artist is a luck person. Awesome pen.


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## Timebandit (Dec 9, 2011)

BSea said:


> Timebandit said:
> 
> 
> > Thank you! I actually like it a lot, but i wasted a lot of time making one pen, when i could have made 2 or 3.
> ...



Thanks Bob! In the end it wasnt time wasted, it was just the in between time that was:biggrin:



DurocShark said:


> Classy. I like it.



Thanks!!



Scott said:


> I think this pen is beautiful!  I bet he will really enjoy having and using this pen.
> 
> Scott.



Thanks Scott! He loved it!!



Jim15 said:


> The tatoo artist is a luck person. Awesome pen.



Thanks Jim!!


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## wizard (Dec 10, 2011)

*Beautiful!!*

Hey Sensei...BEAUTIFUL PEN !!:biggrin: .. Once again, your attention to detail and tenacity, despite a series of unfortunate events, is unmatched....LOL... I'm sure you probably will have nightmares if you see a rod like that again. That is a wickedly curved front section....Regards, Doc


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## Timebandit (Dec 12, 2011)

wizard said:


> Hey Sensei...BEAUTIFUL PEN !!:biggrin: .. Once again, your attention to detail and tenacity, despite a series of unfortunate events, is unmatched....LOL... I'm sure you probably will have nightmares if you see a rod like that again. That is a wickedly curved front section....Regards, Doc



Thanks Grasshopper!!! I have already been seeing a counselor about the dreams........Please dont bring it up again:biggrin:......they might lock me up


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## Brooks803 (Dec 12, 2011)

Atleast now I know what to get you for Christmas Justin :tongue::wink::biggrin::devil::devil::devil:


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## Timebandit (Jan 8, 2012)

Brooks803 said:


> Atleast now I know what to get you for Christmas Justin :tongue::wink::biggrin::devil::devil::devil:



 Im glad we don t live close together, I would have been mad to receive some of this for Christmas


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