# Syzygy



## VisExp (Sep 5, 2008)

[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]syz·y·gy






[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]–noun, plural [FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]-gies.[/FONT] [/FONT]
1.Astronomy. an alignment of three celestial objects, as the sun, the earth, and either the moon or a planet: Syzygy in the sun-earth-moon system occurs at the time of full moon and new moon.

[/FONT]

[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Syzygy, a word that holds a special meaning for me, is a word my wife used in one of her first letters after we met.[/FONT]
_"[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]One of my favorite words is "syzygy" - which describes the alignment of celestial bodies (moon, earth) with its star (sun). It is considered a magical time when the chaos of your thoughts and emotions of your mind dis-entangle and become aligned with your soul, in tune with the universe. It is a time when a solution is found, a life path becomes clear, or even a vision is beheld. Or even something as sweet as a deep breath taken on a moonlit beach.[/FONT]_
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]_That is how I felt with you on the evening of your birthday. At peace, but with that delicious undercurrent of excitement of stepping onto a new path. My breathless thanks to you for giving that to me."_[/FONT]​From that day forward, our paths merged as one!

This design reminds me of that walk on a moonlit beach. This pen is a gift to my wife to celebrate our first meeting.​ 
As always, your comments and critiques are appreciated. Thanks for looking.​


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## flyingmelon (Sep 5, 2008)

very nice looking pen and a nice story to go with it. I can't remember the first time I met my wife (or so she says) But I am glad to have her in my life


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## Skye (Sep 5, 2008)

What do I think? I think you are sticking pins in my doll! How am I ever going to contend with that thing, huh? huh?

That thing is great!


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## JayDevin (Sep 5, 2008)

that is a wonderful Pen 
and a great story to go with it!


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## DCBluesman (Sep 5, 2008)

Amazing pen and beautiful story.  I'll never understand how some of you can do this in 3-D in wood when I can do it on paper with a straight-edge and compass.


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## dntrost (Sep 5, 2008)

man that is very cool and great story me and my wife met when we were 11!  I can't remember what her first letter said that was 38 years ago!


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## Darley (Sep 5, 2008)

Keith really nice work on your laminating and nice story too and I'm sure that your wife will appreciated this pen


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## hewunch (Sep 5, 2008)

Keith, that is awesome!!! Very nice, I know she will love it.

BUT if I may say so, it would be neat if the cap lined up with the nib end.


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## LostintheWoods (Sep 5, 2008)

Beautiful pen, even without the story! I'm sure she'll love it!


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## BRobbins629 (Sep 5, 2008)

That one is way up there on the coolness factor.  Even the choice of colors is exquisite.  Well done.


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## cowjelly (Sep 5, 2008)

Nice looking pen and story! I bet your wife will treasure it.


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## gerryr (Sep 5, 2008)

Keith,
There is no doubt that you are the undisputed king of those circle thingies.  That's a beautiful pen.


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## OKLAHOMAN (Sep 5, 2008)

Damn-it Keith I don't know which I like better the story-letter or the pen! They are both awesome!


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## arjudy (Sep 5, 2008)

All I can say is WOW!!!!!


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## Glass Scratcher (Sep 5, 2008)

Fantastic pen.


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## papaturner (Sep 5, 2008)

All I can say is I`m glad my wife doesn`t visit this site. Absolutely awesome pen and the great story that goes along with it. Thanks for shareing both.
Have a:coffeen me.lol


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## marcruby (Sep 5, 2008)

My advice is simple.  Stop making pens that make me insanely jealous.

Marc


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## penhead (Sep 5, 2008)

Beautiful pen, nice story, and excellent scrabble word..!


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## VisExp (Sep 6, 2008)

Thank you for all the nice comments everyone.  I gave the pen to my wife and she is thrilled with it 



hewunch said:


> Keith, that is awesome!!! Very nice, I know she will love it.
> 
> BUT if I may say so, it would be neat if the cap lined up with the nib end.


 
You are correct Hans.  It was one of those moments simlair to when you close the car door and realize the keys are inside.  I had pondered for a while about where to make the cut in the blank to determine the two halves and center band placement.  As I made the cut and saw how much of that section of the design was disappearing due to the thickness of the saw blade, I knew I had made a poor choice.  Even though I was using a blade with a 1/16" kerf, that was to much.  In retrospect I should have made the cut about 1/4" higher and the missing section of the design would not have been so noticeable and would have flowed better from upper barrel to lower barrel.








gerryr said:


> Keith,
> There is no doubt that you are the undisputed king of those circle thingies. That's a beautiful pen.


 
Thanks Gerry :biggrin:  Is that the technical term :biggrin:



penhead said:


> Beautiful pen, nice story, and excellent scrabble word..!


 
Scrabble!  You're right, an excellent scrabble word.  Wow, that brings back childhood memories.  Haven't played the game in years but it used to be a great family game.


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## wood-of-1kind (Sep 6, 2008)

An exquisite writing instrument and matching 'love story'.


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## toolcrazy (Sep 6, 2008)

Wonderful job. Nice pen.


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## JohnU (Sep 6, 2008)

Abosolutely Beautiful!  and a perfect gift.  Congrats to you and your wife!


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## workinforwood (Sep 6, 2008)

I don't know that it reminds me of the beach.  It's a very busy pen.  It is more relatable in my opinion to my first date with my wife..she gave it up on the first date


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## PR_Princess (Sep 6, 2008)

Keith,

Your wife must truly be a remarkable woman. And this gift, your gift, to her is wonderful. The intertwining symbols have meaning that will echo throughout the aeons. Just as your love and respect for each other will. I am sure that this thought filled present from you is one that she will treasure always. 

Thank you for sharing it with all of us.


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## Bear_Knuckle_Turner (Sep 6, 2008)

Stunning work!!! The first pen I ever made was for my wife.  It was just purple heart.  This is great work, with a great story.  I'm sure she will love it!


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## ldb2000 (Sep 7, 2008)

Keith , wonderful story , Stunning Pen .
:star::star::star::star::star: A 5 star creation !!!


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## Randy_ (Sep 7, 2008)

VisExp said:


> .....Even though I was using a blade with a 1/16" kerf, that was to much.....


 
Using a jig saw, coping saw or even a very thin band saw blade might help as well.

Very nice work!!


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## Ligget (Sep 7, 2008)

Keith that is an awesome pen, your wife will love it I`m sure!


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## stolicky (Sep 7, 2008)

Great pen.  You have raised the bar so high I can't even see it now....!

Gee, thanks...


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## desertyellow (Sep 8, 2008)

The pen, the story, truly inspiring.


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## wdcav1952 (Sep 9, 2008)

Keith, count me with those who can't decide which is better, the pen or the story!  Thanks for sharing both with us.


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## chriselle (Sep 9, 2008)

The story easily trumps the pen.  But that's not to say this pen isn't an amazing work of art.  Wow,,just wow!


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## bitshird (Sep 9, 2008)

Keith you're horrible, how dare you make such a pen, actually a better question is how CAN you make such a pen, that is a beautiful  pen and a very romantic story I imagine you'll enter that in the soaring contest?


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## Johnathan (Sep 10, 2008)

I have not had a wholel lot of time to lately to post but my goodness, I just had to say something about this pen, very nice job! Just beautiful!


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## ed4copies (Sep 10, 2008)

The pen is gorgeous, Keith.  

The story is inspiring.  

Now, on to the technical side.  With blanks like this, don't you have a scroll saw?????
The super-thin blade of a scroll saw would keep your pattern intact.  Although, probably only pen-makers will notice the interruption, anyhow!!!

Great work!


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