# One-Piece Slimline Pen - Critiques Welcome



## C_Ludwigsen (Jun 18, 2005)

Okay, the box lid is still open a bit and one arm is sticking out.

This is a single piece slimline pen in Quilted Maple with a Chokte Viga stripe running from near the top to near the bottom.  The stripe only wraps around about half the pen and is fairly thin (just over 1/8th inch wide).

DISCLAIMER: The design for a single piece slimline is courtesy of Dick Sing in his most recent book.  It is not an original thought.

I wanted to accomplish 3 things with this pen.

Try an extreme angle inlay similar to the compound angle inlays Eagle as been experimenting with.  I only put 1 stripe in this pen but imagine I could go 1,2, or 4 without too much trouble.
Try a kit variation - using a single kit.  Dick Sing's idea of a one-piece slimline in which the tip is turned to extend the cartridge is pretty cool and not all that hard - except the drilling.
Try out an idea for drilling a long pen blank from both ends without any noticeable alignment issues.  I'll explain this after more practice.</ol id="1">
As before, your thoughts, questions, and critique are welcome.

Still using the digital video camera in "camera" mode, but this one came out a little better.

Thanks for taking a look.


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## JimGo (Jun 18, 2005)

Chuck, 
I saw this pop up on the main page, and have been hangin' around to tell you how COOL this looks!  The finish is sweet - looks like the blank is still wet, and the inlay is AWESOME!

In case you can't tell, I like it.  I've been toying with the idea of a single body wist pen; guess I'll have to go get Dick's book to see how that twist-tip trick is achieved!  My thoughts were to do the twisting at the other end.

Any way, VERY nice pen!

BTW, if you use a vise, I realized the other day (OK, I'm a little slow) that I need to rotate the blank 180 degrees when I flip it, to take into account any slight misalignment in the centering of the drill tip and the vise.  HTH!


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## woodscavenger (Jun 18, 2005)

Chuck, that is really well done.  You should have shown an action shot, extended, retracted and asked us how you did it before giving us the skinny on the mechanism.  

I do have a couple of questions.  

1. Do you shorten the tube pressed into the nib and make a short refill or is the refill used at it's standard length?
2. How worried are you about the lower end of the blank splitting?  I assume since you twist the nib you do not have a standard 7mm tube glued in place in the lower end.


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## Fleabit (Jun 18, 2005)

Nicely done.  The stripe puts a very nice touch to a very nice looking pen.


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## Daniel (Jun 18, 2005)

Chuck!
WOW. but then that is not much of a Critique is it.
I'll keep the negitives short by just saying I don't see any for me. other than the frustration of not knowing how this pen is done.
the one piece barrel is really eye catching. of course this may only be true considering I know what it should look like.
as for form. it is really working strongly for my taste. not only the Inlay but the entire shape fo the pen itself. I really like smooth slightly curving shapes and the inlay tends to cause my eye to see a gentle curve in the barrel itself. sort of an illusionary effect.
and what a finish. I stil think the photo could get better with experimenting but I think I see the pen well enough. You may want to look at trying to soften the shadow that is below the pen in this photo with different lighting arrangments. you want a shadow but a very light one. 
the contrast in your choice of material is very good. and I can't say why but the choice in the size of the stripe is also very good. It would be interesting to see how it measures up to the golden mean or other design rules or guides.
I would also like to ad. this pen could be used as a study of how less is more. a long single stripe and how stunning it can be. not over done at all but really bringing out the best in your choice of materials. you really wrung this one for all it was worth. outstanding job.


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## ctEaglesc (Jun 18, 2005)

Nice Job Chiuk,I have it figured How it was done, I am wondering how much effort it takes to turn the length to extentend the refill.
Gorgeous finish!
(why stop and 4 spirals, try six)


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## JimGo (Jun 18, 2005)

Tim, interesting idea.  But how would you replace the refill?  And, actually, I guess that's a good question for Chuck!


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## atvrules1 (Jun 18, 2005)

Very very nice Chuck.  That is great work.  The stripe really sets the pen off nicely.


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## Tom McMillan (Jun 18, 2005)

Absolutely AWESOME pen Chuck!!!!  Nice work!!![]


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## timdaleiden (Jun 19, 2005)

> _Originally posted by JimGo_
> <br />Tim, interesting idea.  But how would you replace the refill?



 Jim, 

 I deleted my posts because I missed something there. If it was done the way that I thought it was done, there would still be issues. 

 I still love the look of the pen. Great job Chuck.


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## JimGo (Jun 19, 2005)

Tim, that's funny, because I noticed it was gone a few minutes ago.  Thought maybe I was dreaming!  Yup, I agree, still gonna be problems.  The thread for the refill in a SL means the transmission can only be positioned in one direction without making some significant mods to the transmission.  My thought was that perhaps the body of the pen is in fact a "shell" that extends down over the lower tube (i.e., that it isn't glued to the lower tube), and everything just sits in by pressure (hold the tip and pull, and the "shell" slides off, revealing a bare brass tube into which the tip and transmission have been pressed).  My concern then is the strength of the "shell", and how the heck you would turn something THAT thin without a brass tube (or its equivalent) under/behind it to keep it from splitting.

This was the design with which I was going to start playing in a few weeks.


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## DCBluesman (Jun 19, 2005)

Chuck--that's a gorgeous pen and a really clever "trick" to maintain the functionality of the single-barrel slimline.  The diagonal accent as a beautiful touch to the maple without obscuring the quilting.  The finish is fantastic.  Well-done.

Now, Daniel--what the heck are you talking about?  Chuck said that he is limited to taking this picture with his video camera.  I hardly think a photography lesson is needed or was requested.  And as for the obtuse reference to the "golden mean" that is a simple mathematical formula that results in a ratio of 1.6:1.  Where do you see any of that in this post.  Let's give Chuck what he asked for, which is fairly simple...thoughts, questions and critiques.


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## Ligget (Jun 19, 2005)

That is a superb pen, I love it and the finish is beautiful!![][]


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## Justin_F (Jun 19, 2005)

Very nice! you should be proud!


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## MDWine (Jun 19, 2005)

100% nifty!
Very well done, the wood is great, your accent is right on, and the fit and finish look terrifc!
Nice job, that's another for the "I gotta try that some time" list!


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## swm6500 (Jun 19, 2005)

Very nice looking pen Chuck. However it works is OK with me. If I decide to try something like that I will see what I can figure out.


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## jbyrd24 (Jun 19, 2005)

Absolutely beautiful pen. Everything works, wood and finish.
Great job ![]


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## C_Ludwigsen (Jun 19, 2005)

Wow!!!  Thanks everyone.  I appreciate all the feedback.

To clear up a few things - <b>no kit parts were harmed</b> (or modified) in the making of this pen.

The pen barrel is measured as the sum of the upper barrel, CB, and lower barrel.  The upper barrel is glued in and the lower barrel is not.  The twist mechanism and the nib are pressed into the lower barrel.  You pull the nib out to replace the cartidge.

Tim/Jim, Dick Sing does caution you about the tip strength.  I think this one has enough meat to keep it from breaking, but I would probably not use a weaker wood than maple on something like this.

To maintain strength while turning, I turned it with the lower tube floating inside the barrel.  Trimming to perfect left was probably the hardest part but I'm not regurgitaing all that math right now.

I'll set the camera back up later to take a pic with the lower mechanism removed.

Thanks very much all.


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## JimGo (Jun 19, 2005)

Thanks Chuck!  Nice to know that the engineering side of my brain hasn't TOALLY gone by the wayside with all my studying.  Beautiful pen!


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## Rifleman1776 (Jun 19, 2005)

Even though the 'HOW' eludes me, the WOW! factor is huge.


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## Andy Ryan (Jun 19, 2005)

yep,  very intersting effect you have going thier.  Not offten I pipe up my opion but this one is deffintely worth it.  Good job.[]


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## WoodChucker (Jun 19, 2005)

Chuck, that's an awesome looking pen and I won't even try to critique it. I've never tried something like that myself so I'm not qualified to give you a real critique. But my opinion is you did a fantastic job on it. I'm very impressed with not only your idea, but the choice of woods is beautiful too. Thanks for sharing and keep up the great work!


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## Daniel (Jun 19, 2005)

Lou, Chuck points out the quality of the photo himself. Lighting would apply wether the picture was from a camera or video.
second the Golden mean is a ration of weight to width. the pen has both and the stripe has both. It is also a ratio that tends to cause balance in elements to the eye. You can ad a stripe and it can be only so so. then you can ad a stripe that really "snaps" and get that snap every time. Intentionally. for those fumbling around trying to get combinations that really aren't coming out that well. ideas like the golden mean can be very important. I'm not sure chuck even considered such things with the choice of stripes. but it really landed in the snap catagory for me. I am not actually measuring myself, but do wonder how it would measure up to the golden mean rule. just ball park numbers but say the stripe is 1/8 inch wide. and 5 inches long this is a ratio of 1:40. does that land in one of the Golden mean "magic numbers"??? 1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55 nope. but then again my guesses on meaurements are probably not right. at any rate I was refering to not only did he get a stripe in there. but a really sharp looking stripe.
there is a difference. 


> _Originally posted by DCBluesman_
> <br />
> Now, Daniel--what the heck are you talking about?  Chuck said that he is limited to taking this picture with his video camera.  I hardly think a photography lesson is needed or was requested.  And as for the obtuse reference to the "golden mean" that is a simple mathematical formula that results in a ratio of 1.6:1.  Where do you see any of that in this post.  Let's give Chuck what he asked for, which is fairly simple...thoughts, questions and critiques.


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## jvsank (Jun 19, 2005)

Chuck very nice pen. Thanks for clearing up how you did it.


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## DCBluesman (Jun 19, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Daniel_
> <br />Lou, Chuck points out the quality of the photo himself. Lighting would apply wether the picture was from a camera or video.  Once again you have chosen to obfuscate the issue, Daniel.  This post is in the "Show Off Your Pens" forum and NOT in the "Pen Photography" forum.  Taking this as an opportunity to discuss your views of Photography hijacks the thread without adding any value.  Having seen Chucks photos when he was not hampered by the constraints of a video camera, I observe that he is a more than competent photographer.
> second the Golden mean is a ration of weight to width. the pen has both and the stripe has both. It is also a ratio that tends to cause balance in elements to the eye. You can ad a stripe and it can be only so so. then you can ad a stripe that really "snaps" and get that snap every time. Intentionally. for those fumbling around trying to get combinations that really aren't coming out that well. ideas like the golden mean can be very important. I'm not sure chuck even considered such things with the choice of stripes. but it really landed in the snap catagory for me. I am not actually measuring myself, but do wonder how it would measure up to the golden mean rule. just ball park numbers but say the stripe is 1/8 inch wide. and 5 inches long this is a ratio of 1:40. does that land in one of the Golden mean "magic numbers"??? 1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55 nope. These numbers have nothing to do with the Golden Mean.  These are Fibonacci numbers (not that the true name of them matters) and I still don't see any relevance.  but then again my guesses on meaurements are probably not right. at any rate I was refering to not only did he get a stripe in there. but a really sharp looking stripe. Again, if you KNOW that there is no relationship to the Golden Mean, why do you bring it up?  There is ABSOLUTELY no relationship in ANY of the penturning dimensions to the Golden Mean.  Additionally, virtually all research about the golden mean and its impact on aesthetics shows NO correlation.  The golden mean is a mathematical function which has bearing on Euclidean geometry and almost nothing else.  What's the relevance?  Yes, the stripe is nice...this is an extremely well done pen.  Proportions, fit, finish, overall appearance are all excellent.  I just don't get why you need to bring in items of limited or no value into these discussions.  Maybe I'm missing something, but these comments are, in my opinion, self-serving posturing.
> there is a difference.
> ...


If you want to discuss Fibonacci numbers, the Golden Mean or any other irrelevances, I'll be glad to meet you in "Casual Conversation". 

Chuck...thanks for the description of how you turned and assembled this pen.  I think you can mark yourself "Out of the Box" on this one! []


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## penbuilder (Jun 20, 2005)

WOW great looking pen. I guess I'll be looking for Mr. Sings book as well.


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## scubaman (Jun 20, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Daniel_
> <br />the Golden mean is a ration of weight to width.<br /><br />


Wow, I learn something new every day!  Gotta find my scale...  I think I weigh about 13 stone, and am 3 cubits and 23 digits tall - I wonder how close I am to this Golden mean? [}]


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## ctEaglesc (Jun 20, 2005)

Chuck,One question.
Do you plan to do any more similar to ths one?
The one piece body?


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## woodscavenger (Jun 20, 2005)

I did one last night.  I will try and post pics soon.  Nothing as cool as yours but a little different.  BTW, some kit parts were harmed in the making of my pen[]


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## PenWorks (Jun 20, 2005)

What a wonderfull looking pen Chuck. Excellant exacution on the design as well. The finsih is superb, I am getting a reflection of myself looking at your pen ! []


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## ctEaglesc (Jun 20, 2005)

After reading the "mission" statement as to the execution and making this pen,I agree it has a great llok but wonder how useful it is to have the nib be the only part to hold to extend the nib.
Pretty yes, functional?


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## C_Ludwigsen (Jun 20, 2005)

Eagle.  Yes, I do plan to try a few more of these.  And I have been thinking of gluing a very short "tip" piece to the end of the barrel ar the nib to add strength.

As to your other question, I have removed the nib assembly several times since making this pen and have only had trouble after eating potato chips.  If you twist it as you remove it, there isn't much problem.  Technically, there is the same amount of the transmission pushed into the upper barrel as there is in a traditional slimline.


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## woodscavenger (Jun 21, 2005)

chuck, you know your wife doesn't approve of potato chips in the bed or in the pen shop.  For shame![]


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## ryannmphs (Jun 21, 2005)

The chips are hidden in his office!  So the wife doesn't know about them, and if they were in the shop they would just attract unwanted critters! [][][]

BTW, I got to hold this one piece pen, and it is really, really nice.  If I ever get the time I'll have to make one of my own! []

Ryan


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