# The life of Ra (kitless)



## BradG (Dec 22, 2012)

Closed end body and lid kitless pen

The lid, showing the eye of Ra, or also known as the eye of horus.






The Eye of Ra was involved in many areas of ancient Egyptian religion, including in the cults of the many goddesses who are equated with it. Its life-giving power was celebrated in temple rituals, and its dangerous aspect was invoked in the protection of the pharaoh, of sacred places, and of ordinary people and their homes.


The Ankh, dominating the body of the pen






The ankh is an ancient Egyptian symbol of life. Commonly seen being held by the gods, and is often regarded as an object which gives life after death.


 
As always, thanks for looking.​ 


Brad

Also, if anyone would like to see a large image of this pen so they can see detail of the etch, visit here, and click on the image to make it full size:
http://www.penturners.org/photos/images/13530/2_pic1.jpg


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## Displaced Canadian (Dec 22, 2012)

First class work. How is the weight?


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## Dalecamino (Dec 22, 2012)

I must bow to you in worship. Can't wait to see what's next. I hope everybody sees this one. Beautiful work Brad.


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## BradG (Dec 22, 2012)

Displaced Canadian said:


> First class work. How is the weight?


 
for me just right, though its certainly in the heavier side of the scales. i like a heavy pen as i hold a pen rather oddly. For me, i find the ink flows better.



dalecamino said:


> I must bow to you in worship. Can't wait to see what's next. I hope everybody sees this one. Beautiful work Brad.


 

Thanks Chuck


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## thewishman (Dec 22, 2012)

WOW!!! Now that you have proven your chemistry, your horizons have opened up. Beautiful pen! I see lots of interesting things coming from your shop in the future.


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## PaulDoug (Dec 22, 2012)

Well above CLASSY! Love your pens.


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## eupher58 (Dec 22, 2012)

You are setting the bar waaay to high!  That is some excellent work!


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## mredburn (Dec 22, 2012)

Superb pen Brad,  Excellent design work and execution.


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## eldee (Dec 22, 2012)

That's some really awesome work. Absolutely beautiful, and unique. Glad to see the process working so well for you.


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## OKLAHOMAN (Dec 22, 2012)

Your just way beyond being a pen maker your a true artist with a flair for the dramatic, I so much look forward to each of your creations.


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## Jim Burr (Dec 22, 2012)

Which museum is this going to? Put it with the Tut collection! This really is a few levels over the bar Brad!


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## Bob Wemm (Dec 22, 2012)

Brad that design is incredibly awesome, and the execution is amazing. Thank you so much for showing. Like the others have said, You raise the bar so high.
Congratulations.

Bob.


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## skiprat (Dec 22, 2012)

Wow Brad,  that is extremely impressive for sure!!
Of all the wild things you've made, this is my newest favourite!!!.:good:

Personally, I think this one should have been your PMG submission, but with the variety of beauties you have shown so far, no doubt you'll conjure up an equally special piece when you're ready. :wink:


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## MartinPens (Dec 22, 2012)

Very artistic! Love it! Quite the inspired design to be proud of. Thanks for showing it!


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## BradG (Dec 22, 2012)

Steven plenty of time for that, im still experimenting fornow 


Thanks for all the kind words guys, its much appreciated to hear they are a pleasure to look at, as it reminds me the hours they take make it all worth it lol :biggrin:

im intending on taking 20 or so of various different designs like these to a craft show next year.. Im not expecting to sell many or any at all on the day due to the price point, but it will be nice to show them off there regardless, and maybe give out a few cards


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## Brooks803 (Dec 22, 2012)

Wow! That is amazing. The detail in the etching is superb. This is also my new fav!


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## 76winger (Dec 22, 2012)

I can only describe that in a couple of word Brad. Uber Cool!


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## SteveG (Dec 22, 2012)

I fall right in line with the others here celebrating the artistry AND craftsmanship of your work shown. VERY nice, and anxiously awaiting your next!
Steve


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## Jgrden (Dec 22, 2012)

Sheesh !!!!  Wonderful work. I'd like be your student.


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## Kretzky (Dec 22, 2012)

Outstanding Brad, your work is incredible  & you have a rare talent.
I look forward very much to seeing your mext offering.


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## BradG (Dec 22, 2012)

Thanks for commenting guys  though check out the chrome version. guess this comes down to who prefers what as thats personal... i lean more towards the chrome, but i also appreciate the gold version of this with it being ancient egypt.. wasnt much chrome back then :biggrin:


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## Sawdust46 (Dec 22, 2012)

I can't find the appropriate words.  Your works are spectacular!


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## Jim15 (Dec 22, 2012)

That pen is beyond outstanding.


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## jasontg99 (Dec 22, 2012)

Brad,

    I am in amazement.  Your work has always been fantastic.  But this......this is, well I can't put it into words.  I'm speechless.

Jason


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## BradG (Dec 23, 2012)

Thanks Sawdust, Jim, Jason


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## wiset1 (Dec 23, 2012)

That's got to be my favorite one so far.  Pretty amazing stuff you're doing these days


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## bluwolf (Dec 23, 2012)

Just like the other one, very nice Brad.

Mike


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## Mapster (Dec 23, 2012)

Brad, this one is spectacular! One of the coolest pens I have seen, definitely something I would prefer to buy over the Mont Blancs of the world... Unbelievable detail in the etch, you really have that process perfected! 

Aluminum plated in gold? It is hard to tell what exactly the pen is made out of, but it is beautiful


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## BradG (Dec 23, 2012)

Marshall its brass which has been plated 24ct gold.

Its difficult to do as the gold is pretty much the same colour as polished brass so its difficult to see if you have plated it evenly using a brush technique, but the price of a tank plating setup is very high. The reason its plated if the colours are the same, is that brass will tarnish to a dull old copper penny colour if left losing its shine, whereas gold plating wont.

Chrome plating is obvious, though the good news is when turning with brass is that both of these platings can be applied directly to the piece. if it were aluminium i would have to do the following:

GP1 Alkaline clean the piece
Zincate the piece
Copper plate the piece
Nickel plate the piece
Then either gold or chrome plate the piece..


Quite a few more steps as you can see.


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## DRAT (Dec 23, 2012)

Brad,

I absolutely love your work.  I am originally a wood carver turned pen turner/wood carver.  I love the "art" part of working with wood.  I also draw and paint as well as design.  so what you've done really interests me a ton.

Can you please communicate with me about how you did this, either online or off.

Thanks so much.

DrAT


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## BradG (Dec 23, 2012)

DRAT said:


> Brad,
> 
> I absolutely love your work. I am originally a wood carver turned pen turner/wood carver. I love the "art" part of working with wood. I also draw and paint as well as design. so what you've done really interests me a ton.
> 
> ...


 
If you visit my website you can watch a tutorial on this process
http://www.penchemistry.co.uk/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=74&Itemid=472


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## skiprat (Dec 24, 2012)

Brad, I decided that I needed something to do in my cave while the outlaws visited this week........
I popped into Maplin and got some jungle juice and then into HobbyCraft for a couple of stickers to play around with. 
I know I could've got 5 litres of the stuff for the same price as 1/2 a litre, but hey, all the industrial places are closed and it's Christmas!!:biggrin:

Wish me luck!!:biggrin:


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## BradG (Dec 24, 2012)

:biggrin:

Couple of pointers for you:

clean the piece with alocohol if you have some DNA or isopropanol
put your vinyl stickers on, then pour boiling water over them ( dont dunk them in boiling water, just pour about a cup full over the piece)
Warm your ferric to around 35'c, and in an ideal world go up in your attic and raid those fish tanks for an air pump..  may even find a tank heater too. you really want to get some air in there otherwise youl have to stir the piece gently all the time lol.


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## gbpens (Dec 24, 2012)

A work of art done inmetal. The fact that it writes is only a side thought.


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## gwilki (Dec 24, 2012)

I need to get onto these threads sooner so that there are still some original compliments available to me.

This is simply outrageous, Brad! Saying "kitless" in your description of it is taking under statement to an art.


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## skiprat (Dec 24, 2012)

BradG said:


> :biggrin:
> 
> Couple of pointers for you:
> 
> ...


 

Thanks for the tips Brad!! They are appreciated.

Heater......check:wink:
Bubble agitator.......check:wink:
Isopropyl Alcohol.......check:wink:
Video Tutorial with dodgey character narating.........check:laugh:

I decided I'll try it out using a 'water bath' method first. The heater will heat up the water in the tank and thus the bottle (coffee jar)of Ferric Chloride.


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## BradG (Dec 24, 2012)

im looking forward to seeing your results :biggrin:


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## Jim Smith (Dec 24, 2012)

Brad,

You have certainly raised the level of pen making to a new level.  While I've only been a member here on IAP for three years or so, I've noticed a quantum leap in the pen making abilities of many of the members here.  Where a nicely done kit pen used to be amazing, the number of people now making beautiful kitless pens and custom pens like what you're doing is growing so fast, it's sometimes difficult to keep up with.  Beautiful work!!!  Thank you (and all the other gifted artists here) for sharing your talent, knowledge, and techniques.

Jim Smith


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## BradG (Dec 24, 2012)

Thanks Grant, Jim for your kind words.


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## BradG (Dec 27, 2012)

Steve,,,,, *drums fingers* .. show your stainless off :biggrin:


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## skiprat (Dec 27, 2012)

Well Brad, sort of successful, I guess. I'm pleased with the 'process' and the 'finish' is exactly what I was hoping for. My own 'technique' on the other hand needs a lot of tweaking and it can only get better.
The heater was a dud and so no heat. 
This peice was left in the cold solution for about an hour. 
I mixed the 2 x 250ml bottles with water to make a litre of juice. 
The kiddies craft stickers didn't like the Isopropanal or the hot water and the piece most definitely had fingerprints all over it by the time I re-did it.
The juice leaked under the tape masking. ( probably cos of the fingerprints )


Here is the result of my quick test piece. 

So......good result actually. I'm sure if I make more effort to be careful then it will work perfectly. 

I'm thinking of trying a different method of masking. What do you think of something like paint or nail varnish as a mask and then remove the stickers before etching?


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## BradG (Dec 27, 2012)

skiprat said:


> Well Brad, sort of successful, I guess. I'm pleased with the 'process' and the 'finish' is exactly what I was hoping for. My own 'technique' on the other hand needs a lot of tweaking and it can only get better.
> The heater was a dud and so no heat.
> This peice was left in the cold solution for about an hour.
> I mixed the 2 x 250ml bottles with water to make a litre of juice.
> ...


 

Thats a good crack for your first go, nicely done.  With regards to other masks and things all i can say is give it a try, as i dont want to sit here saying that wont work, and neither will that just because it didnt work for me. I tried something similar to nail polish, though i found it difficult painting over my mask and then removing the mask keeping a neat straight line without the edge of the paint tearing , flaking, stretching etc. I can post you some of my spare vinyl stickers to play with if you like? at least that way you can see and feel what sort of vinyl im referring to. its pretty tough durable stuff ... my honest opinion would be rather than trying to reinvent the mask, rather try a different type of vinyl to find one which works for you... EG the stuff used for sign writing, oppose to stickers sold as decals etc.


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## skiprat (Dec 27, 2012)

I had similar thoughts about the edges staying sharp if I used nail varnish or paint and the fact that you've tried it and moved on, is good enough for me not to bother. 
Thanks for the offer of the vinyl, but let me have another go with the stickers again, but this time I'll take much more care with the cleaning etc.:redface:
When you get your own vinyl cutter, I'll be your first customer:biggrin:

Thanks again for the great intoduction to this. :biggrin: I had almost given up on the idea until you showed it works on stainless too.. :wink:


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## BradG (Dec 27, 2012)

yep plays a key point to stop it getting under the edges as you found out.... though so does the boiling water to in effect shrinkwrap the piece with the plastic vinyl.. if the stickers you have wont hold up to the bopiling water, i suspect you will continue to get the issue you have found.

Watch your patterns too if your only going for getting the pattern ont he piece and not going for depth of the etch you will be fine. if you decide you want to etch to some depth, like 0.25mm+ then you will have to watch your patterns to make sure the lines are not thin. I could see the stickers your using being a PITA. Reason being what you are diong is called Isotropic etching.. which means it etches in all directions, not just down, but sideways too eating its way into the metal what is supporting the mask.

under normal circumstances its fine.. it just means you have a curved wall going on underneith the surface of your pattern like this, and it doesnt cause a problem:





The problem you get, is when there is a thin line and the etchant eats the metal away from both sides!

If the line is too thin, the wall supporting your mask literally dissolves. It doesnt fail because the acid got underneith the mask, its because the ground was eaten away from beneath it.


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## wizard (Dec 27, 2012)

*Beautiful !!*

Brad..Jeez..Can't leave you alone for even a few days...without you coming up with another gorgeous piece of art! And that is a *beautiful* pen ...very imaginative, creative and lol...a flagrant display of technical excellence!!! I love it !!!


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## BradG (Dec 27, 2012)

lol thanks Doc


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## walshjp17 (Dec 27, 2012)

Looking at this terrific pen gave me "ankh-gst" :wink: wishing I had the skills to recreate such a masterpiece.  Yet another PMG-worthy effort.  Well done, sir, well done.


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## Robert111 (Dec 27, 2012)

Amazing art!


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## jttheclockman (Dec 27, 2012)

OK something for the judges to think about when it comes time for the BASH. Where does Brads great pens enter????  Tough to beat. :biggrin:


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## mredburn (Dec 27, 2012)

Free style


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## BradG (Dec 28, 2012)

Freestyle? but thats where all the top pen turners submit their entries i dont want to be in that category lol compitition's too tough! Remembering the rules from last year, the intermediate category didnt allow lasers and other cnc machines but mentions nothing on etching! :biggrin: found my category lol


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## BradG (Dec 28, 2012)

THOUGH..... i do have a rather special and rather different pen in mind for the freestyle category  haha. excited about making it just thinking about it..... time to get the big black curtain out so no one can see what im making in the lab :tongue:


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## mredburn (Dec 28, 2012)

I was going to say "wuss"  or the English equivalent on your side of the pond but I see you have already  started the design challenge part of it.  LOL We are planning a get together and have a go at it following the first of the year if anyone wants to join us.  I had better get the mixture made up. I take it that it takes a day or so to dissolve everything.


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## BradG (Dec 28, 2012)

ish.. a few hours and the bulk of it will be dissolved


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## jttheclockman (Dec 28, 2012)

Maybe we need to add a new catagory, Pen Chemistry.


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## mredburn (Dec 28, 2012)

think I need more than teaspoon of powdered copper for it to work?


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## BradG (Dec 28, 2012)

hell put 4 in if you have plenty spare  its not something you can put too much of it in. I would say make sure the solutions warm when your using it (30 - 35'C)  but im guessing your weather is a bit more aiding than ours!


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## mredburn (Dec 28, 2012)

I have a few lbs of the stuff.  I may have to heat it in a pyrex container to help it disolve it, it is winter here and tempetures have dropped to 12' C at night and only hit 21'c daily. In summer we get to 35'c + all the time


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## BradG (Dec 28, 2012)

only... lol.. we are borderline freezing conditions. although unusually mild at the moment.  just put it out during the day and it will all dissolve just fine. it will dissolve at room temperature, it just takes a little longer


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## mredburn (Dec 28, 2012)

I can be so dense some days...... its a 100 grams or a little over 3 ounces Im thinking  pounds and ordered a 5lb bag of citric acid.   I may have a lifetime supply.:tongue::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:


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## BradG (Dec 28, 2012)

LOL.. erm well at least USA members know who to contact if they want to buy any Citric :biggrin:


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## mredburn (Dec 28, 2012)

maybe my wife can use it to make lemon cookies or something.


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## BradG (Dec 28, 2012)

Well rather that than its other uses :biggrin: I always feel shady having to ask the chemist if i can buy all of the citirc acid they have in stock (They keep it behind the counter in the UK) I get a very suspicious look and have to explain my intentions, though luckily my local chmist knows me now


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## BradG (Dec 28, 2012)

lol i have visions of Mike being raided by the DEA now for ordering 5lbs of citric acid on the internet :biggrin:


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## mredburn (Dec 28, 2012)

I have  a friend that works for the DEA  lol


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## mredburn (Dec 28, 2012)

Just made up a double batch Yum yum.  Powdered copper floats.


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## mredburn (Dec 28, 2012)

The ferric acid I bought was 42 percent. I just used it straight out of the bottle. according to my math your final solution was at 49 percent. If it doesnt work well I may leave it open to the air for a couple of days to let the water evaporate. Heating would probably help also.  I may have to go find a heater if we try and etch next week. WInter tempetures and all that.


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## mredburn (Dec 28, 2012)

I made up 2 qts in a Sterlite ultra seal pitcher available from Target stores that has a snap on lid with silicone seal. They also work well for storing PR from 5 gallon cans.  For any one that wants to try them.
Sterilite pitcher at Target


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## Wright (Dec 28, 2012)

Brad, that is work of beauty! You have raised the bar for sure.


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## BradG (Dec 28, 2012)

Sounds ideal Mike, cant see the strengh of your ferric making a difference


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