# Segmented Wood and Plastic



## Jason Swanson (Apr 19, 2010)

Plastic and Gabon Ebony is a segmented pen that I was told wasn't possible (or very difficult). I took that as a dare and challenge. The 2 pen blanks it took to make one segmented blank are from Ed Brown of Exotic Blanks.com after asking him if anyone had ever tried segmenting his plastic blanks in the same fashion I segment wood (pie wedges or stave construction). The answer was no because the second plastic touches a rotating blade it chips. The plastic did chip a little, but once the blank was turned down to "pen size" the chipping was all gone in the form of skew shavings on the floor. The small insert on the cap took a few tries before making one that didn't blow up into little pieces. There is nothing in life that is impossible if you put your mind to it. Thanks Ed for daring me to try this - it was a fun challenge!


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## Mac (Apr 19, 2010)

I like.    I like a lot.....very good..


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## akbar24601 (Apr 20, 2010)

Great Job! That is a great looking pen and a fantastic segmenting job!!!


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## ldb2000 (Apr 20, 2010)

What Steve said . That really did come out great .


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## Jim15 (Apr 20, 2010)

Awesome work.


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## johncrane (Apr 20, 2010)

Excellent work Steve!


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## workinforwood (Apr 20, 2010)

That's a very cool looking pen Steve.


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## witz1976 (Apr 20, 2010)

very nice, great job in overcoming this challenge.


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## WIDirt (Apr 20, 2010)

Jason,

As my son would say, " That is really terrible! You better send it to me so no one else has to suffer with it! I don't mind taking one for the team!" :tongue:

So if you really need to get rid of it because all the people that posted above can't help you stop the suffering, PM me!

cdirto



P.S. The above statement is jest for any who aren't sure. All except the part about PMing me so I can have it! :biggrin:


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## avbill (Apr 20, 2010)

Great design!


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## Bree (Apr 20, 2010)

Doing the undoable!  Great job!
:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:


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## turbowagon (Apr 20, 2010)

Nice work!  You have to take risks to be innovative and it definitely paid off in this case.


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## Mark (Apr 20, 2010)

Jason, That is a great looking segmentation. Nicely Done...


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## PaulDoug (Apr 20, 2010)

That is beautiful.  I do not understand how you cut the pieces that small.  Bandsaw?


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## jskeen (Apr 20, 2010)

That is Beyond cool!  What two blanks did you start with?  Is the ebony precut veneer or do you cut and mill from solid stock?  What are you using to glue he wood to the PR?  How annoyed are you with all these questions by now   That is an excellent choice of colors, and a whole new area of segmenting to obsess over, and I can't even do wood well yet   Oh, one more.  What saw and blade are you using to cut your "staves"?  

Thanks
James


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## Oldwagon (Apr 20, 2010)

You do amazing work.Very nice.Todd


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## alphageek (Apr 20, 2010)

Holy cow thats cool Jason!   I would have agreed with Ed that making the 'staves' would have been the killer point.... Wicked work!  Congrats!   Very 'front page worthy' pen IMO!


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## pensmyth (Apr 20, 2010)

So, will we be seeing these blanks for sale soon on Exotics web site?


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## gvanweerd (Apr 20, 2010)

well done


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## ed4copies (Apr 20, 2010)

pensmyth said:


> So, will we be seeing these blanks for sale soon on Exotics web site?




Very likely!

Color choices????


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## rsmith (Apr 20, 2010)

> Color choices????


 
Ed, just have him make a bunch, send 'em to me, and i'll tell you what worked best:biggrin: Nice work Jason...


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## David Keller (Apr 20, 2010)

Nice looking pen with great segmenting.


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## Rfturner (Apr 20, 2010)

Nicely done, It is always fun to prove that something can be done


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## cinder_ladylocket (Apr 21, 2010)

Thats a great looking pen...now that you know you can do it.....I bet there is going to be no stopping you with designs!!! Can't wait!


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## Jason Swanson (Apr 22, 2010)

jskeen said:


> That is Beyond cool! What two blanks did you start with? Is the ebony precut veneer or do you cut and mill from solid stock? What are you using to glue he wood to the PR? How annoyed are you with all these questions by now  That is an excellent choice of colors, and a whole new area of segmenting to obsess over, and I can't even do wood well yet  Oh, one more. What saw and blade are you using to cut your "staves"?
> 
> Thanks
> James


Thanks for all the kind comments everyone! I don't know who "Steve" is, but I'm Jason and this is my pen. The pen blanks were chosen by Ed and I don't know what he calls them (help me out here Ed). The Ebony is shop made by me - I resaw my "thins" at .050" and sand them to .023" thick in my Performax Drum Sander. I use West Systems epoxy to hold the segments and thins together as well as to glue in the pen tubes. I set the angle of the dangle on my Unisaw with a Wixey Digital Angle Box and cut with a Forrest Woodworker II Thin Kerf blade. Sometime in the future I might offer these blanks for sale at exoticblanks.com but for now, this is a one-off.

Jason


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## wizard (Apr 22, 2010)

Beautiful job !!


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## jbostian (Apr 22, 2010)

Awesome pen.  

Jamie


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## Ankrom Exotics (Apr 22, 2010)

That is a sweet looking pen. Nicely done.


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## 1dweeb (May 1, 2010)

Great work. The blank is spectacular!


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## Grizz (May 1, 2010)

I normally don't like staved pens... but WOW I love this one.  Great work!


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