# firefighter pen clip?



## bloodhound (Aug 10, 2015)

Hello guys and gals. I have a customer that wants a pen for her brother that just passed his firefighter tests. She wants a firefighter clip on it. The blank will be from a maple branch from her fathers house. But the catch for me seems to be is she wants to use the Gatsby pen kit. But looking at the ONLY site i can find with a firefighter clip. The clip is for the Designer style kit. 

So, my question is, is there anyone else that anyone knows of that makes a firefighter clip? Or do you think i can make that clip work on the Gatsby kit?

Thanks for your help.
Bill


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## larryc (Aug 10, 2015)

Not a clip but an alternative.


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## magpens (Aug 10, 2015)

Nice pen, Larry !! Is that an inlay blank, or did you put a decal on the blank ?

I have several firefighter friends who "need" pens and I've been thinking of pens like yours.


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## Wilross3 (Aug 10, 2015)

Fireman Badge Custom Clip

Is this  what you had in mind?

Bill


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## kenlholley (Aug 10, 2015)

I've used Wood Pen Pros firefighter clips and all who received them loved them.  The Firefighters got the silver clips because their badges were silver.  The Captains got the gold ones to match their badges.


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## larryc (Aug 10, 2015)

magpens said:


> Nice pen, Larry !! Is that an inlay blank, or did you put a decal on the blank ?
> 
> I have several firefighter friends who "need" pens and I've been thinking of pens like yours.



It's a decal.
See: http://www.penturners.org/forum/f178/decal-questions-124535/#post1686967


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## bloodhound (Aug 11, 2015)

yes. that is the only clip i can find. but they  dont want the pen they say it works with. they want the gatsby pen. any idea if the clip will work with that pen?


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## bloodhound (Aug 11, 2015)

oh and yes larry. i will eventually get into the labels. but at the moment i dont have the equipment to do it. But thanks for the idea larry.


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## oneleggimp (Aug 11, 2015)

Not a clip but you might be able to get an inlay kit from Woodturningz.


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## Sabaharr (Aug 11, 2015)

Best Fire Rescue inlay blank by far is from Kalleshaan, I am selling them like hotcakes now. It is a beautiful Quilted maple barrel and 18 parts to the kit, easy to assemble, turn, and CA finish.


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## bloodhound (Aug 11, 2015)

I would do the inlay kits, however, I have to make the pen from a branch provided from their late fathers maple tree. So, the problem is she wants the exact pen from Larrys' pic a few posts above. but i dont know if he FF clip will work on that pen. But i may present her with another option. I need to contact Larry first. (and now to PM Larry)


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## KenV (Aug 11, 2015)

bloodhound said:


> yes. that is the only clip i can find. but they  dont want the pen they say it works with. they want the gatsby pen. any idea if the clip will work with that pen?




Not easily -- but if you are willing to invest time and effort ---  

I would not take it on personally as I expect several failures along the path


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## J Michael (Aug 11, 2015)

Don't know how feasible either one of these is in your case, but, I see a couple of approaches you could take:

BLANK: Contact Kallenshaan and see if they could laser out a firefighter blank for you using your wood.

 CLIP: Have her get a lapel pen from the FD that he is graduating from and have a jeweler attach it to the clip (maybe drill a small hole in the clip the diameter of the pin and silver solder it from the back of the clip?) Epoxy might work instead of the solder but I don't know if it would be as durable as the solder. OR, get the clip from Wood Pen Pro and have someone cut the ring off the back and solder the clip to a ring that would fit the Gatsby.


Anyway - that taps out my creative well for the day. Hope it gives you an idea you can work out something from.


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## Skie_M (Aug 11, 2015)

Or contact someone who can do the labels and ask if they could sell/give you one (or a few, just in case), of those decals to apply to the pen just before you finish it?


(I would get as far as "first application of CA" and then pause to apply the decal and SLOWLY apply a second coat while turning the blank by hand, then give it about 5 minutes to set before continuing...)

Beyond that, J Michael's ideas also look promising.


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## Chromey (Aug 11, 2015)

I have made several pens using a tie tack or lapel pin as described above. The silver solder did not work for me as the clip finish gets ruined by the heat. I use loctite epoxy and put a small hole in clip and sand/grind down clip and tack/pin for better adhesion. Bit fiddly but usually turns out well.


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## bloodhound (Aug 12, 2015)

Thank you all for your ideas. I have contacted Larry. He is willing to hook a brother up with a few labels. Thanks a ton Larry. And this will be my first label job.


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