# A very special pen for a special person



## RodNeep (Mar 10, 2011)

A very special pen....

Starting with some of my favourite soapstone from Kenya, mounted into a pen blank chuck from Jim at Pencrafts. These chucks are really excellent, and this particular job couldn't have been done without one.

First we drill the "small" hole... 15/32" in the long tube.






Next onto the short blank, and the big hole. First a 7mm pilot hole
and then the big drill mounted and ready to go...






Done.... and not a lot of wall thickness remaining after drilling out with the 37/64" drill. 






This is the other end of the hole. No break out thankfully!
The drilling job would not have been possible without that pen blank chuck.






Next... those big tubes glued in with thick CA.






Mounted on a mandrel, and sitting on part open vice cheeks, while I use a big coarse rasp to remove the corners. 






There's no sense in slowly turning the blanks round, when you can take off bulk stone with the rasp, getting them roughly round. And here they are mounted on the lathe _before_ turning.






Turning the soapstone (I use a gouge) is now pretty easy. Sand, and then micromesh, and a final polish on the lathe, and soon assembly is under way....






And all done...





















Detail of the ends
















Alas, I no longer have this pen to hold. It is already in London, along with three other pens.






The recipient is a young man who, like me, has spent quite a lot of time in Kenya. It was there that he became engaged. So I thought that pens made of Kenyan stone would be appropriate. There's an every day use ballpoint pen for him and his bride to be, a desk fountain pen in the same stone, and lastly, an identical fountain pen made of ivory polyester. A wedding pen.

His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton will be married on Friday 29th April this year.

This is the wedding pen in more detail...
















Actually, I made two of these...





It is a really big pen!
Seen here against a normal fountain pen for comparison.






I had a lovely letter of thanks back from the palace too. 

Rod


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## PTownSubbie (Mar 10, 2011)

Rod,

Beautiful pens and an even better story!!

Congratulations for being part of such an event!


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## Atherton Pens (Mar 10, 2011)

WOW... That is so very cool!  I'm sure, we across the pond can't imagine what it must mean to offer such a fine gift for the Royals.
Congratulations.


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## philb (Mar 10, 2011)

Looking good Rod!

How did you manage to get a contact down at the Palace!!

PHIL


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## Richard Gibson (Mar 10, 2011)

really kewl   Beautiful work.


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## RodNeep (Mar 10, 2011)

> How did you manage to get a contact down at the Palace!!



I just sent the pens in the post! 
Hoping that they would be accepted... and they were!!!

Rod


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## crabcreekind (Mar 10, 2011)

gorgeous pens! I love the soap stone it is has a amazing pattern.


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## Edward Cypher (Mar 10, 2011)

WOW very cool.  The pens are very elegant but the story is amazing.


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## nativewooder (Mar 10, 2011)

Very elegant pens.  Top-of-the-Line Penmanship!!


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## Katsin (Mar 10, 2011)

Beautiful pens! Quite up to the task of signing some royal documents.


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## Lee K (Mar 10, 2011)

Now Rod, thats an amazingly cool story.  Those are fabulous pens and its quite the honor!


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## johncrane (Mar 10, 2011)

Great looking pens Rod!


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## boxerman (Mar 10, 2011)

Very nice pens and pictures. And thanks for showing how you done them.


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## bricketts528 (Mar 10, 2011)

They are fine looking pens!  The Royals will love them!


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## Jim15 (Mar 10, 2011)

Those are awesome pens.


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## IPD_Mrs (Mar 10, 2011)

What a wonderful story and a generous gift.  You have a good heart Rod.  The pens are beautiful - all of them.  It was also nice of  you to post your method of turning these stones here for all of us!


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## RodNeep (Mar 11, 2011)

Many thanks for all your kind comments, folks.
Much appreciated!

Regards
Rod


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## Hubert H (Mar 11, 2011)

I'm a wood person - only wood, BUT those pens are very elegant and I can't think of anyone, including the Royal's who wouldn't be very happy with them.  NICE - really nice.


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## Rangertrek (Mar 11, 2011)

Elegant work, love the soap stone (need to try that myself) and great story and some "bragging rights".


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## johnspensandmore (Mar 11, 2011)

Beautiful pens and great work! I love the soapstone! Can you share where you get it?


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## broitblat (Mar 11, 2011)

Beautiful pens (love the stone) and a great pictorial.  Thanks.

  -Barry


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## greggas (Mar 11, 2011)

Rod;

Great post...interesting to see how you handled the stone and great story too.

Very unique stone...is it hard to come by?


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## markgum (Mar 11, 2011)

beautiful work.


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## RodNeep (Mar 12, 2011)

hubert said:


> I'm a wood person - only wood, BUT those pens are very elegant and I can't think of anyone, including the Royal's who wouldn't be very happy with them.  NICE - really nice.



:wink: I am very much a "wood" person too, and very, very rarely use plastics.
But I would always be happy to make the exception with stone, which is another natural material. It is gorgeous stuff to work with, and always produces a superb result.

Cheers
Rod


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## RodNeep (Mar 12, 2011)

johnspensandmore said:


> Beautiful pens and great work! I love the soapstone! Can you share where you get it?



I have visted Kenya many times, and I have a contact there who lives in the tiny village where they dig it out of a hole in the ground. 






The "problem" with soapstone is that it varies a lot. This stuff from Kenya is quite hard, which is a good thing for turning and polishing. You can't scratch it with a fingernail. I have tried stone from the USA, Australia and Canada which is much softer. I would note also that some of the soapstone from California also contains some asbestos, and that isn't good to turn with.

My contact in Kenya sends me 20 pieces at a time, with different colours and patterns. The main problem is that although it is cheap to buy (about $1.50 per blank) it is expensive to ship due to its weight. Very expensive! Which puts the cost up to around $7.50 per blank. 

Personally, I think that it is worth it! In fact, the pen that I use myself on a daily basis is a stone pen with a mixture of greys and reds, and even has some small grains of gold included!

















Regards
Rod


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## wizard (Mar 12, 2011)

Absolutely beautiful!! Thanks so much for sharing and all the instructional pictures! Regards, Doc


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