# no clowns were harmed...



## paintspill (Oct 7, 2012)

no clowns were harmed in the making of this sketch pencil, although it looked like one exploded on my lathe, not sure what its made of, i have to go look that up, but it was soft and turned like butter. was fantastic to work with, because it was soft it didn't polish up as shiny as an acrylic, but turned fast and looks and feels cool. might do a series of these.


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## longbeard (Oct 7, 2012)

Looks like explosion blank to me. Like what elmostro sells, and ernie at beartoothwoods. I turned a red & white one, the finish on yours looks like the finish on mine. JMO though.

You done a great job on yours, looks good with the hardware.


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## toyotaman (Oct 7, 2012)

WOW. Now those are some awesome colors. Where did you come up with a blank like that?


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## longbeard (Oct 7, 2012)

Looks like this one maybe?

Bear Tooth Woods - Groovy Explosion Acrylic Pen Blank


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## paintspill (Oct 7, 2012)

yep thats the one. different supplier though, but i think its the same maker. i was looking for him on here but i guess he goes by a different name.


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## paintspill (Oct 7, 2012)

yes its elmostro for sure, just checked. there is a supplier here in canada that carries his blanks. definitely getting some more,.


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## mrcook4570 (Oct 7, 2012)

Pretty wild blank.  Nice work!


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## longbeard (Oct 7, 2012)

They turn like butter, but for the life of me, cant figure out what its made of.
To me, when im turning one, almost smells like an auto body shop to me, but i just cant place that smell. It's not a bad smell though.


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## paintspill (Oct 7, 2012)

was thinking the same thing harry. the site i buy from says acrylic, but i've turned many acrylics, and they are hard and have a tendency to chatter. this is softer. but i like it


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## longbeard (Oct 7, 2012)

Is it my sniffer or does smell like a body shop, where they use the auto body filler.
Now it's been awhile since i have been in a body shop, but that was the first thing that came to mind when i smelled it.


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## crabcreekind (Oct 7, 2012)

Great pen. Actually, I just turned a alumilite blank, from jeff powell. And I turned it carefully with a skew at the end, so there wasnt any stratches. Then went straight to micro mesh. I was pretty rough withthe first 3 pads, and then a couple plastic polishes. It turned out as shiny as all the other acrylic pens I make.


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## Buzzzz4 (Oct 7, 2012)

Looks great! 

As far as I know, ElMostro has always done Alumilite which could fall under the umbrella of acrylic. Most of the time you can get a decent shine out of Alumilite, but if you do run into one that just won't shine up for you, you can always top it with a CA finish for a brilliant shine.


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## Russianwolf (Oct 7, 2012)

This should make it perfectly clear.

http://www.penturners.org/forum/f165/mutts-back-99711/


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## alamocdc (Oct 7, 2012)

longbeard said:


> Is it my sniffer or does smell like a body shop, where they use the auto body filler.
> Now it's been awhile since i have been in a body shop, but that was the first thing that came to mind when i smelled it.


 
I've seen similar looking materials made up from layers of auto paint. Not saying that's what this is, just that it exists.


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## toyotaman (Oct 8, 2012)

Just throwing something out there but could it be Polymer Clay ??


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## rizaydog (Oct 8, 2012)

Very nice pen.  It's an attention getter.


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## SDB777 (Oct 8, 2012)

That's some color right there!!!


You could always save the lathe scrapings and glue the stuff to tubes and cast in clear PR too!!!







Scott (nicely done) B


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## PTsideshow (Oct 8, 2012)

alamocdc said:


> I've seen similar looking materials made up from layers of auto paint. Not saying that's what this is, just that it exists.



Being in and around Detroit, back in the 60's one of the members of the local gem and mineral group was a painter for Ford, that was when they did it the old fashion way with a human, spray gun and the hard lacquer paint. The frame carts that the bodies were painted on had to be cleaned every so often as the paint build up would get an 1"or 2" thick. He would bring out the chunks, as they used muffler chisels to chip it off. Think of Spectra -ply multi colored wood blanks.

He made lapidary style cabs, bolo slides etc. he also sold the rough by the pound at the local rock shows. It was .25 to.75¢ a pound. He called it Mustang agate. Depending on the color layers some was great looking and some were not so good. 

Last year a member of the local group sold a couple of small sections he had it was by the ounce and was a couple bucks per ounce, man who knew. In the late 60's/early 70's people from Chevy and Dodge were selling it to.

Since they switched to a form of electrostatic application of the paint and dipping. the collection and cleaning of the racking system has been eliminated. :frown:

It really would make interesting pens, if you had pieces large enough to tun through the layers.
:clown:


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## DaveM (Oct 9, 2012)

"Fordite" is another nickname for the auto paint.  Mostly from the RR plant.  Cool stuff, but I don't think you would ever find a chunk big enough for a pen.  IIRC, it was a bit tricky to shape too, due to its layered nature.  Sure is pretty though.

Not sure what the pen is made of, but I turned alumilite once, and I thought the smell reminded me of primer!

Great looking pen though.  I may have to look into those blanks.


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## ElMostro (Oct 10, 2012)

Woaa, I almost missed this one.  That is a beautiful pencil and the kit really shows off the blank.  The blank is from my "Color Explosion" line and it was what I came up with while attempting to duplicate "Fordite" (http://www.fordite.com/). The blanks are made of alumilite with several types of dyes and pigments.  The best way to finish this blank is once you are done turning wet sand with MM with the lathe running at high speed, (start with whatever grit removes all the tool marks for you, I start at 3600) before you move to the next grit, stop the lathe and sand lengthwise with the same grit while hand turning the lathe then continue to wet sand up to 12000.  You can also apply some Novus 2 for a final polish.  The key is to make sure you start sanding with the grit that removes ALL the tool marks.  

The pen below is made from the same material and was wet sanded to 12000 MM, I did not apply Novus to this one.





Again, beautiful pencil and thanks for sharing.

Eugene.


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## paintspill (Oct 10, 2012)

there you go all. it pays to go to the source. thanks eugene


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## plantman (Oct 10, 2012)

Marc; Reminds me of some Rembrant Tulips I have in my flower beds. You never know what combination of color they will be, but they are all one of a kind works of art. Very colorful !! Jim S


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## Andrew_K99 (Oct 10, 2012)

Cool blank, it could be your signature blank based on your IAP name.

AK


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## paintspill (Oct 10, 2012)

crap, i never even thought of that. might have to start selling them at work.



Andrew_K99 said:


> Cool blank, it could be your signature blank based on your IAP name.
> 
> AK


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## Kretzky (Oct 10, 2012)

Cool pen, colours are amazing, sometimes thigs just.... work.
Great job.
David


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## jeff (Oct 15, 2012)

A very colorful addition to the front page :biggrin:


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## paintspill (Oct 15, 2012)

holy crap holy crap holy crap, i almost fell off my chair when i got home today and opened this page, to see something i turned as the feature photo, i would have never dreamed of it. thats a lie, i dream of it all the time. i just never thought it would happen. thank you whoever is responsible , i think its jeff. thank you thank you.
sorry i feel like a kid all of a sudden.


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## Jjartwood (Oct 15, 2012)

I Love that pen!!!!!
I keep looking at it and can't wrap my mind around it,Congrats on the front page!!
Mark


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## ElMostro (Oct 15, 2012)

Congratulations on making the Cover page!
Eugene.


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## Lenny (Oct 15, 2012)

Congratulations on a well deserved front page honor!


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## D.Oliver (Oct 16, 2012)

Congrats Marc. Now go get started on your _*second*_ front page pen!


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## paintspill (Oct 16, 2012)

I don't think my heart could take a second cover photo. :doctor:




D.Oliver said:


> Congrats Marc. Now go get started on your _*second*_ front page pen!


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## johncrane (Oct 16, 2012)

Looks great on the front page Congrats Marc! :biggrin:


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