# Maple and Purpleheart Celtic Cross



## Ron in Drums PA (Oct 23, 2005)

Comments welcomed


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## wdcav1952 (Oct 23, 2005)

Is speechless OK?  That is simply beautiful.


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## Ligget (Oct 23, 2005)

WOW, now that is amazing!!
Absolutely brilliant work Ron![][]


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## fritzmccorkle (Oct 23, 2005)

that is really nice looking.  wow!!


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## gerryr (Oct 23, 2005)

Great work.


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## rtjw (Oct 23, 2005)

The colors are fantastic. Great job.


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## Murphy (Oct 23, 2005)

Wow, that is amazing!!![]
You guys are starting to scare me.  I thought I was the only one who lies awake at night thinking of the pens I will make tomorrow.[]


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## GregD (Oct 23, 2005)

WOW, great pen. I like the celtic cross. It looks almost like it's 3D


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## Rifleman1776 (Oct 23, 2005)

Truly unique. And the craftmanship is outstanding. Hard to describe the effect it had on me. Definately a high dollar item. I put the picture into a photo program to enlarge because I wanted to see that shadow, or shading, effect in more detail. Wow! [:0]  Howdjadodat? [?][?] And the weaving effect is also very impressive. I like the natural elegance of maple. Believe that is a much overlooked wood by the bunch here. You mated it with a beautiful color contrast in the purpleheart. Mucho kudos.


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## arjudy (Oct 23, 2005)

Very nice. Do you have a picture of the blank before turning?


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## Jim Boyd (Oct 23, 2005)

I noticed the shading right off too. Howdjadodat[?][]


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## Deere41h (Oct 23, 2005)

Ron.....That is beautiful.  I love the way it turned out.  The two colors with the shading complement each other so well.  Thanks for sharing it with us.


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## jvsank (Oct 23, 2005)

Very nice job, Ron


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## Ron in Drums PA (Oct 23, 2005)

Wow! Thanks for all the compliments everyone.

Frank, maple has always been my favorite wood, this blank started out as birdeye maple, but every eye turned away. Bummer!

arjudy, sorry I don't have a photo of the blank before turning. I should start doing that.

I used an old tool I had hanging around the shop
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Propane Torch.

But be careful doing this.


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## Mudder (Oct 23, 2005)

Very nice work Ron.

I also like the shadow effect that you created and was surprised on how it was created.


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## DWK5150 (Oct 23, 2005)

Very nice I like it!!


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## alamocdc (Oct 23, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Ron in Drums PA_
> <br />I used an old tool I had... Propane Torch.
> 
> But be careful doing this.



You can also heat sand in a small pot and not have to be quite so careful. Dip and hold the edges into the sand for a few seconds and check progress.

BTW, beautiful pen, Ron!![^]


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## Ron in Drums PA (Oct 23, 2005)

> _Originally posted by alamocdc_
> You can also heat sand in a small pot and not have to be quite so careful. Dip and hold the edges into the sand for a few seconds and check progress.



That is the way I do it in marquetry. It didn't work well for this project.
In marquetry you are only tarnishing a small section and only an edge. On this I had to burn a flat side and the wood would curl by the time it was "black" enough, then crack when flattening out.


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## woodscavenger (Oct 23, 2005)

That is drop dead awesome!  I like the steep angle and the shadow effect.  Well done.  Now just perfect a wood nib and I will have to quit this stuff.


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## swm6500 (Oct 23, 2005)

Wow Ron, I like the looks of that.


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## Darley (Oct 23, 2005)

Awesome pen Ron, did you have any bleeding of the PH on to the Maple? and how many sides your blank have 6 or 8?


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## Randy_ (Oct 23, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Darley_<br />Awesome pen Ron, did you have any bleeding of the PH on to the Maple? and how many sides your blank have 6 or 8?



I was wondering the same thing??  Looks like it might be 6.  Great job, Ron!!


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## BigRob777 (Oct 24, 2005)

Ron,
Wow, that is awesome.  The colors are perfect together.
Rob in Delaware


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## wicook (Oct 24, 2005)

Verrry nice, Ron! That's simply a gorgeous pen. []


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## Ron in Drums PA (Oct 24, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Darley_
> <br />Awesome pen Ron, did you have any bleeding of the PH on to the Maple?



No I didn't have any problems with bleeding. I was more concerned with the "burnt" wood staining the light maple then the purpleheart.

As soon as I was finished with the turning and before I started sanding, I used a 1# cut of super blonde dewaxed shellac and applied it as a friction polish. On coarser grits I applied this twice, once before and the second time in the middle of sanding. On the finer grits I just applied the shellac before sanding.



> _Originally posted by Darley_
> <br />how many sides your blank have 6 or 8?




This pen has six sides. The cigar pen has 8.




> _Originally posted by woodscavenger_
> <br />That is drop dead awesome!  I like the steep angle and the shadow effect.  Well done.  Now just perfect a wood nib and I will have to quit this stuff.



Any suggestions on how I can perfect a nib? I'm opened to new ideas.


Thanks Again Everyone


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## nilsatcraft (Oct 24, 2005)

Totally Awesome!


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## jhinze (Oct 24, 2005)

I have never seen the like. That is absolutely incredible. Celtic knot work is some of my favorite art, hell I have a nice knot tatooed on my calf.

I WANT ONE!

Now I'm going to be destroying pen blanks trying to do one like it... better get out my college trig/geometry book [8D]


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## Randy_ (Oct 25, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Ron in Drums PA_
> <br />...This pen has six sides. The cigar pen has 8....



Did I miss something, Ron?  Is there a picture of the cigar pen somewhere??


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## Ron in Drums PA (Oct 25, 2005)

Here you go Randy

http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10059


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## JimGo (Oct 25, 2005)

OK Ron, when are you gonna share how you did it!?!?!  This is beautiful!


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## darbytee (Oct 25, 2005)

Another awesome lamination Ron. I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out how you did this one. Maybe I just need to take up knitting[].


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## Ron in Drums PA (Oct 25, 2005)

> _JimGo Said
> OK Ron, when are you gonna share how you did it!?!?! This is beautiful!_




Yes I am, have patience. Between being swamped at work, keeping up with two teenagers' activities, a long honey-do list, trying to get some turning in-between, I haven't had much time to finish up the article. There is a step to step procedure on how to do it right.


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## Dominic Greco (Oct 25, 2005)

Ron,
I was pretty floored when I saw this. You've really come up with a stunning technique. I can't wait to read the article. 

I'd love to apply that technique to a peppermill!


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## JimGo (Oct 25, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Ron in Drums PA_
> <br />
> Yes I am, have patience.


Sorry Ron, I live in the DC metro region, one of the most congested in the country.  The up-side is that we have access to just about anything we want, basically on demand.  Patience isn't something usually found around here!

All kidding aside, I know how hectic life can be, and I appreciate you taking the time to write it all up.


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## Travlr7 (Oct 25, 2005)

That turned out VERY NICE, Ron.

The Maple and Purpleheart look very good together, as does your workmanship. 

Bruce[]


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## Randy_ (Oct 26, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Ron in Drums PA_
> <br />Here you go Randy



Thanks, Ron.  Nice variation.  I still like the 22.5Â° cut best; but all of them are excellent!!


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## Thumbs (Oct 26, 2005)

Beautiful work, Ron! Tastefully done laminations![]


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## Dan (Oct 29, 2005)

Incredible work Ron, I hope you'll take the time to tell us how you do your inlays.  You have a real talent that advances the state of the craft.  The precision is mind numbing and your beautiful designs are awe inspiring.

I raise my glass to a master craftsman.

Dan


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