# playing around with desk displays



## stuckinohio (Jan 24, 2017)

I got some really nice curly maple a while ago and a friend wanted a desk display with matching pen. Came up with the large piece, then he also wanted a smaller piece for a tru-stone pen I made him.

The business card holders aren't fastened down yet an either of the pictures, so they might not be centered, FYI!.

The larger piece is finished in Wipe on Poly and it didn't seal in the color as much as I'd hoped. As a result the sides faded some and accentuated the lack of curl on the left side.

Used Arm-R-Seal for the smaller piece. I like this as a finish instead of the WOP. Seemed to lock in the color better. Better piece of wood also, with curl all over.

Lewis


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## Dan Masshardt (Jan 24, 2017)

Cool.  I need to mess around with some desk pieces as well.  


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## stuckinohio (Jan 24, 2017)

I've been enjoying it, but I couldn't previously do it because I had no router. I bought a router table setup and I'm going crazy with it. Doing a mockup of a multi pen display right now.

I know this is beginner stuff for lots of you, but this is a very big milestone for me!


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## thewishman (Jan 24, 2017)

Beautiful work. The coloring really makes the curls pop!


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## bobjackson (Jan 24, 2017)

Good job Lewis.


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## stuckinohio (Jan 24, 2017)

Thanks guys. I dye the whole thing black then sand back 3 times to get the nice coloring in the grain.


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## SteveAxelrod (Jan 24, 2017)

I like both designs. Nice job with the routing and dyeing...that grain really pops!


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## stuckinohio (Jan 24, 2017)

Thank you. This one was actually a mistake, as far as routing the pen slot goes! I set stops so the groove wouldn't go end to end but I made a slight mistake. Ended up going end to end to fix it and I like it. I have another one almost done where the groove is "correct" and only 3/4ths the length or so. Booth look good, so I don't know what I prefer!

Lewis


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## Phillip Kelley (Jan 24, 2017)

Nice!  Where did u find the card holders?


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## stuckinohio (Jan 24, 2017)

Penn state. They are very nice.
https://www.pennstateind.com/store/DABCH1.html


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## jttheclockman (Jan 24, 2017)

You need to enter the pen stand contest in the Bash so get your thinking hat on and save one for that. We need the entries.


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## stuckinohio (Jan 24, 2017)

Thinking cap isn't my strong point!


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## m4skinner (Jan 25, 2017)

very nice


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## MDWine (Jan 25, 2017)

I am particularly fond of maple, and those are very nice chunks of wood!!
Nicely done sir.


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## stuckinohio (Jan 25, 2017)

Thanks guys. I appreciate it!


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## mark james (Jan 25, 2017)

I have been using the WOP as a pen finish, and recently have been dissatisfied with the results.  I'm curious if you (or anyone else) have used the Arm-R-Seal as a pen finish?

Love the stands!


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## stuckinohio (Jan 26, 2017)

I just used Arm-R-Seal on a curly maple pencil that is a gift for my woodworking "mentor" who lets me use his sanders sometimes and router before I got mine. I think I could have got a little more shine out of it, like I did with the desk display. I think he will enjoy the utilitarian finish though. He uses Arm-R-Seal on a lot of stuff he builds. he's a cabinet maker and all around wood worker.
It's very easy and if you like a more matte finish it's perfect. The problem I have with it is the time involved. I'm impatient. It takes several hours between coats to dry.
I tried the dip method with WOP and it came out OK. Felt like I needed to sand after to smooth it out some, so when I did I dulled the finish. Still looked nice but wasn't what I was after.
It's hard to be CA finish for me.
I know, it looks like there's slight bow in the pen body, but I put a straight edge on it and it's very close to perfect...Only see it in that picture!


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## Chatham PenWorks (Feb 12, 2017)

stuckinohio said:


> Thank you. This one was actually a mistake, as far as routing the pen slot goes! I set stops so the groove wouldn't go end to end but I made a slight mistake. Ended up going end to end to fix it and I like it. I have another one almost done where the groove is "correct" and only 3/4ths the length or so. Booth look good, so I don't know what I prefer!
> 
> Lewis





One of the things I really like about is the full length slot. I did guess you'd arrived at that design by way of a stop oops. [emoji16]


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## magpens (Feb 12, 2017)

Great work, Lewis !!!!


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## stuckinohio (Feb 12, 2017)

Thank you everyone!


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