# Stencil Carved Core



## Ed McDonnell (Mar 17, 2012)

Another experiment as I continue down the carving path.  This cast carved core pen was inspired by a Stencil pattern that I liked.  Black PR core was carved.  The carved areas were painted with gold paint.  The carved painted core was cast in clear PR and turned to final shape.  All comments and critiques are welcome.   I like the pen, my wife didn't have much to say about it, which usually indicates something may be not quite right but she doesn't want to hurt my feelings.  Brutal honesty greatly appreciated in any comments you care to offer here.  You won't hurt my feelings.

Ed


----------



## OLDMAN5050 (Mar 17, 2012)

WOW....


----------



## Dutra (Mar 17, 2012)

I am definitely a fan...


----------



## mwhatch (Mar 17, 2012)

Just beautiful. How are you carving them?

Morton


----------



## fiferb (Mar 17, 2012)

That is stunning! Since you asked for it, the only thing I can see is the gold looks a bit rough in some of the larger areas. When I think gold, I think very smooth and shiny.

I love it and you've given me some ideas.


----------



## Robert111 (Mar 17, 2012)

I like it and really respect your skill. I think I'd like to see the carved areas reduced and maybe curving around the pen in a serpentine way. 

But beautiful work!


----------



## Ed McDonnell (Mar 17, 2012)

Thanks for all the comments.

Morton - I built a digital ornamental lathe last year to add embellishments to my larger wood turnings.  It can work on pieces up to 14" diameter and 25" long.  Decided to try it out with some carving on pens.  Kind of overkill for a pen, but it seems to work.

Bruce - Good catch.  I was really anxious to see how this pen looked finished.  I didn't want to clear cast it until the paint was completely dry.  So, I had the bright idea of putting the painted core under vacuum to force dry it.  It dried it really fast, but it bubbled up the paint.  Even without the vacuum mishap, I don't think paint would ever look like real gold.  I thought about gold leafing it, but the carved areas are so small I don't think it would be practical.  My next thought is to use a two part metal reactive paint and build up the paint coats flush with the non-carved surface.  When polished the two part metal paint looks like real metal (smooth and very shiny).  I would have to use brass or copper though.  Real gold isn't in the play budget.

Robert - Serpentine curved carving!  I like it.  It's added to my list of things to try next.  Thanks for the idea.

Ed


----------



## johncrane (Mar 17, 2012)

Well done looks really good,


----------



## thewishman (Mar 17, 2012)

fiferb said:


> That is stunning!



Amen to that!:good::good:

The detail is amazing and the colors are striking. That is a lot of detail in a very small pen.


----------



## low_48 (Mar 17, 2012)

I like it a lot. Must have been a really small cutter, I can't see much radius in the work. Huge run time? Very nice!


----------



## Brooks803 (Mar 17, 2012)

I think it's cool as hell!


----------



## FireMedic4Christ (Mar 17, 2012)

parklandturner said:


> Thanks for all the comments.
> 
> Morton - I built a digital ornamental lathe last year to add embellishments to my larger wood turnings.
> Ed


 
I would love to see pictures of the ornamental lathe. Did you use your own design or build from a kit?

Brian


----------



## Ed McDonnell (Mar 17, 2012)

low_48 said:


> I like it a lot. Must have been a really small cutter, I can't see much radius in the work. Huge run time? Very nice!



Hi low_48 - Job was done with a 30 degree engraving cutter with a 0.003" tip.  Capable of a pretty good level of shallow detail (0.005" to 0.010" depth of cut depending on what I'm doing) without being so fragile it breaks if somebody in the neighborhood sneezes.  It took about 40 minutes on the DOL (aka Digital Ornamental Lathe).

Ed


----------



## BSea (Mar 17, 2012)

I think that is a beautiful pen.  



FireMedic4Christ said:


> I would love to see pictures of the ornamental lathe. Did you use your own design or build from a kit?
> 
> Brian


Me too!


----------



## Ed McDonnell (Mar 17, 2012)

FireMedic4Christ said:


> I would love to see pictures of the ornamental lathe. Did you use your own design or build from a kit?
> 
> Brian



Hi Brian & Bob - I converted an old worn out Jet 1442 I had stashed in a corner of my shop (it was my first lathe).   It's my own design, but I benefited from the experience and knowledge of a lot of people who shared theirs on various forums.  Here's a picture.

Ed


----------



## FireMedic4Christ (Mar 30, 2012)

[/quote]

. . . It's my own design, but I benefited from the experience and knowledge of a lot of people who shared theirs on various forums. . .

Ed[/quote]

Could you share some links to point us in the right direction. Thanks and awesome work!

Brian


----------



## MarkD (Mar 30, 2012)

Very Ingenious.....that's one cool machine!


----------



## Ed McDonnell (Mar 30, 2012)

FireMedic4Christ said:


> Could you share some links to point us in the right direction. Thanks and awesome work!
> 
> Brian



Hi Brian - A really good place to start your research is cnczone.  The forum index can be a bit intimidating, but way down the list you will find a forum on "Woodworking Machines" with a subforum on "DIY - CNC Router Table Machines".  Reading some of the discussions and build logs is a good way to learn a lot fast.  

Ed


----------



## RussFromNH (Mar 30, 2012)

Wow, both the pen and the CNC. I have been eyeing the DIYLILCNC kit. I am waiting for V2 to come out. But this adds a new dimension to do cut/carve round stock


----------



## Proud2Turn (Mar 30, 2012)

*Wow!*

In a word, *Outstanding*!  Just screams craftsmanship.  Perhaps the reason your wife didn't really say anything about it, is because she was speechless.

In reading some of the comments back and forth, my 2 cents would be to not fill the craved out areas level with the black core.  Having the depth and 3D adds a lot to the pen.


----------



## leehljp (Mar 30, 2012)

I don't think you know what you have there. You have a gold mine! Unique on this forum and I haven't seen much like that anywhere else. Don't settle for common and ordinary pens!

Your talent and skill with the machine used to make these make me plum envious!  :wink: 

I agree that the gold looks a little rough but that is a problem with some woods. Now here is where your focus should be - matching the right bits with the right wood. That is the difference between getting smooth or rough cuts. I would suggest learning to stabilize the wood and then giving that a try. It will make it a little more like Plastic Resin and therefore probably cut smoother.

Not Directly related but kinda - A skew does better in making smooth turning on soft woods while a scraper generally does better on hard woods. The point for you - different blades and angles work differently on different woods. 

Also, the rough cuts showing through on the Gold, is something that I have seen with people who use the Pen Mill, kind of like a larger and less sophisticated version of what your are using. Small rotating bits don't usually make good smooth cuts in wood overall. But the key is finding the right bit for the particular wood and doing a good job of stabilizing the wood first.

Just my opinion!


----------



## robert69 (Mar 31, 2012)

Hi ED your pen is to beautiful just to like. its great looking...... 
                                                          ROBERT.


----------



## ironman123 (Mar 31, 2012)

That is one remarkable pen.  To me, it is beautiful.  After being in the Ornamental Iron Work business for 29 years, I am kind of partial to that type design.  I would love to have a pen like that.

Just my nickel's worth.

ironman123  (Ray)


----------



## bodinj (Mar 31, 2012)

*Gold leaf*

Look into gold leaf.  A member of our Corridor Woodturners gave a demo on different methods of embellishing turnings and Gold leaf was one of them.  It would be dooable on your carving and not too expensive.  Other metals are available as "leaf" material also.


----------



## mwhatch (Apr 1, 2012)

Ed. I too have been working with a rotary axis and admiring your work. May I ask where your are getting your patterns. Are you using a program like VCarve Pro.  Thanks, Morton


----------



## booney0717 (Apr 1, 2012)

Thats incredable. very nice


----------



## magpens (Apr 1, 2012)

You want brutal honesty?  I am speechless with envy !!  That is marvelous work !

A few months ago I bought some Sierra-sized wood pen blanks carved with patterns a lot like you show.  They were made by a third party and sold through a well-known penmakers' supply company.  I can tell you which if you PM me.

I agree with a previous poster that you may have a gold mine if you want to pursue it to commercial viability.  I would think that many, like me, would love to have access to the technology you have developed.


----------



## chriselle (Apr 1, 2012)

Wow...nice!  Needs a bigger canvas though..not a slimline.


----------



## Ed McDonnell (Apr 1, 2012)

mwhatch said:


> ...May I ask where your are getting your patterns. Are you using a program like VCarve Pro.  Thanks, Morton



Hi Morton - I use a combination of CorelDraw, Photoshop, Excel and Aspire for design creation.  Dover Publications has a lot of affordable art / design / clipart books for inspiration.  They also sell CDs with vector designs on them.  I've found the vector CDs to be not that useful.  Results are a lot better with designs I draw myself.

Ed


----------



## Ed McDonnell (Apr 1, 2012)

Thanks to everyone who has commented (and complimented).  It's greatly appreciated.

Ed


----------



## mwhatch (Apr 2, 2012)

I have Aspire and several Dover book/disks. May I ask what you use for your spindle and how do you hold your tubes when engraving? Hope I am not being to nosey.
Thanks,
Morton


----------

