# Here's a new idea I'm playing with



## Wood Butcher (Jul 31, 2010)

The Golf Ball pan


----------



## leestoresund (Jul 31, 2010)

*Golf ball pen*

Before I even look on the site to see how you did those -
How'd you do those?

Lee


----------



## PaulDoug (Jul 31, 2010)

Very very clever.  Those will surely be a big hit.


----------



## Displaced Canadian (Jul 31, 2010)

That is cool.


----------



## hewunch (Jul 31, 2010)

very neat!


----------



## Tanner (Jul 31, 2010)

That is fricking cool.  Great ingenuity!


----------



## aggromere (Jul 31, 2010)

Wow.  How did you do that.  Did you skin the golf ball and cast it or what.  That is the slickest new pen idea I've seen in a long long time.


----------



## Mark (Jul 31, 2010)

Nicely Done. That's thinking outside the box, or ball in this case...:biggrin:


----------



## darcisowers (Jul 31, 2010)

very cool idea!  How do you do that??!!

I like the golfball placed on the top of the pen better.  :biggrin:


----------



## BRobbins629 (Jul 31, 2010)

You play nice!


----------



## Wood Butcher (Jul 31, 2010)

Thanks boys and girls for the kind words.  The "ball" part is white polymer clay.  After seeing and making the baseball and football pens I thought, why not a golf ball?  It took a while but I figured out that it had to be done by hand rather than a mould, or at least for me it did.  I turned a 1/2 x 1/2 strip of Corian to form a "dimpler" and had to redo that several times before the size was correct.  I cover the brass tube, that's been sanded, with the PC, roll it smooth and then, wearing magnifier glasses, I start dimpling till it's covered.  Takes between 150 and 160 dimples.  I do it in rows radially off setting like bowling pins are lined up.  I put it on the lathe and apply 2 coats of thin CA and when dry apply the slip off decal.  I let it dry overnight, cause it was getting late, and then apply 4 or 5 more coats of thin CA.  No sanding or buffing, just the CA.  It came out just as I had hoped (after 4 days of doing it and tearing it off and doing it again).  Give it a shot.  These should sell but be careful with the trademarked names you use.


----------



## ed4copies (Jul 31, 2010)

Forget trademarked names, think "gag gifts":

"A ball you won't lose" comes to mind.


Oh---Great idea and nice execution, Bill!!!!


----------



## bitshird (Jul 31, 2010)

Man that is a great Idea, I'm still not into the Polymer thing, but those should sell like the dickens, Very sharp looking pens.


----------



## Stevej72 (Jul 31, 2010)

What a great idea!  Thanks for sharing how you do it.  I have some friends that golf a lot and I think would love a pen like that.


----------



## thewishman (Jul 31, 2010)

Absolutely fabulous!!!!! That is a great idea!! Thanks for sharing.

You gonna make some blanks to sell?


----------



## GoodTurns (Jul 31, 2010)

very nice idea and execution.  the purists might say you should pair it with persimmon wood!


----------



## wizard (Jul 31, 2010)

Way too cool !!!


----------



## Penl8the (Jul 31, 2010)

Hi Bill,

As a golfer, golf club maker and a pretend pen maker, I salute you.

Awesome pens.  Very creative.  

I heard of Balata cover, Surlyn cover and so on.  But not Poly Clay cover.  Just wait and see how soon the big golf ball manufacturers like Titleist, Nike, Callaway, etc get a hold this new material.  

PC cover golf ball gives you greater distance, more control, less spin and more spin at the same time. :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:


----------



## Toni (Jul 31, 2010)

When I was reading the comments I was starting to wonder could it be PC? Excellent work love the creativity!!!


----------



## Pioneerpens (Jul 31, 2010)

very clever and beautiful job with the pc!!


----------



## PrinterTom (Jul 31, 2010)

Those are really cool...when are we going to see them for sale..


----------



## boxerman (Jul 31, 2010)

That is cool. Nice pen.


----------



## johncrane (Aug 1, 2010)

That's a winner right there Bill i like the golfball at the clip end best,excellent work:biggrin:


----------



## seamus7227 (Aug 1, 2010)

thats clever! nice job


----------



## RAdams (Aug 1, 2010)

Yup... Ernie was right, This thread was definately worth a look!! Really cool work!


----------



## wood-of-1kind (Aug 1, 2010)

Great idea and very well executed. How about doing one as a "Euro" pen and using the golf clip pen clip(s) that they sell? Bet that it would look great and be a big hit on the links.


----------



## Buzzzz4 (Aug 1, 2010)

Wow! I wasn't into the other designs you had, but this one rocks the house.  When you are ready to sell a few, please let me know!


----------



## Jim Smith (Aug 1, 2010)

GREAT idea and excellent execution!  You could even use the laminated wood from the head of an old driver to make the top portion of the pen.  Either way, great looking pen.  

Perhaps you should consider going to some of the pro-shops at the golf courses around where you live and I've sure that they would sell like crazy.

Jim Smith


----------



## bruce119 (Aug 1, 2010)

Nice job I actually had this idea and tried doing skinning a golf ball but as you found out that doesn't work. You know the core of the golf balls make great segmenting material and turns great and just about every ball I cut open is a different color there a very hard rubber and turn well. I also chopped up the old persimmon wood clubs and used the laminated to make pens with the golf ball core laminated in them. The golfers here love them.

Great job thanks for sharing. I got to start playing with clay. Just not enough time in a day

thanks


----------



## Dalecamino (Aug 1, 2010)

I am not at all surprised that YOU came up with this ! Very nice work Bill. :biggrin:


----------



## workinforwood (Aug 1, 2010)

Very cool pens!


----------



## bgibb42 (Aug 1, 2010)

What a great idea, and perfectly executed...great pens!


----------



## Seer (Aug 1, 2010)

I have some Hickory pieces that are remnats of actual golf club shafts as well all about 5 to 6 inches long that would pair up with this nicely.  Well done pm me if you want some to try.
Jerry


----------



## Stick Rounder (Aug 1, 2010)

Great idea! Great looking pens.


----------



## johnspensandmore (Aug 1, 2010)

Clever!  That's a keeper for sure!


----------



## RyanNJ (Aug 3, 2010)

Where did you get the PC?


----------



## Wood Butcher (Aug 3, 2010)

It's just Sculpy III in pure white from Michaels.


----------



## cnirenberg (Aug 3, 2010)

Great idea and a pretty cool looking pen. Now that's what I like to see on the IAP.  Well done.


----------



## Ankrom Exotics (Aug 3, 2010)

Great idea and nicely executed. Have you tried one yet with both tubes in faux golf ball?


----------



## kruzzer (Aug 3, 2010)

Bravo  Great idea.....and great looking pen.


----------



## chriselle (Aug 3, 2010)

Very, Very cool.  Boy, I'd love to get a few.  I'll keep my eye on the classifieds...:wink:


----------



## glycerine (Aug 3, 2010)

ed4copies said:


> Forget trademarked names, think "gag gifts":
> 
> "A ball you won't lose" comes to mind.
> 
> ...


 
Or give two as a set!

Those look really nice.  I have thought about trying that with actual golfballs, but figured the seem would be too visible.  Now making something that LOOKS like a golf ball, that's the way to go!


----------



## corian king (Aug 3, 2010)

Super nice job! Thats a seller for sure.Keep up the fantastic work.
JIM


----------



## Caden_Hrabak (Aug 4, 2010)

I WANT ONE DDD my grandpa would love that


----------



## PR_Princess (Aug 6, 2010)

Very clever Bill!!! Top flite in fact! :biggrin:


----------



## RyanNJ (Aug 6, 2010)

Tried it myself... FAIL!!!! The clay was too thick diples were all over no pattern even though i tried..... Any tips on how to get the clay the right size


----------



## Wood Butcher (Aug 6, 2010)

I run the white Sculpy III PC through a pasta machine on the thickest setting and, on the upper cigar pen section, it makes it only slightly oversized compared to the bushings.  I use liquid Sculpy to "glue" the PC to the sanded brass tube (really thin coat) and smooth the seam until it isn't noticable.  I roll the whole thing with my hand until the thick end is the same as the larger bushing.  I then roll the other end of the blank with the heel of the palm of my hand while it is on a clean, smooth 12x12 ceramic tile checking it against the smaller bushing until it is the same diameter.  Trim the PC to the length of the brass tube on both ends BEFORE checking the fit of PC to bushings.  I have an adjustable mandrel and mount the bushings and PC covered tube on it and install the brass thumb nut to hold it snuggly.  I made a tool from Corian, you could use the rounded end of a paint brush, to make the dimples.  It took a bunch of dimpling, remove the PC, run it back through the pasta machine, reapply to the brass tube, size to the bushings and mount on the mandrel and repeat again and again when you don't like what you end up with.  The dimples should be proportionate to the pen, not the actual size of those on a golf ball.  Keeping the PC blank on the mandrel, I make a row of dimples all the way around the small end or the blank keeping them in a straight line and adjusting the dimple size and depth so they meet at the start point.  The second and rest of the rows of dimples are placed between the dimples of the first row so they line up like bowling pins.  I find that 10 or 11 per row is about right but keep the rows straight.  Keep doing that until you reach the end of the blank then carefully remove it and the bushings.  I made a baking stand from a 3x 6 block of wood with 1/4" dowels stuck in it to hold the blanks upright for baking at 375 degrees (for Sculpy) for 30 min.  Tent the "rack" with foil so the blanks don't get burned by the elements of your Easy Bake Oven, toaster oven for most of you.  Allow the whole thing to cool completely in the oven with the door closed then you can remove it.  I allow these to rest for 12 hrs plus to cure the PC a little more.  At the lathe, apply 2 coats of thin CA with a paper towel trying not too press too hard or you will have fuzz on the blanks.  Apply the decal of choice, printed on wet transfer decal paper from Testors works well, and use a soft paint brush or your finger to press te decal into the dimples.  Let this dry over night and then apply 3 to 487 more coats of the thin CA.  All done.  Sorry it's so long.  I've sold a few finished blanks for $18 ea and believe that with the labor involved it's about as fair as I can come up with.  Thaaat's all folks.


----------



## RyanNJ (Aug 7, 2010)

Thanks for the help. I see where i errored.  I would agree that 18 is fair


----------



## Tony's Pens (Aug 8, 2010)

Good looking pen.  

Now take some Smooth-on and make a mold so you can cast more Golf pens using white PR. This would probably cut your time by 3/4.


----------



## Rfturner (Aug 9, 2010)

I saw that and that is definately a winner. one thing that you could also do is add a leather handle look to the top or bottom like the top of a golf club


----------



## PenMan1 (Aug 9, 2010)

We need to talk! PM Sent! Nice Pen!


----------



## creativewriting (Aug 13, 2010)

Nice job.  I made a few like this a couple months ago, but haven't done anything else with them.  To save you a little time you can use Magic Transfer Papper or Lazertran silk paper to apply the decal before you cure the PC.

It is nice to see someone else taking over the sports theme pens.


----------



## rd_ab_penman (Aug 14, 2010)

WOW!
Very unique idea.
To bad you can't sell them due to Titleist Trade Mark/Copyright infringement.
Will make great traders or gifts.

Les


----------

