Wenge Pristina Fountain Pen II

This is the second Wenge Pristina fountain pen I have done and what a difference in the timber itself.
While the first had distinctive grain veins and colour variation this one is the opposite rich dark chocolate. The Gold and chrome embellishments along with the Iridium nib with its fine engraving only add to the quality of the kit and the timber.
I am not usually a fan of a high gloss finish but this Minwax Gloss brush on makes it stand out.

In trying to attain the finish I wanted meant 4 to 6 coats of Minwax this didn't come without some serious frustration as the workshop temperature often was below 8C. This caused bubbles to form in the application of the finish. There was much sanding back to bare timber and re-application only when the temperature was above 14C would I get a good result.

 

 

Grey Corriedale From Mudgee

Sue purchased some Grey Corriedale last year at Mudgee after carding it she produced out of 1kg of greasy and wet wool which once spun, washed and dried weighed 490grams. It spun up to be a 3 ply yarn.

Alpaca and Silk Jacket

Have to thank Geoff for his part in sending up this beautiful black Alpaca he had sourced from a neighbour down in Tasmania.

Back in March is when Sue carded and spun the fleece, the Black Alpaca has had silk bits added while spinning . These were incorporated yet strategically placed within due to the unusual design, across the shoulders and at the tail. The original design comes from Swing Swagger Drape with slight modification.

Knitting had to be done during daylight hours due to the black and with the poor light of winter we have been having, those days have been few and far between. Still I got some time sitting out in the sun for a few hours.

 

 

Scrap Metal Recycling an old Thicknesser

Getting a collection of metal for machining and general use is always on the cards more so if its free. I had spotted some time ago (read years) an old Thicknesser in Alan's trailer then even I asked if it was to go to the tip could I scavenge it. I finally went out and picked it up spiders, rust and all. I had to get stuck in and dismantle it as quick as possible I need the space no room for a thicknesser here.

Out of it I was able to get four 3/4" solid steel bars the upright guides, two height adjustment screws, working motor 8000 rpm... well it turned on twice but I think after that the switch died.
The guide roller, the main blade shaft plus two high speed steel blades 12" a few nuts bots n screws. Only things stuck tight are the four steel guide bars.

Oh yeh the gears and chain for equal operation of the height adjustment. In all almost all bolts and nuts came undone easy after 4 years of being in the weather. I found one side of the main case was cracked this could have been the problem of motor belt slippage and reason why Alan bought a new one.

I wish I had the facilities to melt down the alloy material and make some casting oh well can't have it all.

 

Nailed It

No1 son asked if a fix could be done to a Basso Nailer. Seems someone at work had taken it to the grinder and made one heck of a mess of the plunger tip.

Parts are available for replacement but a little expensive in comparison to the whole unit.

The plunger unit like the one below was ground back by approx 5mm and re-shaped to a 3 sided tip.
Above is what the tip of the plunger should look like and right the nose cap.

 Below is the gun and photos of the damaged plunger tip prior grinding by me.

Huon Pine Burl Pristina Fountain Pen & Roller Ball

Huon Pine Burl Pristina Fountain Pen & Roller Ball set.

These beautiful Huon Pine Burl off cuts were given to me by Alan Flett he said go create!!
I thought to late I couldn't improve on what Mother Nature has already done.
So I just embellished and highlighted  on what she and Alan gave me to work with.

The pen kit used was the Pristina Upgrade Gold with Chrome Accents Fountain Pen and matching Roller Ball it has a nice centre band and cap both decorated.

Huon Pine is quite oily and a pleasure to work, the scent permeates for days after turning even the size these pens are.

Having run out of my usual pen finish I had to source something new and found that Minwax was producing a 250ml tin of a fast drying Polyurethane.
This was the ideal size to trial so I purchased a Gloss and Satin can.
It is brush on and can be thinned  using Turps or Thinners. I used thinners to clean the brush and thin each coat of the eight coats. The only draw back I found even though I used a fine sable brush was tiny air bubbles but this may have been due to the temperature in the workshop approx 10C. To remove these I just sanded, buffed and polished. Drying time was excellent four hours and I could sand it, apply a further coat. I did allow full 24 hour drying before a final Micro mesh sand prior a buff and polish.

     

Yet Another Three Bags Full of Alpaca

Sue has been asked if she will card and spin this beautiful Alpaca by Luddenham Knitters Group who will knit a jumper to raffle off for charity .

What a great blend of colour this Alpaca is.

After going through to discard the waste and short daggy ends two bags were left, full to over flowing.

 Using the drum carder is much quicker than using hand flickers

 First box full carded