It has been some time since I posted anything to this blog. I have been rather busy through the summer with work and didn’t feel much like working in the shop in the few hours that I had off. My office had another Change of Command in August and I decided, once again, to make some matching pens for the ceremony. I have been wanting to try a new pen kit and the Virage uses the same size bits as the Baron and so I just needed to buy bushings for the Virage. I decided to make these pens with what I call a “Lazy S” design in the stock of the pen and just some slices in the cap. It was an experiment because I didn’t know if I would like the effect on a two barrel pen.
I tried something different with the inlaid purpleheart this time. The last time I did this, I made a cut in the Tulipwood, glued in the inlay, waited for it to dry, made a second cut, etc. I decided this time to make all the cuts at once. This way, I could do all my cuts in the garage (where the tablesaw lives) and then come in to the house to finish the inlay. Because I was making three pens in the same way, this was a much more productive way of doing this. The cuts are not so deep that it really compromises the stability of the blank. This is an easy inlay because my saw makes a 1/8 inch kerf and I have 1/8 inch thick purpleheart. I like the substantial lines that a 1/8 inch slice creates.
Here is a video of the rough inlaid blanks.
To Everything, Turn...Turn...Turn 