Turquoise Stone Inlay on a Purpleheart Slimline Pen

[@davidwinch7997]

Absolutely a top job. Haven't seen your "Inlay Method" before and it seems quite straight forward. It probably gets a bit "messy" swirling the CA and then adding the stones. Purple Heart is a beautiful wood to work with and your process is really sound. Thanks so much for sharing. Kind Regards, David, Beachmere, Brisbane, Australia

[@TheTacticalPainter]

Thank you so much, I appreciate your praise. I love purple heart, it is so much fun, I recently came into a decent amount of figured (curly) purple heart that I'm excited to work with.

[@michaeldequatro1012]

I've only seen inlays done on rings. Never thought of that. Great video.

[@TheTacticalPainter]

Thank you, I've started doing inlays with Opals and they're amazing!

[@arnauddoremus8704]

Very nice and for once it's innovative compared to other million pen videos

[@TheTacticalPainter]

Thank you, I appreciate that! Don't remember if I've ever been called innovative before 😁

[@MrJohns0n1]

The pen turned out great!

[@TheTacticalPainter]

Thanks man, glad you liked it!

[@mitchellmanning7887]

Thanks for sharing

[@TheTacticalPainter]

You're welcome, more to come. I'm thinking of doing opal inlay next

[@clacirlacerda]

Ola amigo, sou do Brasil 🇧🇷. Ainda não vi um vídeo tão bem explicado, mais um inscrito. E, poderia passar o link de compra das peças da caneta? 👏👏👏👏

[@thestutteringwoodturner9824]

I would love to try that on a pen

[@doomin8tor]

nice job

[@TheTacticalPainter]

Thank you

[@Weirdybeardywoodcraft]

Great job on the pens. I would love to know where you got the tool you use I the head stock and tail stock, to push the pen parts together, they look excellent to use. Beats using a clamp like I am using at the moment. Cheers

[@TheTacticalPainter]

Its the best mandrel I've ever used! It's called the Mandrel Saver, and I think I got it from Penn State Industries. I've used previous styles and you had to stack bushings and put a thumb screw on and live center, and this is much easier. It also makes for quick tooling changes when working multiple pens at the same time or changing to do CA finish and change back. Big time saver and worth the extra money in the long run.

[@Weirdybeardywoodcraft]

@TheTacticalPainter thanks for the reply. I meant the two black things that you used to push the pen parts together with those looked very handy.

[@TheTacticalPainter]

@Weirdybeardywoodcraft ah yes, those are a great bit of kit too, they're assembly cups, and I bought those at my local Woodcraft

[@Weirdybeardywoodcraft]

@@TheTacticalPainter cool. I will have to have a look around and see if I can find some. Cheers 🍻

[@aprildegele1510]

First question: I've baked purple heart and then put it in the window to see if there was a color change. I used a premium raspberry cut off. After 6 months, it began to turn brown just like every other piece of purple heart does when it oxidizes under UV light. I also turn pens and I want to know if you've had a pen exposed to light long enough to determine if it will eventually go brown like all other exotic woods (other than Ebony, cocobolo, African blackwood and similar) without the benefit of a UV blocking finish. If it does, then I will have to plan on a UV blocking coating or sand it just shy of the actual dimensions of a slimline so that the owner can sand and refinish every couple of years if it will live in direct sunlight. Second question: Did you stabilize a crack with super glue on the blanks, or is that the oils like I had happen when I stuck mine in the oven? Wow, you didn't have much material left to inlay! I'm assuming those are slimlines? If so, you're playing with fire there. Not literally, but there's not much room for inlay. How do you determine (without a tube reference) how deep to groove for the inlay? BTW, an easier way to inlay chips would be to mix the chips in epoxy resin, then pack it in the grooves, let it cure, then smooth with your carbide tool.

[@TheTacticalPainter]

Those are a lot of good questions, first with purple heart and most woods, oxidizing can be stopped by sealing the wood. Either with a finish or stabilizing. Oxidization is caused by exposure to oxygen, if you had left that block in the dark for 6 months it still would have turned brown on the outside. All of the purple heart pens I have made and put a CA finish on still look as good as the day I completed them with no browning.

[@TheTacticalPainter]

2nd, small cracks I stabilize before turning with thin CA glue. Bake your purpleheart before turning to prevent cracks. If you bake it after turning, the brass expands further than the wood when heating and will split the blank every time in my testing.

[@TheTacticalPainter]

3rd question, the inlay. Yes this is a slimline, and when you have a solid glue up technique that nearly guarantees full wood to brass glue contact, then slim lines aren't a worry. As far as depth of inlay, I just go all the way down to the brass, then I use the parting tool to clean up all the glue off the brass so the brass is fully exposed and scratched up, this helps guarantee a better bond with the CA glue while inlaying. Then I'll apply some black with a sharpie to color the brass tube and hide it. I considered epoxy for the inlay, but I wanted to guarantee bubble free and Gluboost CA and activator makes for super fast inlay process. As we know time is money, so I save time where I can, and the end result is durable and polishes beautifully. The nice thing about the Gluboost is it's a flexible CA Finish and isn't is fragile as other CAs, so even if you drop the pen, it won't fracture or chip.

[@kyleheine]

Can you give the details on the turquoise powder you used- Thanks a million.

[@TheTacticalPainter]

It is Crushed Turquoise that I got from Wood Turner Catalog

[@ricksuray]

Where do you get turquoise beads like that?

[@TheTacticalPainter]

I got these from Woodturners Catalog, look for Turquoise Inlay material, it should come right up. I thing Turners Warehouse has some now too.

[@smythc1]

That’s amazing! I’m new to pen making. When you cut the groves how deep did you go? Was it all the way to the brass? Again beautiful work!

[@TheTacticalPainter]

First, welcome to pen making, we've got you now... Buahahahahaaaaaa! As far as the pen, yes, I turn the blank oversized to the bushing a few hundredth of an inch, then I part the grooves all the way down to the brass. I'll then color the brass tube with a color that'll compliment the inlay material. Usually a black sharpie, but some inlay material, like some opals, wash out with a black background, so I'll use a silver or gold sharpie instead. I actually show this in the video coming out tomorrow afternoon.

[@TheTacticalPainter]

Also, thank you for the compliment!

[@smythc1]

@@TheTacticalPainter thanks you for responding! Thank you for the information. I appreciate it. I can’t wait to try this! I look forward to seeing more of your content! So many people are stingy with their tricks. But I’m finding that a little different with woodworking. Keep up the great and creative art work. Have a great weekend!

[@TheTacticalPainter]

@@smythc1 you're very welcome, happy to help! You have a good weekend as well.

[@ColbyClinePenholders]

I've watched a few videos on this general premise and I have only seen people turn down the stones with the carbide tools. Is that super necessary or would a sharp HSS tool work as well? Thank you for sharing! The pen looks wonderful! I have a few ideas I want to use this with, and I don't know of any other calligraphy pen turners that have used this combination of techniques!

[@TheTacticalPainter]

Thank you, so glad you found the video. I believe it would be possible to use freshly sharpened high speed steel. I would recommend using a HSS scraper if you've got one. I used standard steel turning tools before using carbide, and they can do most things the carbide can, you just have to sharpen frequently when turning harder objects like shell, stone, and metals. I recommend the scraper because once you seal with ca, you're basically turning an acrylic, and scrapers work better on acrylic than gouges. Be sure to let the glue set overnight and harden fully to minimize risk of it chunking out of the groove.

[@ColbyClinePenholders]

@@TheTacticalPainter Wonderful! I'm going to practice with some imitation opal first since it's much cheaper. I believe it should also be softer too. Thank you for the help! I also didn't know that about acrylic I have only ever turned it once so I might have to try it again.

[@TheTacticalPainter]

If you don't have a scraper, I recommend getting a negative rake scraper. The geometry works great for acrylic type blanks.