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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Making lemonade out of lemons

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/21/2009 : 13:21:23

A couple of months ago I broke my old laminated tiller. I've since made a new one out of plywood that seems to suit me, but I wanted to do something with the old tiller. The handle end was nearly rotten, or at least the ash was, the mahogany part was fine. I cut into it on my bandsaw until the ash got dense enough to work with and then cut out a few pen blanks from it. I blew out half of the blanks while drilling them, and only ended up with two viable ones, enough to make one pen. I prepped them for the lathe & began turning them down. The mahogany machines quite well, but the ash was punky and grumbly to work. Having dealt with other punky woods, I've learned to go slow, very sharp knives, and when you get down close, soak it in CA glue to stabilize the wood structure. I let the glue setup over night, and went out & finished the pen this morning:

Here's a picture of some other pens I'm trying to sell on CL:

If you're interested, here's a [url="http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/for/1181131639.html"]link to the CL listing[/url].

David
C-250 Mainsheet Editor

Sirius Lepak
1997 C-250 WK TR #271 --Seattle area Port Captain --

Edited by - delliottg on 05/21/2009 13:24:02

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 05/21/2009 : 15:41:57

Beautiful work! It seems sad that you're selling your one-of-a-kind tiller-pen, especially since you could only get one out of the entire tiller. I like your diagonal treatment--very creative!

I've worked a little with Ipe--Mother Nature's concrete. I'm guessing you have to sharpen your tools often when working that stuff!

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 05/21/2009 : 16:05:36

Thanks Dave,
Actually that was just the short piece of the handle that broke off. I still have the rest from the tiller extender back to work with, so it's only sort of one of a kind for now. I was thinking about making a pen/pencil set for the boat & having the boat's name laser engraved on them.

Ipe is incredibly tough stuff, and I've burnt tools working it, enough to lose the temper. That's what I get for pushing the tool too hard and not staying ahead of the sharpening. It turns like metal though, and takes an incredible finish, plus the finished pen is heavy, has a nice heft to it.

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 05/21/2009 : 18:15:35

Yup--ipe is dense--it sinks in water.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 05/26/2009 : 14:36:00

So, to add another wrinkle to this story, today I was updating my LinkedIn profile and managed to spam my entire address book (if you got an invitation from me today feel free to ignore it and I apologize up front, you and a few hundred other folks got one).

One of the folks who got spammed was an old girlfriend, actually fiance from WAY back when we were teenagers. She was actually still in HS when we got engaged. We've stayed in touch off and on over the years, but I hadn't talked to her for at least a couple years. Anyway, she wanted a pen and decided the ash & mahogany one was the one she wanted.

So now that pen is en route to her, nice to have it in my -almost- family.

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Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.