Work Bench sp 2013
by Lew Larason
I was in a hardware supplies store looking for a router bit when I saw these pens for sale. I thought to myself, they’re neat. I can make those.” That was the beginning for Lower Bucks Countian Jim Moline. In no time he bought some kits and taught himself how to create these writing instruments. He’s been crafting pens, pencils and other items for over eight years. He makes standard ball point pens, as well as the smoother writing roller pointed pens, mechanical pencils and fountain pens. “People who use fountain pens will use nothing else,” he said. “I have fountain pen customers who watch for me at shows.”
Jim also makes other items on a lathe such as wine bottle stoppers, pepper mills and candleholders. Each is made to a specific size. He adds the turning to the standard stopped for wine bottles and makes the pepper mills to hold the metal grinders. As for the candle holders, he fits a heat-proof glass insert to hold the candle. When he crafts ceiling fan pulls, bowls and whimsical items such as toy tops, he only is limited by his imagination and the material he’s using.
“Most of the woods I use are unusual. And when they have been turned and finished, it really brings out the many interesting grains and colors,” he said, while pointing out shelves and cases filled with his creations. In addition, throughout their home, there are many items he made on his lathe.
Along with woods from all over the world, he also crafts pen bodies from other materials as well. Jim showed a pen whose body was made using the feathers from a male pheasant. They were painstakingly applied by hand to the brass liner or tube that holds the workings of a pen. Then, it was encased in acrylic. When turned, it became a work of art—looking like a painting.
Jim has samples of artwork painted on the brass liners. These pieces also are encased in clear acrylic and turned into pen and pencil bodies. Because the acrylic is clear and transparent, what is under it shows up nicely when the body has been turned, sanded and finished.
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