Epoxy Pens - Blue, Gold and White

Being entrusted with the role of my grandma's maid of honor and wedding planner was a huge responsibility, made even more challenging by my first trimester of pregnancy, transitioning into the second around her wedding day. From venue selection to decorations, invitations, and catering arrangements, I had my hands full. Additionally, I was tasked with choosing the wedding day souvenir.

In search of a meaningful keepsake, we wanted something elegant that reflected the couple's love for golf. That's when the idea of a gold pen with a golf club clip, crafted from epoxy in the wedding's color theme, emerged. Personalized down to every detail, each pen, hand-turned by Anthony, is a unique tribute to their special day.

Process:

1. Mixing Epoxy
   Having been decided that the colour palette of the wedding was Blue Gold and White, we made the epoxy to match. We mixed up batches of Entropy Casting Epoxy with blue, and white pigments as well as added some 24 caret gold leaf to the mix.
2. Prepping the pen blanks
   Once all of the blanks were cast, we were able to prep the pen blanks, by first numbering each end of the casting so we could keep track of the pairs, then cutting each one in half. From there we drilled a hole through the center of each piece to add the brass pen sleeves inside, firmly gluing them in place. Once the glue was dried, we got a Pen Mill from Timberley Woodturning to square up the ends and leave the blanks ready for turning.
3. Turning the pen blanks
   With all of the blanks prepared we would assemble each pair on a mandrel on the lathe and turn them to shape. Each one was a unique shape depending on the material to make sure each was beautiful and had the most beautiful design. Some were made extra large specifically for guests of the wedding known to have arthritis so they could have a comfortable pen to use.
4. Finishing
   Each pen was then finished with Carnuba Wax friction and heat burnished on to create a hard shiny durable finish, that was silky smooth to the touch
5. Assembling
   We then began the process of assembling the turned pen blanks into fully functional pens. We obtained some gold pen kits with golden golf club pen clips to represent the couples love of golfing, and press fit them together into the finished pen.
6. Designing a pen stand
   As it was a giveaway at a wedding specifically made for each person, it was thought it would be nice to be able to present the pen to each person with their very own stand. And so the idea of the place name combined with a pen holder was born. Many designs were worked through until we settled on our final design which we modelled up in CAD.
7. Cutting and Etching
   We used 3mm MDF for the stand material, and put together the design for laser cutting out all of the pieces of the stands, etched with each guests name. We then etched and cut out all of the pieces, for the stands.
8. Assembling the stands
   We then assembled all of the stands by press fitting the different stand components together and we were left with a simple but elegant pen stand perfectly fit for the pens.

Crafting hand-turned pens allows us to customize each one to suit the individual needs of its user. For those with arthritis or difficulty gripping thin pens, we can make the pen thicker in the areas where their hands rest, ensuring a more comfortable writing experience. It's a personalized touch that adds both practicality and thoughtfulness to each pen we create.