Shortly after I finished the paper trays for my desk, I had a revelation - an awakening - I saw the light.
I saw that the gaudy ceramic dog's (?) head mug that I stored my pens and pencils in for years was really, really ugly. Unfortunately, Internet decency standards prevent me posting a picture of it here. But this is the pen cup that I made to replace it. I considered a number of alternate designs such as a turned holder or a square holder, but they all seemed a bit too ordinary, and, if the truth were to be told, a bit too easy. I decided that a set of evenly spaced rings might look interesting. I chose Maple Burl since I thought the colour should go well with my desk, and the wood is strong enough to be fabricated in thin pieces. In this case, the rings are about 0.15" square in cross-section. I fabricated four supports to hold the rings, deciding to make each vertical support a single piece to ensure the ring spacer pieces lined up. African Blackwood was selected because of the colour contrast with the Maple, and also because I needed a strong wood to keep the thin inside sections of the supports from being too fragile. To ensure identical spacing, the four spacers were routed as a single piece which was then cut apart on the bandsaw. The rings I turned on the lathe, of course, cutting them apart on the lathe as well to ensure a consistent thickness. To assemble the base to the rings and supports, small wood pins were inserted through the base and into the supports. The pins were then covered up with the feet.
And it does look better than my original ceramic one.
| Material: | Maple Burl, African Blackwood |
| Finish: | 3 coats Miniwax Wipe-on Poly, Clear Satin |
| Size: | 2.9" dia 3.65" h |
| Done: | October 10, 2006 |
