Show Us Your Oblique Penholders!

[dali3464]

Awesome, Howard. I have some black palm, but mine doesn't look like that. Mine is more "grainy"...sort of like black wood with little grains of rice in it or something. I haven't made anything with it yet, but I plan to. Your yellow wood...is it osage orange perhaps? thats what it looks like. A nice wood for handles, to be sure.

 

A duck? Hmm...I'm trying to connect the dots on that? I can't find the relationship between oblique pen holder and duck. hahaha Maybe I'm missing something in the translation. It's just a weird comparison...makes me feel like I must be having a flashback from some weird drug I took back in the 70's? I dunno? hahaha

 

Hz's daughter and I think alike! The first thing I thought of when I saw the penholder was 'MALLARD!' I think it's mostly due to the colour scheme, particularly the yellow body with green section.

 

http://www.laketemplene.org/images/mallard_duck.jpg

[hzsimms]

Okay, "duck aura", "duck feet", Mallard...it can be a duck. Now I've got to figure out how to make one that says "bird of prey"!

[MusinkMan]

Custom order that I just finished for Ms. Anne Sheedy...penwoman extordinaire. A very kind and classy lady.

 

African figured mahogany handle, Australian Yellow Box Burl grip, Gabon Ebony foot.

And a little ivory top-hat just to add a bit of class and elegance.

 

Not a great photo, but this thing looks absolutely awesome in person!

 

 

[hzsimms]

Custom order that I just finished for Ms. Anne Sheedy...penwoman extordinaire. A very kind and classy lady.

 

African figured mahogany handle, Australian Yellow Box Burl grip, Gabon Ebony foot.

And a little ivory top-hat just to add a bit of class and elegance.

 

Not a great photo, but this thing looks absolutely awesome in person!

 

Very nice! Did you stain the box burl or is that the natural color?

[MusinkMan]

 

Very nice! Did you stain the box burl or is that the natural color?

Thanks Howard! That is pretty much the natural color of it. This is not box elder burl, it's Australian box elder, which is different. I put a light oak stain on top of it to bring out the grain and the burl eyes, but it does not change the overall color much...mostly just colors the grain patterns and makes them more pronounced. That burl was like stone...it polished more like rock than like wood. Hard polished woods like that don't accept much stain, it just rubs off clean, which is what I wanted. It darkens the grains and burly details without changing the overall color of the wood.

[thang1thang2]

 

Why thank you, Mr. Ken! Just look at those flourishes. You must have had to turn the paper "every way but loose" to sling ink like that.

 

If I may guess, I think he could've easily just done the entire flourish in one stroke. If you notice at the lower rightish part of the flourish there's a shade that tapers on one end and continues into the rest of the stroke on the other end. I'm fairly sure Ken started that way drawing the small oval counter clockwise which goes into the clockwise stroke that spirals around a bit.

 

Of course there are multiple ways to do it, and that might not be the one Ken used. It just seemed like a bit of occam's razor solution to me. Simplest solution is usually the "correct-est" solution

[caliken]

 

If I may guess, I think he could've easily just done the entire flourish in one stroke. If you notice at the lower rightish part of the flourish there's a shade that tapers on one end and continues into the rest of the stroke on the other end. I'm fairly sure Ken started that way drawing the small oval counter clockwise which goes into the clockwise stroke that spirals around a bit.

 

Of course there are multiple ways to do it, and that might not be the one Ken used. It just seemed like a bit of occam's razor solution to me. Simplest solution is usually the "correct-est" solution

If the paper is turned about 45 degrees counter-clockwise, all five shades are downstrokes and are more or less parallel. If the flourish is drawn from right to left, starting at the right side, it becomes a faily simple one-stroke shape.

 

Ken

[Scribe_Not]

The grain does look a little bit like duck feet.

Actually, these 2 bad boys are what I immediately thought of after seeing that holder!

 

(Unfortunately, I also have begun to manifest this phobia. Thanks Howard.)

 

[hzsimms]

Actually, these 2 bad boys are what I immediately thought of after seeing that holder!

 

(Unfortunately, I also have begun to manifest this phobia. Thanks Howard.)

 

bdda927f_69362_duck_phobia.jpeg

anatidaephobia.jpg

That's just too funny, Doug! You realize, of course, that I can never use this pen again with a straight face. Maybe I should just send it to Duck Dynasty. Uncle Cy (I have no idea how to spell it) could write with it! As if I didn't have an adequate supply of phobias already!

[hzsimms]

I was on Zanerian.com the other day looking at some of the vintage holders and ran across this photo of Excelsior holders used by Madarasz. I'd seen it before but never really paid it any particular attention.

 

http://i1349.photobucket.com/albums/p743/hzsimms/ExcelsiorHolder_zps6526f8a2.jpg

 

Looking at it again, though, I actually kind of got to like the things (I'm convinced the one in the center is a different model or something...the shaft taper is different from the other two). At any rate, using a modern Principal nib as a baseline, I did my best to extrapolate the dimensions of these in an effort to reproduce one. Bear in mind, I am not renowned for my crazy good math skills so I'm sure that there are calculating errors aplenty, but here is my best shot at it so far.

 

http://i1349.photobucket.com/albums/p743/hzsimms/IMG_2844_zps4bfc8c94.jpg

 

I've never seen one of these holders other than in the photograph above so there is an awful lot of guess work in my version. I have no idea how the flange actually mounted in the original. I have assumed that it was a cut through mount based on the position of the mounting pin (far upper corner opposite the nib holder itself). I flattened the ends on my version since they appear to be flattened on the original. I also learned that my string wrapping ability is somewhat questionable.

 

What's interesting, at least to me, is that, underneath all that string, the dimensions of this holder are very, very similar to the PIA hourglass (excepting, of course, the flange holding part). It's a pleasant little holder to write with and I'm doing my best to get ink stains all over it as quickly as possible!

 

Howard

[smk]

Howard - you have introduced yet another dimension to this already very interesting thread. We are all benefiting from your curiosity.

 

BTW - that string wrapping looks quite good to me.

 

It is experiments like these that keeps the inspiration kindled. I have found a wood supplier within reasonable distance and plan on giving form to a couple of ideas rolling around in my head soon. This thread is partly to be blamed for that :-)

 

Salman

[thang1thang2]

If the paper is turned about 45 degrees counter-clockwise, all five shades are downstrokes and are more or less parallel. If the flourish is drawn from right to left, starting at the right side, it becomes a faily simple one-stroke shape.

 

Ken

 

So exactly what I was thinking!

 

Just probably not what I was explaining. I'm really bad at explaining...

 

It's still an amazing flourish, and I'm jealous of it; I suppose I shouldn't be, as it's my own fault that I never find the time to practice.

[Columba Livia]

http://i.imgur.com/dy0U1J3.jpg

^

https://archive.org/stream/businesseducator22zane#page/n319/mode/2up

[dhnz]

I've never seen one of these holders other than in the photograph above so there is an awful lot of guess work in my version. I have no idea how the flange actually mounted in the original. I have assumed that it was a cut through mount based on the position of the mounting pin (far upper corner opposite the nib holder itself). I flattened the ends on my version since they appear to be flattened on the original. I also learned that my string wrapping ability is somewhat questionable.

 

What's interesting, at least to me, is that, underneath all that string, the dimensions of this holder are very, very similar to the PIA hourglass (excepting, of course, the flange holding part). It's a pleasant little holder to write with and I'm doing my best to get ink stains all over it as quickly as possible!

 

I had a quick look for my Excelsior the other night and I’ll look again tonight. When I find it, I can give you the precise measurements, if you want. I do remember it as being close to the PIA hourglass. I think there were slight variations over time with these holders and I seem to recall that there was a black version too, though I could be mistaken.

 

I'm sure you know this already, but for anyone else wondering, the string was Madarasz’s addition – they didn't come that way.

 

Dominic

[hzsimms]

Howard - you have introduced yet another dimension to this already very interesting thread. We are all benefiting from your curiosity.

 

BTW - that string wrapping looks quite good to me.

 

It is experiments like these that keeps the inspiration kindled. I have found a wood supplier within reasonable distance and plan on giving form to a couple of ideas rolling around in my head soon. This thread is partly to be blamed for that :-)

 

Salman

 

Thanks Salman, I appreciate that. I can't wait to see what you come up with! That flat sided holder design of yours has become one of my favorites, BTW. I use it a ton!

 

Howard

[hzsimms]

 

I had a quick look for my Excelsior the other night and I’ll look again tonight. When I find it, I can give you the precise measurements, if you want. I do remember it as being close to the PIA hourglass. I think there were slight variations over time with these holders and I seem to recall that there was a black version too, though I could be mistaken.

 

I'm sure you know this already, but for anyone else wondering, the string was Madarasz’s addition – they didn't come that way.

 

Dominic

 

Dominic,

 

I would absolutely love to see the original! Like I said, there's an awful lot of guesswork in my version. I'm particularly interested in the front end of the pen (how the flange attaches, how it mounts, etc.). An ebony version would be terrific!

 

Howard

[hzsimms]

http://i.imgur.com/dy0U1J3.jpg

^

https://archive.org/stream/businesseducator22zane#page/n319/mode/2up

 

I saw this at Zanerian as well. I actually found some photos of the thing on eBay's UK site, but only the thumbnails are still available. I contacted the seller but they didn't have the larger photos saved. From what I can see of the thumbnails, the actual holder looks a little different than the drawing. It seems to have substantially more "girth" on the front end. What's up with that flange mount is an absolute mystery, though! I might take a stab at this one in the near future. As Brian can attest, I've got "India rubber" galore! And in a wide variety of colors and styles to boot!

[MusinkMan]

 

I saw this at Zanerian as well. I actually found some photos of the thing on eBay's UK site, but only the thumbnails are still available. I contacted the seller but they didn't have the larger photos saved. From what I can see of the thumbnails, the actual holder looks a little different than the drawing. It seems to have substantially more "girth" on the front end. What's up with that flange mount is an absolute mystery, though! I might take a stab at this one in the near future. As Brian can attest, I've got "India rubber" galore! And in a wide variety of colors and styles to boot!

What the hell are those??? They look like chopsticks with a flange. LOL!

[dali3464]

What the hell are those??? They look like chopsticks with a flange. LOL!

 

Right? It looks even more odd with that screw in the top.

 

I found those pictures that you mentioned hz, and I think the screw might actually be a stopper (kinda like a cork I guess) to stop the flange from falling out of the holder. The flange slit looks awfully large, so it might've needed something to help it stay in place.

[PrestoTenebroso]

Hey Everyone, I thought I'd jump in and ask for some feedback about some of the penholders I made. This one is solid purpleheart. It's wide because I made it for a person with large hands.