u/banditkeith

The shift and function keys are from a cheap set of abs caps that I sanded to a rough surface and then lacquered, the escape key is actually 3d printed from a set of tomorrow style key caps. They've been in use for a few weeks now and are quite pleasant to use. Next up will be a space bar since that's a heavily used key and should really benefit from a premium finish.

The shift key was my first try using a makie type long fine brush and it certainly is a skill all it's own

This pen was bought for my wife, then girlfriend, very cheaply many years ago because it was already monogrammed with someone else's initials. She recently asked me if I could use my urushi skills to get rid of the monogram, and I felt confident at this point I could work on a "good" pen without running it.

So I disassembled the cap, the body of which had a number of bad scratches in addition to the initials "C.S.S" then used special masking tape from Tamiya (meant for use building Gundam models) to protect the bands. The scratches and text were filled with 2 applications of sabi, first jinoko then tonoko, the surface smoothed and consolidated with a couple layers of black urushi, and then topped with premixed "momo" colored urushi from urushi tsutsumi, polished and buffed with thinned raw urushi to fill the fine scratches.

I couldn't be happier with how this cap turned out, the engraving is completely gone and the surface is smooth, evenly colored and pleasant to handle. The parts all went back together with no issues and now the pen is a special custom piece instead of someone else's unwanted pen.

They're absolutely all over the place, presumably all growing on the roots of the huge tree stump. That or I've got a zombie apocalypse brewing out back.

Cup: 3d printed core, hand placed raden chips all around the base, blue exterior fading to black base and black interior, nearly finished

Key caps: three mechanical keyboard caps, two commercial abs and the round typewriter style cap is printed

Cat: a 3d printed pen rest done following master flower the cats tutorial from YouTube

Pen: a jinhao fountain pen in green urushi which will be finished tamenuri style

Chopsticks: pre made chopsticks from my lacquer supplier, also green, "nearly done" which my wife has learned can mean days to weeks away from completion

Chopstick rest: 3d printed, I needed a chopstick rest and wasn't in a hurry

Pendant: an art Deco style 3d printed pendant being done alongside the cat with the same technique

Red box: cheap wooden box from AliExpress, done in red with sprinkled raden chips and butterflies on top and black interior

Gourd: my most ridiculous project, a full sized bottle gourd I hollowed out and cleaned, it'll be finished in shiny black with some sort of design on the lower portion. the mouth of the bottle is handmade from maple and fitted in place with mugi urushi. The interior will be coated with beeswax and pine resin mix for sealing and a simple tapered stopper will be made as a closure and also lacquered. This will, in fact, be a water bottle I will take with me in public, like a crazy person.

Ask anything you want about the pieces, the techniques and materials I've used, my next steps, what's fundamentally wrong with me as a person, where I get my supplies and ideas, how itchy I am and how strongly I suspect it's lacquer related, etc.

The saucer is zelkova wood, bought as a blank project piece from my usual urushi supplier. Just layers of red, wet sanded and then buffed with dilute aka-roiro for gloss and polished with roiromigakiko powder in oil.

My cats toy banana for scale