More Pens

Well, this weeks pictures are fuzzy. Don't know why, but I probably won't re-shoot them. One is a slim twist pen for my wife, the other is a fountain pen for my daughter. Both were a pain. I had no instructions for the fountain pen, and the wood fibers tore out on the twist pen. Never the less they are complete and I'm on to new things.

I still have a couple of pencils to try, as well as three more Euro Style twist pens (the bigger ones that I've posted.) Before that I plan to start and build a small box as a retirement gift for one of the people at work. I also need to redo my shop plan to see if I can get it approved by the county. Always a project in the works.

Be careful of the splinters.

For the Neighbor

Hi again. It's been a week. Here is a pen and Wine bottle stopper that I turned for my neighbor. This came from the tree that he removed between the two properties. The wood was still wet so I nuked it for several short periods of time to dry it out (20 seconds full power, 3 minutes to cool off.) It still is not my favorite wood, but it did work. They did appreciate the pen and wine bottle stopper. Both the pen and the sopper were made of a combination of heart (brown) and sap (white) wood. The piece I brought into the garage was trying to sprout when I picked it up yesterday.

I have a second picture of the pen I did last week. This is made from Cherry, Australian M... and yellow Sculpty clay. The clays fires at 250 degrees. I did the first 10 minutes clamped between the 2 woods, then removed the wood and cooked it by itself another 10 minutes. It gave the pen a pretty cool look. I'll have to try doing this method on a few more objects, as it is kinda fun and unique. The worst issue is that on a twist pen the pattern goes out of alignment when you use it. I don't know if I like that yet.

Be careful of the splinters.

Plastering

I've been plastering walls in my wife's new sewing room. The previous owner covered the walls with paneling. I peeled that off and found that the wallboard had not been taped or sealed. So I changed the lights in the ceiling and started plastering the walls and the joint at the ceiling. Slow work, but I enjoy it. I'll need to add two more layers of plaster to the wall to feather the joints so they become less obvious. Some of the previous work was pretty bad. I still need to tape the joint at the top of the closet. Later.

After I finish with the plaster, I need to re-texture and the paint the ceiling, followed by painting the walls. At that point I can finally lay the floor, a project I started 3 years ago.

I did turn a new pen, which I'll post a picture later. I'm just too tired to haul the stuff out for the picture.

Be careful of the splinters.