More Pens

It turned a batch of pens to send to the soldiers in Iraq, as part of a special project put together by the Cascade Wood Turners Association. I think this is in conjunction with a national program. I've included pictures of the set. I'll post separate pictures later.

I used a variety of woods, Cherry, Oregon Myrtal, Purple Heart, Australian M... (I couldn't read the writing), Spalted something, and a small piece of another oddball. These are all twist pens, and took about 1/2 hour each. Most of the pens were finished with super-glue and linseed oil. A couple were coated with a hard wax.

Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.

Checkerboard Pen

Well, as promised, here is the checkerboard pen. I can really see the places where I could have been more precise, but as a friend of mine said; "It is unique and one-of-a-kind. And it still works as pen." That is a key part, it still works and I've learned a little more. It's not my best job, but it was fun to try and it does look okay. I now have ideas on how I can improve the quality for the next time I try this kind of pattern on a pen.

I'm going to swing by the Pen Makers Guild web site and take a look at some other designs I can try with the equipment I currently have to see if I can make a better pen. A thickness sander would help, but I'm not ready for the stress of making one at this time.

Enjoy, and be careful of the splinters.

Todays Pen

I'm working on a new pen, made up of walnut and spalted something. I have 2 pieces of each wood glued so the corners meet, to make up a square (almost) stick. I then cut slices off of the glued stick and put it back together while rotating each piece. Kind of like a stair stepping checkerboard. It's all glued together, but I'm letting the epoxy setup some more before I do the final turning. At this point it looks pretty cool, but I only turned it enough to round it out, but not too close to the barrel.

I can see where a more precise method of sizing the strips would help, like a thickness sander. I may have to try and make one, using the shopsmith as the drive for a sanding drum. I've seen designs for a similar project, but I don't really have a place for it yet.

Enjoy, and watch for the slivers.

As promised, here are the wine bottle stoppers. I put them all in one picture for simplicity. The first one is spalted, (wood that is starting to be eaten by fungus.) The second and fourth stopper are the same wood and I don't know what kind it is, but with different finishes. The third stopper is black walnut, and the base they are sitting in is cherry.

I added a side view of the last one so you can see the type of cork I used in all of the stoppers , as well as provide a little more detail of this stopper's shape.


Enjoy, and watch out for splinters.

More Turning

It's been to cold to go outside much, though the chance of snow has dissipated. I did play with a new collet chuck on the lathe. I now have 4 new bottle stoppers. I turned a base tonight so that I can take pictures of them in the next couple of days. I'm really liking my new lathe. You'll have to wait for pictures. I'm learning a lot more as I turn, as well as learning I have a long way to go.

I went to the pen makers guild web site ( http://www.penmakersguild.com/ ) and looked at some fancy pens. Gives me a mark to shot for as I learn.

Chat with ya later, watch out for the splinters.

New Santa

This carving is a Shawn Cipa design that I did using sugar pine. It is not finished in that I want to carve a poinsettia for the flower pot. I needed to stop carving for a while so I've set it aside to finish later. Hopefully before Christmas of 2008.

Meanwhile, I've been turning pens on my lathe. These are a European Twist style, too heavy for my wife, but I like them. I have 1 mistake, 3 here and 6 more to go. If I keep the design simple, they're quick to make. But I keep trying new things and that takes time. These then are a series, one plain, one the purple heart angled across, the third has purple heart dot added around the base. It's all fun.

Enjoy, and watch out for the slivers.

Turned Pens

Here is the picture of the two pens I turned for a friend at work. The wood is Myrtal wood from the Oregon coast. I took 3 sets of pictures, and the others are even more fuzzy.

I also made a box to hold the pens from Myrtal wood and purple heart. As soon as I can get Photoshop to open I'll add a picture here of the second box I made. I made two at the same time. Note that the first one does not have purple heart under the hinges (that was added to fix a boo-boo.) The finish on the box was wax, nothing else.

As the text on the picture points out, I had trouble getting the images to be visible 'cause of the glare from the flash. I tweaked them, and yes purple heart is purple in color. In reality the background is a light tan/yellow color.

Enjoy. Be careful of the splinters.