Turned my First Pen Today

[Culprit]

The Woodworking Show is in town this weekend here in Fredericksburg, VA. I had a few errands to run so I took the afternoon off and ended up there. Craft Supplies had a booth where you could turn a pen for free, with the hopes that you would buy a starter kit and supplies from them. I did, and I did. The kit has a MT2 mandrel. The MT2 taper screws off so I can chuck it in the Shopsmith's drill chuck. The kit came with five 7mm slimline kits and an assortment of South American uncut blanks.

Here is a picture of my first foray into this pen turning world. The guy at the booth thought the wood was lychee. The blanks were already prepared and the barrels were glued in with Gorilla glue so we chucked everything up and got started. It was finished with a friction polish (alcohol based?) and some wax.

[mgbbob]

Nice job. I have always wanted to try one.

Bob

[wa2crk]

Now; See how easy that was?:D
Nice job
Bill V

[joedw00]

Nice looking pen, be careful it is addictive.

[hdoilcan]

I can't wait to make my first pen!!

[eagleta2]

Nice Pen


Now youve done it though.... you've taken the first step and I bet youre addicted now... Before long you'll be soaking corn cobs and pine cones with CA glue to turn into a pen.

i often find myself wandering the grocery store with my wife muttering "I wonder what that would look like if I could stabalize it and turn it!"

Welcome to the addiction!

Geo

[Culprit]

What amazes me about pen turning (and turning in general) is how fast you can sand and put a finish on a piece. A little piece of cloth and a few drops of friction polish, followed by another cloth with a little wax, and you have a finished product in a minute or two.

That sure beats any finishing technique I've ever done on flatwork!

[fjimp]

What amazes me about pen turning (and turning in general) is how fast you can sand and put a finish on a piece. A little piece of cloth and a few drops of friction polish, followed by another cloth with a little wax, and you have a finished product in a minute or two.

That sure beats any finishing technique I've ever done on flatwork!

Great job. The part that interests me is how the more we do the more we manage to complicate the process. I recently moved away from friction polish. Today I cut, drilled, squared and turned handles for a shaving brush, post for the stand and handle for a razor from a lovely piece of Maple. I also sanded all three and applied the first coat of finish. Time to return to the shop for a second coat. Tomorrow a few more coats, who knows by Tuesday I may get to try out my handy work.

Good luck on turning. Jim

[Culprit]

I turned my second pen tonight, and it was my first real one start to finish since the first was at the booth at the Woodworking Show where they held your hand, had the blanks prepared with tubes glued in, and did the actual assembly themselves.

The wood is Jatoba from flooring scraps a friend at work gave me. I'm going to give him the pen as thanks for the wood. He gave me enough to make 9-12 pens out of, and he has some more coming after he finishes the floor. I've never worked with Jatoba before, but I like it. And it smells great, too.

Being my first complete pen, it's not without it's flaws, but I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

Finish is friction polish and a little Renaissance wax. It's a slimline kit. I used the horizontal boring setup of the Shopsmith to drill the blanks. I used my bench vice for the assembly. Instead of buying the Shopsmith-specific pen mandrel, I bought the MT2. I took the taper off and chucked the bare mandrel shaft in the drill chuck. I used a live center on the tail end of the mandrel.

[terrydowning]

Nice looking pen.

Good finish for a friction finish. They don't often hold up well to regular use.

You may have caught the bug. Pen turning and pen making can be addictive. Trust Me!!

You may get even better results using a collett chuck to hold the mandrel. Drill Chucks are notorious for their runout.