Desk Pens.......Wwwwhhhhhyyyyyyyyy !

[PenWorks]

Here are a few desk pens I made this week. I finished the first one Tuesday night and mentioned it in the chat room. I said I made an 11" FP and was going for 14". Ol Griz asked why....? Well, not havin a good answer at the time, I said WHY NOT ?

Well, just couldn't get to 14", they kept breaking. So the max is 11" of wood, with an overall length of 12" for the longest. These are not dip pens, all three use converters, two with Lamy nibs, one with a Baron nib.

I finally figured out Wwwwhhhhyyyyy I made them......
1. What else can you do with the cocobolo strips from Bill (ilikewood)
2. I like long desk pens
3. I wanted to practice my spindle turning.

Thanks for looking..........[8D]

The Lamy nib pens fit perfect in these new old stock desk ink wells from Esterbrook, 1956

PS. I want to thank Virgil for the new joke in my house between my daughter and me. When we were hangin in Provo, I heard him say "why" a hundred times. But it came out like that long Texan draaaawwwwl...
Wwwwwhhhhyyyyyy, like he was crying So now every time my daughter asks my something, I just respond with Wwwwwwhhhhyyyyyy Pisses her off [] So, Virgil, Wwwwwhhhhhhyyyy can't I make my spindles longer and thinner, we both watch the same demonstrator ? He could make his so long and thin. what am I doing wrong?

 

[coach]

The middle one makes me think you are getting a head start on the bat pen bulk buy. Very nice work. Just three more inches? I think you can do it. YOU CAN DOOOO IIIITTT!

 

[JimGo]

Very pretty Anthony!

 

[alamocdc]

Very cool, Anthony!

 

[swm6500]

Go for it Anthony, more practice and you will get to the 14 incher. [8D]

 

[Fangar]

That is great Anthony! Now put a Crochet hook end on the other side and maybe you can sell them on ebay for 350.00 eahc like the other dude.

James

 

[its_virgil]

Wwwwwhhhhhhyyyyy you asking me? I can't turn long thin spindles either. The demos we saw turned them from tail stock end to head stock end and I've tried and still can't make it work. Maybe they have had more practice than we have. I shall keep practicing and hope you do also.

I visited with Jay P. over the weekend and best I could figure was about 5 nibs per hour. He does them in batches...Drills a batch, turns them down, swaps ends and turns the nib and makes 5 or 6 per hour. He had some nice designs.

I looked for your post with the lucite pen pictures...could you point me to them? Bakelight huh? I have some square bakelight rods that I was told were billets for making the dice used for casinos. Know how to tell if they are really bakelight? Isn't there some simple way to tell?

Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[PenWorks]

I was turning them from the tail stock down. I think is is the practice thing. Maybe I should be happy for the first try at longer ones.

That's pretty good about Jay, 5 nibs an hour, not bad.

Here is the link to the lucite pens
http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7814
Here is the link to the bakelite
http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7928
I was told it was bakelite, it was a round round stock

 

[WoodChucker]

Lookin good there, Anthony!

 

[Glenn McCullough]

They look very nice Anthony. Nice gentle flow to the bodies.

 

[pastorbill1952]

Those are great looking pens. All 3 designs are wonderful.

 

[ctEaglesc]

Kind a Neat!
Do you include a disclaimer about poking your eye out?
How about a steady rest to make turning more stable?
A how made 3 wheeler shouldn't be that tough.

 

[ed4copies]

Originally posted by cteaglesc
<br />Kind a Neat!
Do you include a disclaimer about poking your eye out?
How about a steady rest to make turning more stable?A how made 3 wheeler shouldn't be that tough.

It has always seemed that long, skinny things break because of vibration-in spite of my best efforts. This sounds like a solution.
IMHO (in this case, my opinion IS humble, as I have not yet made this work!)[]

 

[Rifleman1776]

Not only very nice pens but a lesson in turning. Everything has it's limits. I recently tried turning some 1"X36" spindles for a cabinet I made my wife. Just wouldn't work. Too much flex. You may (emphasize 'may' ) be able to reach that 14" with different woods and/or some as yet undiscovered technique. As I type, I'm thinking, maybe use a chuck and put the turned portion into the headstock as you turn, keeping the distance between head-tail relatively short. Of course you would have to hand sand out the chuck marks.