First Closed End

[Seer]

:biggrin: This is actually the first as there have been no failures yet (lol). This is Maple Burl that Sharon gave to me when I visited her and her husband Jack. (They let me use their planer). I did not use any special mandrels exactly but I followed the tutorial that Don Wrd wrote about just drilling a 1/4 inch hole in the bottom of the blank and using the tail stock to hold the mandrel in it. I went a little further and actually ground the end of the mandrel into a 4 sided point to give it more grab.
I put this on a Black TI JR Gent as gold would fade too much I feel and I am very happy with the finish, fit and everything. Making this pen has given me a new outlook on pen making and improving my skills. I hope you like it and comments are most welcome as is criticism.
Jerry

 

[Rick P]

Well done.

 

[boxerman]

Very nice pen.

 

[RichF]

Really nice job on your first closed end.

 

[its_virgil]

...and you saved $25 by not purchasing a special expanding mandrel. Nice job on the pen. Maple burl is a favorite. Thanks also for finding the article helpful.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[76winger]

Nice pen!

Got a link to that article? It sounds worth reading, but I'm terrible at searching for stuff on the site.

 

[rizaydog]

Very nice pen. Great work.

 

[Seer]

...and you saved $25 by not purchasing a special expanding mandrel. Nice job on the pen. Maple burl is a favorite. Thanks also for finding the article helpful.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Call me throifty or cheap but I like making my own tools when I can and you instructions were spot on and easy to use and I am looking forward to a closed end on both ends next. Thanks for the great info Don.

 

[bitshird]

Great closed end, also a very nice piece of Maple Burl, you did a great job with it!!

 

[scotian12]

Dave....go to this link and look under closed end pens. www.RedRiverPens.com/articles

 

[Seer]

Dave....go to this link and look under closed end pens. www.RedRiverPens.com/articles

The instructions go over several ways to do this I did the one using a mandrel shaft. The one picture is worth a thousand words Dave. This same pdf is also listed on the front page at IAP on the right.