First ever pen and lathe gloat!!

[DSallee]

Hey all...

Well, the wife and I went to Woodcraft in Tulsa and picked me up my first lathe.... a Jet mini lathe 1014I non VS and stuff to turn my first pen....

here's the details:

Cut the Cocobola blank to size on my table saw.
Drilled the blanks using the lathe (I don't have a drill press yet).
CA'ed the inserts in the blanks (fingers are still covered in dry CA... LOL).
Milled the ends of the blank on the lathe also using the drill chuck I got at woodcraft.
Mounted the blanks on the pen mandrel.
Started turning at lowest speed to round off the corners
Bumped the speed up to 1850 for finishing turning.
Oh, I used a Wood River 1/2" Spindle Gouge from start to finish (recommended by the manager, only thing he uses..). First blank, first ever turning and NO BLOWOUT!! Once I got it down to the bushings and shape I wanted I stared sanding. Bumped the speed up to highest speed for sanding. Started with 240 then 320 then 400(all aluminum oxide sand paper).

Then switched to the Micro Mesh pads in this order.. 1500, 1800, 2400, 3200, 3600, 4000, 6000, 8000 and finishing with 12000 which is the final finish you see in the pics below. and yes, I did turn off the lathe and sand with the grain after each level.

Then came the assembly of the pen which went very well, no problems at all and perfect fit... I used a large C-Clamp for this...

Well, here is the pics.... not the best pics but will do until I get my tent setup tomorrow...

The only thing I see that I could have worked on better is the center band area.... the wood is just a hair proud of the band...

How'd I do?????

All comments and suggestions welcome!!

Dave

 

[toolcrazy]

You did great. You do know you can remove the face plate from the lathe, you don't need it on there.

 

[Vince_Hoffmann]

Very nice pen! And excellent choice of lathes[8D]

If you remove the faceplate, you'll have more room to work

 

[Dan_F]

Congrats on both pen and lathe, looks like you are off to a great start.

Dan

 

[bitshird]

Congratulations on both the lathe and the pen,

 

[Glenn McCullough]

no one would know the center band area is proud, but you should be! Now you can practice disassembly and returning the pen. Nah, save this one...dont give it or throw it a way. I wish I had saved my first.
Great start, nice pen.

 

[RogerGarrett]

Really good first pen. Congrats on it and your choice of lathes. Soon you will wish you spent an additional $75 for the variable speed version[}][}]

I agree with Glenn - DON'T EVER SELL OR GIVE AWAY THIS PEN. We all wish we had kept our first one. I foolishly gave mine away - I didn't think it was very interesting - even though it was nearly a perfect fit and shape for a slimline.

Soon you will begin to become obsessed with high tech glossy finishes......

Best,
Roger Garrett

 

[fiferb]

Great job on your first! I wish mine looked that good. One thing I'd recommend is NOT sanding at the highest speed. I recommend lower speed. Just my opinion.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Nice start. I'm with Bruce on the speeds. Do all your turning at 2500 rpm or higher. Sanding at lowest possible.

 

[DSallee]

Thanks for all the comments... VERY much appreciated!!

I had a blast making it last night. After I got it assembled I told my wife about the center band being a tad off and told her that I was thinking of putting it back on the lathe. She said "Don't you dare!! Looks great the way it is and no one will even know it's off but you..."

I personally think it's "OK" for my first piece... not GREAT but OK... The wife absolutely LOVES it and wants me to make a small shadow box for it so I can keep it and hang it as my very first piece that I had ever turned. She also said this way I won't lose it or give it away... LOL

Now she wants me to make her one today so she can show it off at work tomorrow.. LOL

Welp... off to my new toy...

Dave

 

[PaulDoug]

Well, I see you are already over here. I left a suggestion at sawmillcreel that you try this great place also. Again, nice first pen. My wife grabbed my first one, so it will stay around at least as long as she does (already been around 40 years).

 

[Ligget]

Congratulations on buying a great lathe, I have had a Jet 1014 non VS for ages and it has never let me down.

Your pen is excellent considering its your first, better than my first one I can tell you!

Kepp on turning Dave!

 

[DSallee]

Thanks Mark...

Question for all ... What would "sanding at a lower speed" do as far as finish? and would you still go low speed for ALL the sanding from start to finish including the micro mesh pads???

My mind is telling me that a higher speed sanding will give a finer finish?? Am I thinking wrong??

I'm definitely up for suggestions and will try the slower sanding this afternoon on my next pen...

Dave

 

[Vince_Hoffmann]

If you sand at a higher speed, you risk heating up and cracking the wood. High speed sanding is a death sentence for CA because it will heat up, cloud and crackle. At which point you'll have to break out the skew and cut of the bad areas (or just toss it and start over).

I always wet sand as an extra precaution against overheating.

 

[airrat]

I do not change the speed I am sanding at, I sand at high speed on CA finishes all the time without a problem. You do run the risk of heating up the blank but it also depends on how aggressive you are sanding. If you are not removing that much material the blank does not heat up as much. You do want to be careful and not melt your Micro Mesh.

As to the CA clouding or crackling it does not mean you lose it. Just sand it back down to the wood and start the finish over again. I have had to do this on some really oily wood that gave me a fit with a CA finish. I finally did a sanding sealer on it then did the CA finish.

Good job on your first pen. Congrats and do not ever give it away.

 

[DSallee]

Welp... got my wifes done.... she likes it a little bigger where you hold it so I made it a little different than a reg slimline....

Thanks for the comments

Dave

 

[markgum]

Awesome work.
welcome to the pen turning world. It is addictive..

 

[Dalecamino]

Good job on both pens Dave ! Glad you're enjoying the work ! [8D]

 

[woody0207]

Nice job! Penturning is quite addictive... And if you are like many others on this forum (myself included) soon you will have purchased more blanks and kits than you know what to do with. [8D]