First Homemade CB

[johnhart]

Alright gang...After much discussion and great advice, I decided to try a couple pens with my own Centerband and sort of a fat, plain design to get a feel for a different shape. My first attempt turned out ok I suppose. I'm not real thrilled with the fit...but hey..it's my first and I think I'll keep it. I don't know what the wood is. I bought it several years ago and didn't like it so it has collected dust til today. The center is Brazillian Cherry.

This is the second attempt. I managed to get my squareness better on the band and actually epoxied it to the end prior to turning. This pen is made out of a pear tree that I cut down and the center is Brazillian Cherry. I must admit, it was really nice to turn this without that dang bushing in the middle. Thanks everyone. I'll continue to work on these forms as you all suggested.

 

[DCBluesman]

First attempt?!? Be proud of that one, then! [8D] Nice job.

 

[mike_l]

This is where pen turning gets to be a lot of fun. When you can let your creativity flow. Great job.

Mike L []

 

[JimGo]

Very nice John! Congratulations, these look great!

Here's a suggestion for squaring the CB material:

1) drill the standard 7mm hole (or one just slightly smaller, to match the ID of the tube if you aren't going to glue the CB to the tube) in your CB material
2) square one side of the CB material on a disc sander (I use the 6" face plate from my lathe, with some self-adhesive sandpaper attached to it)
3) slide the CB onto your standard pen mill, with the squared end facing down
4) put a previously milled SL blank (for example, the bottom tube you're about to turn) on the mill underneath your CB material, then square the CB material.

The bottom tube should sit flush with the CB material, giving you a square edge there, and the pen mill should square up the top edge.

HTH!

 

[dubdrvrkev]

Look goods again John. Looks like you are progressing quickly on your pen making.

 

[Glenn McCullough]

NIce job, John. One preference of mine is if the wood grain is similar, I prefer to drill and turn the cb cross grain to the body. It is only my opinion, that and a buck will get me a cup o' joe (I eat in cheap resauraunts).