New to the hobby - first pens

[kevrob]

Hello all -

Brand new to penturning and working with a lathe! I turned my first pens today and thought I would share them with you all to get your critiques!

The first one is a zebrawood pen. The first project of any sort (outside of a few practice runs) I have ever turned. Overall, I thought it turned out OK - it could have been better. But, then as I was putting the bottom part of the pen it, using a hand clamp to tighten, it went in crooked and cracked the side of the wood! I guess I should spring for a pen press or wooden vice as I have read people do here. Any other suggestions?

The second one was a Afromosia pen. All in all, I have no complaints on this one. The seams are smooth and it looks nice overall. I used a CA/BLO finish. What could I do to improve? Can anyone tell any obvious flaws through my very poor pictures?

I also tried to turn a PR pen today that I cast earlier this week to no avail. Could it have been unsharp tools? I blew out the middle of it as I was turning. It also seemed to have a lot of "divots" in it as I turned. Is that just the nature of PR or would their have been too many air bubbles? I thought if I would have gotten to sanding, those would have been smoothed out - but I wasn't sure.

 

[Ankrom Exotics]

Welcome aboard. Those are very nice pens for a first go at it. Put 'em in a drawer and look at 'em again in about a year. Your progress will amaze you.

You might try using your drill press (assuming you have one) to press your pens together until you can get a pen press.

 

[keithkarl2007]

Turn 2 plugs with a taper to suit both your headstock and tailstock. Using the travel on the quill in the headstock, you can press the components together.

 

[bitshird]

Nice pens, too bad about the Zebra wood, Cross Cut Zebra is very pretty, also very temperamental, like Keith said you can use your lathe as a press also, but a 1/2 ton or 1 ton Arbor press is great.

 

[RAdams]

I used my drill press with a wooden insert in the chuck and a piece of plexi on the tabletop. I HIGHLY suggest you get yourself a real press. For me, It made such an incredible difference, My only regret is that i didn't get one sooner.


As far as turning PR, there are two rules. FAST SPEEDS and LIGHT CUTS. You need good glue coverage, and a very gentle touch. I use a round nose scraper, or a skew if i am feeling lucky.

 

[mrcook4570]

Nice looking pens.

 

[jimm1]

Nice job. If that shot glass was put to better use, you might not care as much about the crack. But seriously, good looking pens.

 

[randyrls]

I also tried to turn a PR pen today that I cast earlier this week to no avail. Could it have been unsharp tools? I blew out the middle of it as I was turning. It also seemed to have a lot of "divots" in it as I turned. Is that just the nature of PR or would their have been too many air bubbles? I thought if I would have gotten to sanding, those would have been smoothed out - but I wasn't sure.

Kevin; With most kinds of acrylic you need ultra sharp tools. I don't have much success with the gouge. Either a skew or scraper will work. The divots are chipouts in the acrylic. The skew must be used in a shearing cut, not a scrap. Turn the lathe OFF and lay the skew on top of the blank with the point of the skew extending beyond the point of contact. The bevel of the skew should be resting on the blank. Now set the height of the tool rest. If you are doing it correctly, you will get fine shavings until the blank is round, then you will get long ribbons of material coming off the blank. Small hard "nubs" of acrylic and pits in the blank mean you are pressing too hard with dull tools.

I would highly recommend that you see if anyone locally can give you a little guidance.

 

[kevrob]

Randy,

Thanks for the advice! I figured it was due to dull tools. I sharpened them up on the #2 pen pictured above. This was after the acrylic try. I will try another again tomorrow. I am not sure if there are any other pen turners in the middle of Kansas. To be honest, I have never even seen pens sold at any of the craft/art fairs that I have been to.

Thanks again! Off to try a cigar pen using a Bacote blank.

Kevin

 

[jttheclockman]

Kevin

Just a suggestion and get rid of the black background and use either a white or a grey background and the pens will show up better. To pull off the black background you need better lighting and right now you don't have it. Just a suggestion.

 

[nava1uni]

Just another suggestion. I would work on one style pen until you are comfortable with handling the tools and the general scheme. My reason for this suggestion is that if you concentrate on only one style you will get a lot of practice and learn to see the things that need improvement. I found in the beginning that if I did too many styles I couldn't really see the differences in my skill level, since there were so many differences in each pen. I worked with slim lines, which are actually a good pen to learn on since they give you so many opportunities for variety. To make an excellent slimllne takes a lot of skill.

 

[ThomJ]

Good looking first pens

 

[penmaker1967]

u will love doing pens i started about 5 years ago and cant seem to stop (lol) great looking pens

 

[1dweeb]

Great first effort. +1 on putting them away as representations of your first work. I wish I had done that when I first started. Practice and don't be afraid to try new techniques as you settle into your own method. Welcome from Texas.

Wayne