Pile of Longwoods

[pensmyth]

The wife asked me to turn some pens to give to her workers as gifts for special achievements. She didn't want a really fancy pen but something they would find comfortable enough to work with every day. I had been wanting to try out the Longwood from PSI. So I got some kits and turned a few. I really like the way these pens look finished and they are very comfortable to write with. I also tried a new type of wood blank (for me) called Dymalux from River Ridge Products. They are similar to Dymondwood. The three colors were Hot Pink, Chili Pepper and Chartreuse. The colors really pop and I've already ordered more blanks as well as kits.

 

[pensmyth]

Here's a couple of better pics of the Dymalux pens. The first pictures don't do them justice.

 

[Fibonacci]

I like the blanks, but the longwood kits have always just looked a little off to me.

How comfortable is the rubber grip? I have thought about doing a pen or two with the grips for comfort, but can't decide how they would feel.

 

[Rangertrek]

Nice work on the Longwoods. Those are one of my most popular sellers. They are light weight and show a lot of the wood, with or without the rubber grip.

 

[thewishman]

Your wife and her workers should be very happy with those beauties. Nice work, they look good as a group or as individuals.

 

[MarkD]

Nice work and interesting blanks. I'm sure they will be a big hit!
I have make a few on the PSI longwoods. The women seem to like them. I have made some with the cushion grip, some with matching wood and for a few I used ebony on the nib end for a different look.

 

[srf1114]

I really like the long wood kit as well. It shows so much more of the wood then your typical slimline pens. I like to do them without the comfort grips as well. It opens up the possible combinations of woods and designs so much.

 

[RMckin5324]

Wow, those look really nice. I've only tried to make longwood Pencils and had a tough time with each one. Out of three only one I made finally worked, but it was one of the Tiger Striped blanks and instead of the rubber grip I turned a piece for the lower part. She took it to work, Go Tigers.....HS team and dropped it and the lower part cracked and broke. I had a B of a time getting the rest off and finally did and added the rubber grip after......lol, shoulda done it first, I guess.
The others I tried had issues with the long blank, so I'm waiting to get some new tubes to try to redo them.

 

[Bobalu]

Nice looking pens. This is the first time I've heard of the Dymalux. Could you comment on how turned, took a finish, etc? Looks like you put a CA finish on them from the nice gloss apparent in the photos. Thanks for sharing.

 

[pensmyth]

Nice looking pens. This is the first time I've heard of the Dymalux. Could you comment on how turned, took a finish, etc? Looks like you put a CA finish on them from the nice gloss apparent in the photos. Thanks for sharing.

They were very easy to turn. I used my Easy wood mini rougher and turned down to just proud of the bushings then sanded 80-150 to finish. I applied 3 coats of ca thin and about 8 coats of medium ca then wet sanded/polished with 600-12000 pads and applied Renaissance Wax. The pictures really don't do the blanks justice. The finished look is very deep and colorful.

 

[pensmyth]

Here's where I got the Dymalux blanks from.

http://www.rrpwhite.com/index.html

Very good shipping too. My order arrives within 2-3 days