Wenge "Cigar" Pen

[stolicky]

Its been a while since I have posted a pen. Actually, I haven't made one in a while. Been busy with exploring larger things on the bigger lathe when I get time away from work, the baby, and pushing snow around...

Anyway, here is my attempt at making a pen that looks like a cigar when it is closed. It is wenge, and a couple of pieces from a baron kit. I may try one of Lou's nibs on it once I get some. Wenge is definitely a challenging wood to work with. There was a blow out and an actual whole chunk of this pen that went flying, but some patience and CA goes a long way! Oh, good thing I have a pre-separator before the dust collector that caught the chunk for me.

I usually use a gouge of sorts to rough down a pen and then finish with an oval skew. I actually used my 1/2" Thompson shallow spindle gouge for this whole pen and had to sharpen and hone it several times. This is really hard wood, yet it splinters so easy?! Definitely a challenge.

Comments welcome.

 

[Padre]

That is so cool!!!

 

[witz1976]

Wow that looks excellent!! Can hardly see where the cap and the pen body meet!

 

[Rangertrek]

Nice work, I like the cigar (uh pen).:biggrin::biggrin:

 

[David Keller]

I really like this pen. Great idea and execution.

Might be interesting to include an old vintage cigar label on this to complete the cigar theme... Just a thought.

 

[gvanweerd]

mighty fine job you did there. me likyliky

 

[LouCee]

Now that's a real cigar pen! I like it.

 

[theHullTurn]

Great work!

 

[toolcrazy]

NICE!! I love it.

 

[jbostian]

Very cool pen.

Jamie

 

[louisbry]

Beautiful pen. All it needs is a nice cigar band.

 

[PaulDoug]

That is a nice job. I think I can appreciate the difficulty in turning wood like that. I just fininsh a pen with white guyana rosewood that I cross cut. Tok me five attempts.

Great turning you have there.

 

[johncrane]

Well worth the challenge looks great.

 

[AceMrFixIt]

Very sharp looking pen.

 

[seamus7227]

Beautiful work!

 

[Mickey]

Getting grain to line up like that should be against the law! Very nice.

 

[LandfillLumber]

WOW very nice I always say that Wenge is an under used pen wood.It not easy to work with like maple but wow look at the results.Beautiful job,Victor

 

[moke]

Extremely well done!!! It is nice to know others have blow-outs too!

 

[stolicky]

Thank you. I enjoyed the challenge. I actually turned two barrels for a Jr. pen first (for practice) that are still sitting here. I have been contemplating on how to finishe them. I did do a CA/BLO finish on those barrels. There is actually no finish on this pen at all. I just sanded to 600 and then buffed - first with a bit of tripoli and then a dry buff. The wood is so hard and oily that it shines up nicely.

I thought about getting a cigar label and sticking it on the pen. However, I think that other than just sticking it onto the pen, I'm not sure how well it would work with wenge. It wouldn't be protected at all.

The wood is very porous (think oak or ash porous). Hum, I may try to see if I can build up a poly finish on my 'practice barrels'. If that turns out okay, maybe that would fill the pores and cover a label? I wonder how that would look? Thoughts?

 

[Bree]

Outstanding. What a wonderful idea and excellent execution.
:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

 

[Mrs Rojo22]

Nice!

Robin

 

[Oldwagon]

I really like the grain of this wood.You did a great job on this one.Thanks for showing.Todd

 

[Dustygoose]

Wow

 

[stolicky]

I have to share and gloat a bit.

I attended the annual NWA Showcase and Totally Turning Symposium this past weekend. It was another great experience and I learned a lot over the weekend. I entered this 'cigar' style pen as well as the the segmented pens I posted in this thread: http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=60007
and a small rosewood bowl I am proud of.

I was able to chat a bit with Kurt Hertzog and get some advice on pen turning. I don't get to interact in person with many pen makers so it is always nice to have the opportunity. You can tell that someone knows about pens when they pick up one of yours and can talk about the construction and making of it. I always appreciate the chance to interact with someone with his expertise and willingness to help us relative newbies. I have said it before, he is a great addition to the AAW board.

Oh yeah, the gloat, as if getting the chance to interact with some of the world's influential players in turning wasn't enough. I entered this 'cigar' pen into one of the three categories and won first place! I think it was more the uniqueness and creative side of the pen, rather than the overall quality, but I am very happy. To add to my ego, Ellsworth and Giles Gilson were critiquing about 15 items of their choosing on Saturday night. And, yep, my little pen was one of them. Ellsworth liked it so much he tried to smoke it! I have attached pics below, because it really didn't happen without them, right?

Boy, talk about raising the bar to see what I can challenge myself to come up with next...

 

[RAdams]

SWEET PEN!

Congrats on the first place! It is well deserved! And you got to rub elbows with Royalty!! Sweet deal all the way around reckon!!

 

[greggas]

Chris, awesome pen, love the simple lines VERY COOL