BB is going to ruin me! :)

[woodscavenger]

I just recieved a large (for me order). The first thing I do is look at the eye candy blanks to see what I have and then see if there are any Xtras in the mix. This order had a screwbean mesquite (very figured) and then one that makes my knees a little shaky thinking about what to do with it......CURLY EBONY! Let's see....take a wood that is notorious for cracking and add some curl/difficulty to it! You know bill, if you are trolling these boards you are going to be the death of me! I am going to be ripped if I screw this one up. I only wish it were oversized so I could try a stateman FP with it.

Wish me luck!

 

[dubdrvrkev]

Know what you mean, first one from his was an ironwood piece that was a bear to finish and the latest it a green dyed curly maple which I have never done any dyed blanks, so we'll see how that goes.

 

[Old Griz]

Shane, if that curly ebony is 3/4" you should have no problem doing a statesman with it. Instead of drilling in on your drill press, drill it on your lathe. I just did a gorgeous piece of gold amboyna burl that was only 5/8" that is destined to be a Plat Jr Gent. I put it in the 1" jaws of my chuck and drilled it that way.. dead center. I have done this on some other blanks that were marginal, it always works for me.. the jaws hold the blank perfectly and as long as your tailstock is properly aligned you should have no problems.. I have never had any bit drift using this method.. it is a bit slower though..
And your right about Bill.. I have a selection of some absolutely gorgeous desert ironwood he has sent me with my past orders.. I really should start using it..

 

[woodscavenger]

I have become a real fan of DI thanks to BB. It can be tricky. I find that I have been doing the entire pen with my Sorby fingernail gouge and occasionally some grit gouges.

 

[airrat]

BB sent me a red BEB with my last order. still have not made up my mind of what to do with it.
Thanks BB

 

[ed4copies]

Tom,

I always drill kaleidoscopes on the lathe, but never pens. Why not, because it never occured to me, of course-DUH.

Do you need to use a pointed bit (bullet point) or are you confidant that any bit will not follow grain?? and veer from centerline?

Do you drill the whole blank, or halve it first, then drill half at a time-or does it matter?

I have always had problems getting larger pens out of 5/8 blanks, so any direction will be appreciated and USED soon.

Thanks[][][]

Also, Tom, haven't heard much about your Saturdays lately, how do you find the "pen market" treating you?

 

[Old Griz]

Ed, I primarily use brad point bits for my pens.. I have a couple of other types in some of the odd sizes.. and they all work with this technique.. the biggie is to mark the center of the blank and make sure that when you lock down the tailstock the bit is centered at the center at the blank..
I drill each half of the blank separately, basically because I usually use this technique for pens that require two different size bits. I have been able to rescue some really nice pieces of wood that otherwise would not have been used on a bigger pen...

Saturdays have been a little slow since Mother's Day, but Father's day is only 2 weeks away.. so hopefully it will get better... have had steady sales and thankfully in most of my better priced stock.. Fountain pens are really taking off.
The city really screwed us on Saturday.. we were hoping for a decent crowd of tourists with the Blues Fest in town.. SO what did they do.. they put a Blues group in the market to play.. sounds like a good idea you said... it would have been, EXCEPT for the fact they they played so loud you could not hear yourself think at the other end of the building... customers actually started leaving because it was loud.. a few of the vendors actually packed up and left... when the group was told to please tone it down a bit, they laughed at the vendors and told them to get a life... I was just to the point of finding out if they could play their instruments from the South end of their bodies [}] when they packed up and left. Of course by that time there was not a customer in the place... when we complained to the city about it, their answer was that they did it for us, don't complain. They should have had the group playing outside near the entrance to the market...

 

[ed4copies]

Tom,

Used the technique last night-will post results next week, but LOOKS GOOD-Thank-you.

Still don't know why I used the lathe for peppermills and kaleidoscopes, but never considered it for the pens-as an employee would tell me-brain fa__ (Never mind-gross employee).[][]