Does grain need to run with the pen?

[Nick Rocco]

This might be a dumb question but...
have always turned pens with the grain running in line with the pen. If I am turning a pen from a piece of stabilized, spalted or burl wood do I still need to run with the grain?

 

[Akula]

No, will not matter

 

[plantman]

Simple answer. NO!! Sometimes you will get very interesting and unexpected patterns by turning cross grain or end grain. You may have to be a little less aggressive to avoid chip out or the fuzzys. Jim S

 

[Ted iin Michigan]

Agree

 

[terry q]

No it doesn't matter, however stabilizing makes cross grain turning of easier.

 

[Edgar]

If you don't stabilize crosscut blanks, it is a good idea to harden the blank with CA. After drilling, coat the drilled hole all around with thin CA. Let it cure fully (at least a day) then redrill before gluing in your tube. This will strengthen the inside fibers and reduce chances of a blow out as you get close to final diameter.

 

[Nick Rocco]

Thanks for the great tips!

 

[mark james]

After drilling, coat the drilled hole all around with thin CA. Let it cure fully (at least a day) then redrill before gluing in your tube..

A hard lesson... be patient.

Glue-up a few blanks... do something else for the next day (segmenting!!!), check on the first project, etc... Work in shifts. Get to a point where you have blanks gluing-up from YESTERDAY - TODAY - TOMORROW. After that pattern is set, you have different stages of blanks every day.

At that point, it is easy to allow the blanks to dry 24 hr. This is really important - allowing the blanks to set. The later turning is so much easier.

(I actually like to set a pattern/sequence where I can turn 2 blanks/night - but after they were glued-up a week prior!)

Just a suggestion!