First Pens

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tony0778

Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2007
Messages
12
Location
Liberty, SC, USA.
Thanks to the wealth of information available on this site....I finally took the plunge and turned two pens this weekend. Great fun! Both are Cigar kits by Berea with walnut and lacewood blanks. I think I may need to use a sander sealer with lacewood next time. Looking forward to your recommendations for improvements!
 
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Firefyter-emt

Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2006
Messages
2,903
Location
Putnam, Connecticut, USA.
Nice job Tony.. You made the right start by leap-frogging the slim line and starting out with the cigar. I think more new turners should start out with this kit as the price is not much more, yet the pen is light years ahead of the slimlines.

The first one looks just about perfect in form, there might be a "sharp blank vs rounded coupler" issue due to the kit design itself, but not an error on your part. If you have this sharp line, I suggest swapping a smaller bushing at that end to "round over" the edge a bit when you sand it and you will find that the curve fits better. When I made new cigar bushings on my lathe I turned that one smaller to better fit the pen. I turn with calipers anyway, but having a bushing that is a bit too big makes it hard to turn the blank down properly.

Very nice set for you first, or heck, even after quite a few pens to be honest!
 

R2

Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2007
Messages
1,994
Location
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
They have come up very well Tony, especially the first one.:):)[^]
I can see fairly prominent rotary scratches on the second pen. To lessen your chances of this happening you need to sand in a very methodical manner. Firstly work down through the grades and sand along the grain between each grade. When you have done this clean the pen off with a soft brush or cloth to remove any grit that may have separated from the cloth backing. If you find you have difficult to remove scratches go back to the previous grade.
Secondly, always use the best quality material you can get- 3M for instance. It also helps,once you have torn your sanding strip from the roll to run it back and forth over a fairly sharp edge - grit side up - to help dislodge poorly attached grit and any bigger than should be grit.
Thirdly, don't use too much pressure when sanding as this will cause deep scratching.
Fourthly, dull grit causes more problems tha it's worth. get rid of it.
all the best.:):)[:p]
 

tony0778

Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2007
Messages
12
Location
Liberty, SC, USA.
Thanks for the feedback! I agree that my sanding needs some work! I was amazed how hard lacewood is. As a result, it took a lot more sanding than I expected. I also agree that the form on the walnut pen is much better. Next time, I'll have that one accessible at the lathe to use as a pattern. As I progress, I would like to use a better finishing technique...would appreciate your thoughts on this as well.
 
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