My First 3 pens!

[bryfox86]

So I am very new to this art and am having a blast! unfortunately I do not own my own lathe so I have to use the ones at our wood shop on base. That really limits the time I can get on and use one. otherwise I feel I would be confined to my garage turning pens all day and night long. Well here are the first three pens I have ever turned... please don't be too harsh but let me know if I am on the right path.

Pen One... Made of KOA used a Friction polish and bees wax finish.

Pen Two... Made of Kamani used a Friction polish and bees wax... learned that turning curly wood can be much more difficult to turn because of the alternating grain directions. Also learned the wrong way to press a cigar pen together (notice the lack of a clip)

Pen Three... Made of Red Heart used a Friction polish finish. Learned from my mistake on pen two and pressed this one together correctly. actually pretty happy with the way this one turned out!

again please let me know what you think!

 

[penmaker1967]

looks good

 

[Lenny]

I'd say you are already making progress!
I remember getting the bushings mixed up on one of my first cigars, lol.
Keep your first few pens so you can look back at them a year from now and compare your progress. Good job!

 

[bobjackson]

Good looking pens. You are on your way. Nice job.

 

[GaryMGg]

Bryan,
Thank you for your service.
The red heart cigar looks good -- you're showing real progress.
Welcome to the slippery slope.

 

[ironman123]

My First 3 pens

Bryan, those look good for the first 3. Last one shows lots of improvement from the first one. Keep those to look back on in 3 months and see the difference.

Good job.

Ray

 

[bryfox86]

I completely plan on keeping these too look back on! I cant wait to make some more!

 

[edstreet]

OK coolness. One old trick (this is a very VERY old GI trick for M1/M1903 stocks) is this: melt the bees wax, add ONE of the following, tung oil, boiled linseed oil, danish oil, or teak oil to it. Let it dry and apply it like shoe polish!

 

[shippy]

The cigar looks great Bryan! It keeps getting better and easier, then ya come up with an idea to try, and it gets hard again for a little bit! There is some really awesome stuff on here that I can't imagine myself ever considering an attempt at, but it's fun to dream and think about! I really like the cigar kits, the large diameter allows the wood to show itself off!

 

[bryfox86]

Thanks everyone!! I am actually looking into doing some creative stuff with poly resin. Mainly because my wife wants to be involved and I know she would have fun with that. So look out because there will be a lot on the horizon for me in the near future!

Edstreet: thanks for the advise! I will give that a try!

 

[OOPS]

Hey, don't worry about having to use a lathe that isn't your own. Think of it as one less thing you have to buy to get started! There's plenty of things to absorb all of your money, and then some. I really like redheart, and because yours turned out so nicely I think I will have to make a redheart cigar pen for myself. Also, I am glad you posted your "oops" with the clip....we ALL have made the same, or similar mistakes. Your experience gives the rest of us a reminder of things that can go wrong if we aren't paying attention. Oh, and welcome to the club!

 

[bryfox86]

Thanks!!! its awesome to be here!

 

[nava1uni]

Welcome. Your pens look good. The red heart cigar does show improvement. If you look at the first pen you can see where you want to lightly smooth the edge so it blends into the center band. That way the edge feels good to the fingers and it is a better fit.
Keep up the good work and thank you for your service.

 

[bryfox86]

Absolutely! thanks for the words wisdom... I am trying new things and keeping things fun at the same time. My wife wants to make poly resin blanks. So we are contemplating using the PVC method and the Square mold method.