New to turning, first pen here.

[emccarthy]

As the title says, I'm new to turning...I got my first lathe(a Rikon 70-100 mini lathe) this past Saturday(4 days ago) a few tools a couple of pen kits and other sundry items I needed to start. I wont bore all of you with details of the playing around(aka practicing) I did, but instead will show you not only the first pen I've turned, but also the very first 'real' thing I've made with my lathe.

Just a little info: It's a classic american twist style pen. I couldn't tell you the kind of wood it is, but I polished it with micro mesh to 12000 grit and finished it with Mylands High Build Friction Polish.
See if you can find all the flaws!

 

[altaciii]

Really nice for the first time out. Great job! Make sure you keep it as a reminder sometime in the future of hoe far you've come along.

 

[oops99]

Beautiful Job,

First pen???? must have had a lot of practice .

Tom/oops99

 

[emccarthy]

Hehe, to be honest, I hadn't had much practice at all. Prior to Saturday, I've had absolutly no woodturning experience at all. since then, I've messed around with trying to turn coves and beads on a peice of 2x4 and some poplar I purchased specifically for practicing. besides the pen, I've only practiced on 3 peices of wood...guess I'm getting the feel for it.

There are definitly a couple things I need to work on, such as assembling the tubes into the blanks properly, and comparing measurements between my blanks and the kit, rather than using the bushings alone, I think. The pen looks nice, but the fit and finish leave some to be desired, IMO

 

[Pioneerpens]

very nice first pen!

 

[RAdams]

What is that? A Pecan half? Or a rose rock or something?


Nice pen! If you don't own them already, A set of calipers will help TONS! Don't do what i did and pay almost $50 for dial calipers at woodcraft..... Look around and you can probably get digital calipers for much less than i paid for my dial.

 

[Daniel]

Harbor Freight is usually good for a low cost digital caliper. Again save that one, someday you will pull it out just like all the old photos of your family and stun yourself. Nice job for a first time out by the way.

 

[Glenn McCullough]

So, you show us up by tackling something other than a slimline for your first pen, eh? How rude! but nice job and welcome to the addiction. I found this site after turning about 50 of them and my quality immediately improved by hundreds of percentage points. Theres alot to learn and you're in the right place.

 

[Rangertrek]

Nice job for your first pen. Beat the heck (can I say that?) out of my first pen. I think the most important part of the pen is the FIT at the lower barrel and the nib. This is the part that gets the most "touch" by the owner. So, a great fit there is essential. If you can learn to do that, the rest of the pen will follow.

 

[jbostian]

Great first pen!

Jamie

 

[snyiper]

Walnut shell.

 

[OldGrumpy]

Great Job

I too just started turning in January. Wish my first pen had looked nearly as nice as yours. Great job.

 

[mbroberg]

You are off to a great start!! Nice job!

 

[emccarthy]

Yep, snyiper has it right - the pen is resting on a walnut shell :biggrin:

@RAdams, Daniel - As for calipers, I've been a cnc machinist for the last 6 years or so, so measuring tools aren't an issue.

@Glenn McCullough - as overpriced as woodcraft is, they've got some pretty helpful people working there. The salesperson I worked with suggested that the slimline was a more difficult pen to start with, and pointed me in the direction of the classic american.


Thanks everyone for the nice comments...I'll take the lack of negative critque that you couldn't see the flaws from the photo? :biggrin: I'll point them out, starting at the nib and working my way back

• The fit between the nib and the barrel aren't perfect. I overtightened my tailstock on the mandrel so both barrels are out of round slightly.
• The grain doesn't line up as well as I would like. I wanted to have it line up when it was not being used, but due to an issue with the bushing(?) that screws into the twist mechanism, when I glued it to the barrel, I noticed I was off in my alignment, and at that point it was too late
• Fit between the center and the 'cap' isn't right. The barrel of the cap is about .015" or so larger diameter.
• The finish leaves a lot to be desired. For my first pen(and the second I turned last night as well) I used the friction polish I bought. I keep telling myself that I won't become allergic to the polish, but I really like the looks of the CA finish. I'll probably be picking up some BLO this weekend to try on my next pen.

Speaking of my finish, I wanted to ask a question about using micro mesh - on this pen, I have an odd textured look to it, due I believe to improper use of the micro mesh. It almost looks like a really bad ink jet printout(faded and blocky). Should I take this to mean I spend too much time on each grit, or is it a matter of treating the micromesh like the coarser sandpapers, and turn off the lathe to sand with the grain to remove perpendicular scratches?

 

[joeatact]

Nicely done.

 

[PenMan1]

years later, I still have trouble with this kit because of that little notch in the tube and the whole trimming for the clip idea. Nice Pen. Good Job. Way to break out of the slimline mold.

 

[PenMan1]

Speaking of my finish, I wanted to ask a question about using micro mesh - on this pen, I have an odd textured look to it, due I believe to improper use of the micro mesh. It almost looks like a really bad ink jet printout(faded and blocky). Should I take this to mean I spend too much time on each grit, or is it a matter of treating the micromesh like the coarser sandpapers, and turn off the lathe to sand with the grain to remove perpendicular scratches?

It might just be as simple as using a little DNA to clean the grain before finishing. I always have to do that with walnut or it has an odd "blurry" look.