Variety Pack of Pen Blanks for New Turners

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Edgar

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I have at least 5 variety packs of blanks for new turners for the cost of shipping -- $6.00 in the USA. Foreign turners are welcome to request a pack, but shipping cost will vary depending on where you live.

Each pack will have at least 15 blanks and there will be at least one of each of the following: Pecan, Oak, Walnut, Sycamore, Koa, Padauk, Eastern Red Cedar, Western Red Cedar, Cherry, Honey Locust and Purple Heart. You will get two of some of these blanks and I might include some other species as well.

There's nothing special about any of these blanks - its just a good variety of woods for new turners to practice with. I'm not putting any restrictions on this offer - if you feel like you are a beginning turner, you are welcome to participate.

Claim a pack here & send me a PM with your address and I'll send you my paypal address. First 5 people to claim a pack in this thread get them.

I may be able to fill more than 5 packs, but no promises just yet.

Edgar
 
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Edgar

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The first 5 boxes are spoken for by vmsherp, Firebucket53, aldjmc, barnmb7117 and Tom1697.

I will pack those boxes today and as many more as I can. I will post an update once I have a count on how many packages I can supply.

You may continue to request a package in this thread if you would like to participate. I will fill requests in the order they are posted in this thread for as long as I can.

Thanks for your interest.
Edgar
 

Edgar

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OK Folks - I was able to pack up a grand total of 10 of these variety packs. Each pack will have 20 blanks and there is at least one of each of the listed varieties in each pack. The remaining 9 blanks in each pack may be duplicates of some of the listed varieties or some other species.

A total of 8 have already been spoken for, so I still have 2 left. Once those are gone, that will be it for this go-round.

Those who have already requested a pkg are:
vmsherp
Firebucket53
aldjmc
barnmb7117
Tom1697
SCjim
M THOR
stevenhuff

Thanks for your interest
Edgar
 

magpens

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Very generous of you to do this, Edgar !!!!

I am sure all the recipients will be very thrilled with their box of blanks.
 

Edgar

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All packs are now spoken for.

That's all for this go-round. Thanks for your interest.

Edgar
 

jennera

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Thank you, Edgar! Logan will enjoy having some blanks to call his own. Rebecca is already trying to figure out what she can trade him for the koa but it will be good for Logan to have a variety to try.

Jennifer
 

Edgar

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Thank you, Edgar! Logan will enjoy having some blanks to call his own. Rebecca is already trying to figure out what she can trade him for the koa but it will be good for Logan to have a variety to try.

Jennifer

My pleasure, Jennifer.

I visited the Aloha Stadium flea market the last time I was in Hawaii. One of the booths was run by a couple whose son makes some of their handcrafted items. He only works with Koa and they had a couple of boxes of his off cuts for sale at fairly reasonable prices. I pretty much filled up a large flat rate box with some of their nicer pieces. I was able to cut 8 pen blanks from one of the boards that I picked up from them. Those are marked with a "K". The remaining two Koa blanks for these packs came from my stash of Koa blanks that I've accumulated over the last few years - those are labeled "Koa". I can't say which you are getting because I just randomly applied shipping labels to the packages after I packed them up. Koa is enjoyable to work with and sometimes has nice chatoyancy, but you never know for sure until you turn it.

Most of these blanks came from various off cuts that I've accumulated from various places, including some of my own projects. The Pecan came from my farm and the Purple Heart came from a board that I recently bought on sale at Woodcraft.

Woodcraft still has that sale going - you can get a 3/4" x 4" x 36" PH board for $8.54 right now. Depending on how you cut that board, you can get as many as 24-35 pen blanks from it. That's only 25-35 cents per blank - hard to beat that price.
 

jennera

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Thank you, Edgar! Logan will enjoy having some blanks to call his own. Rebecca is already trying to figure out what she can trade him for the koa but it will be good for Logan to have a variety to try.

Jennifer

My pleasure, Jennifer.

I visited the Aloha Stadium flea market the last time I was in Hawaii. One of the booths was run by a couple whose son makes some of their handcrafted items. He only works with Koa and they had a couple of boxes of his off cuts for sale at fairly reasonable prices. I pretty much filled up a large flat rate box with some of their nicer pieces. I was able to cut 8 pen blanks from one of the boards that I picked up from them. Those are marked with a "K". The remaining two Koa blanks for these packs came from my stash of Koa blanks that I've accumulated over the last few years - those are labeled "Koa". I can't say which you are getting because I just randomly applied shipping labels to the packages after I packed them up. Koa is enjoyable to work with and sometimes has nice chatoyancy, but you never know for sure until you turn it.

Most of these blanks came from various off cuts that I've accumulated from various places, including some of my own projects. The Pecan came from my farm and the Purple Heart came from a board that I recently bought on sale at Woodcraft.

Woodcraft still has that sale going - you can get a 3/4" x 4" x 36" PH board for $8.54 right now. Depending on how you cut that board, you can get as many as 24-35 pen blanks from it. That's only 25-35 cents per blank - hard to beat that price.
Wow! We might have to stop by Woodcraft after school tomorrow and check out the purple heart. We picked up a board of Texas mesquite and have been cutting it down for blanks but the first two she turned had cracks or small knots. I wasn't sure if that is normal for mesquite or if we should have cut the first few inches off the board before we started cutting blanks from it.

We have tried to get her to try filling in the crevasses with CA and shavings but she hasn't tried doing that yet.

She figured out this weekend that putting alcohol on the micro mesh instead of water is leaving purple abrasive off the mesh in the grain. She wasn't please with those results. I just purchased a shop light to put over the lathe so maybe she can see the details a bit better.

I am Mom though so have to watch what I say and try not to sound nagging. [emoji4]


Jennifer

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Edgar

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Any blank with knots is prone to cracking, but they do add character to a blank if yo can turn them successfully. Hardening & filling cracks with CA & shavings is a good way to go.

Any tree can have stress grain patterns depending on how the trunk or limbs grow, but brushy trees like mesquite and acacias are especially prone to that sort of thing which also contribute to cracks. It's a good idea to study the grain patterns before turning. Wild or random grain patterns do enhance the pen, but they do make the turning more challenging.

It's all part of the learning process - different woods behave differently and even two blanks of the same type can be quite different depending on grain patterns, solidity, cut style and many other factors. Just encourage them to keep practicing & experimenting to learn how different blanks behave & how to deal with them.
 

robutacion

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Wow! We might have to stop by Woodcraft after school tomorrow and check out the purple heart. We picked up a board of Texas mesquite and have been cutting it down for blanks but the first two she turned had cracks or small knots. I wasn't sure if that is normal for mesquite or if we should have cut the first few inches off the board before we started cutting blanks from it.

We have tried to get her to try filling in the crevasses with CA and shavings but she hasn't tried doing that yet.

She figured out this weekend that putting alcohol on the micro mesh instead of water is leaving purple abrasive off the mesh in the grain. She wasn't please with those results. I just purchased a shop light to put over the lathe so maybe she can see the details a bit better.

I am Mom though so have to watch what I say and try not to sound nagging. [emoji4]


Jennifer

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Hi Jennifer,

There many materials that can be used for filling cracks, knots and any crevasses that appear in the wood. Here are some of the most common or a should say, some that give us some amazing results and changes a defect into a feature.

*- Grind pure coffee

*- Gold powder

* Aluminium powder

*- Coper powder

*- Turquoise stone, crushed or powder, these are found natural or man-made.

*- Any of the colour powders used in casting.

*- Etc., etc...!

Cheers
George

Any of these materials can be used with CA or Epoxy glue in the area is a little bigger.
 

robutacion

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I have to congratulate Edgar for never forgetting the new members and like myself, we like to give them a hand, teaching them the meaning of "pay forwards".

You do a lot for IAP, I know that as many other members do, however, the acknowledgement followed by a thank you, feels good to the soul I know so, thank you...!:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George
 

Edgar

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I'll be grateful if you have any left

Sorry, Matt - that's all that I had for this go-round, but keep an eye on this forum. Deals like this do come up from time to time. We have a lot of generous members who remember how it was when we first got started & this is one way we sometimes pay back the kindnesses shown to us back then.
 

Firebucket53

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Apr 19, 2017
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South Carolina
I received my pin blanks today thank you very much. I'm very pleased with the variety. Look forward to posting pictures once I get a chance to turn them.
 

Edgar

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They are all gone, but there may be other opportunities in the future.

Something to keep in mind for the future. I'm in Australia, what would postage cost be to here or would that make them prohibitively expensive?

One pack of these blanks went to Canada & the postage was $24.00. Considering that the blanks were free, the net cost to that person was just over $1.00 per blank, so it's still a good deal. I'm not sure about the cost for shipping a small box like that to Australia, but it should be in the same ballpark.
 

mfarr79

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Apr 24, 2017
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Location
Brookhaven, MS
I received the gift of blanks this afternoon and have already prepped four of them to turn once the epoxy dries. I am very grateful to Edgar and Ken V for their kindness and generosity. Thanks very much and God bless!
 
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