Hi From St. Louis (The Lou)

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mattgatten

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Dec 27, 2007
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St. Louis (Metro East), MO, USA.
Hello there. I've been registered for a couple of weeks now and just lurking about. I got into turning about 3.5 weeks ago and have been trying my hand at various things. Just last week I walked into a Woodcraft and said, give me everything I need to turn pens on my lathe. Well, 150 bucks later, I walked out with a mandrel, some slimline kits, pen mill kit, bits, extra tubes, etc. I already had the wood and CA and polishing stuff. Needless to say, I made 3 pens this weekend (and a bowl). Fell in love with making the pens.

Here are some pictures in my flickr.com gallery. Let me know what you think.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gattenphotography/sets/72157603709287989/


I'm going to have lots of questions. (Be Warned).
 
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mattgatten

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Dec 27, 2007
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St. Louis (Metro East), MO, USA.
Thanks a bunch. I'm a semi-pro photographer. My main personal work usually involved pictures of my kids and macro floral shots. I love flowers. If you look in my flower sets there are some red roses and yellow roses. Those roses were only about the size of a quarter in diameter. I love the layers in nice tight rosebuds. :)

Thanks again,
Matt
 
gcurran

gcurran

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Dec 17, 2007
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Blairsville, GA, USA.
From one newbe to another -- welcome. Your first attempts at pens are a lot better than my first attempts, but I am getting better, pen #4 looks like a pen (ha, ha). I have found a great finish technique using CA and plastic polish. I hope that you have as much fun with this hobby as I am. [:)][:)][:)]
 
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mattgatten

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Dec 27, 2007
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St. Louis (Metro East), MO, USA.
Thanks Mater, and the rest.

Mater, I just realized you have a Marine Corps signature. I'm a 14 year Air Force vet myself. (Separated for medical reasons. Don't get me started. lol). Anyway, my son graduated Marine Corps Boot Camp in October and is finishing up his SOI training as I type this. Once 'in the fleet' he's getting sent right back to Pendleton (where he's training) for permanent assignment. They already told him that he's slated for his first tour in Iraq early this summer. I look at all military branches the same, by the way. Thank you for serving.

I finished these by sanding through the grits up to 400. Stopping between each one to sand, by hand with the lathe off, along the grain. Once I get done with 400, I use a clean rag to clean them off. Then I fire up the lathe again and hit them with a coat of CA. Once the CA is dry, I load up a buff on a power drill. I put tripoli on the inside half of the buff and leave the other half clean. That way, I can load the piece up with tripoli as I polish in one direction, and rub it off in the other direction. It made polishing the cherry pen off real fast. I just had to realize my technique.

I really want to be able to make the pens super shiny but it seems to be escaping me. They are acceptable to me the way they are but I would love to hear what anyone is using to make really super shiny pens. What to get and where to get it would be great. I'm sure there are countless threads on it, so point me in the right direction.

Thanks,
Matt
 
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mattgatten

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Joined
Dec 27, 2007
Messages
28
Location
St. Louis (Metro East), MO, USA.
Fire away on any photography questions. Any at all. It's another thing I enjoy doing. I run a fairly popular photography website geared toward all skill levels and helping them get better. I'll drop that site in a little while after I've been on the site for a while. hahaha


Seriously though, if you have questions about photo related stuff, just shoot me an IM. That goes for anyone. :)

Thanks guys,
Matt
 
airrat

airrat

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May 17, 2005
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Location
chandler, az, USA.
Welcome Matt, please post your photography site, or eamil it to me. I can always use a little help in that area.

As to the shiny finish, you are starting it out already its done with CA. Do a search for it there are many methods of doing it. Everyone tailors it to what works for them. Look in the Library here I believe there is a couple tutorials there.
 
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