$100 pen revisited

[dbledsoe]

Ok - you asked for it. This is a photo of my first pen. I know it's bad, and I know several things to fix next time. Any comments are welcome, especially about how to take it apart so I can fix it.
The kit is a Gatsby click, which I have decided I don't like. Seems very heavy and bulky. I like the click part because I am too impatient to deal with a pen that requires two hands to operate. The wood is a piece of Walnut I had left over from another project, and, of course, I did not have the correct bushings for this kit so I had to improvise. It is really hard to get all the little pieces and parts all together at the same time.
On the plus side - just look at how much room there is for improvement! I love a challenge.
Hank - I live in Raleigh, MS, 50 miles north of Hattiesburg and 30 miles from the nearest Walmart. You don't get much more remote.
Thanks for all the comments and encouragement. Maybe someday I can help someone else.

 

[dbledsoe]

Oops - I meant $1000

 

[GoodTurns]

oh, we have all seen much worse...that's not even a candidate for the Birthday Bash Ugly Pen Contest! (some of us may even have made some that look worse! ) Congrats on getting it to completion and being willing to post!

 

[ssajn]

Looks good to me. You should see my $1000 pen.:biggrin:

 

[AlanZ]

Now if you turn another pen, the first one gets automatically devalued to $500...

Turn another, and it goes to $333.33

So just keep turning, and eventually, that first pen will not have cost you anything <s>

 

[leehljp]

Great start!

I sense a hole in your pocket and the money is draining straight into the pen pool! :biggrin:

If I might add a suggestion - While it is exciting producing pens following that first one, spend some time early on focusing on different steps in the process and that will greatly increase your skill set exponentially. Take some old pine board and make about a dozen blanks. Focus on the drilling, then focus on the turning to size. Then focus on sanding. Get the "feel" for each process. Focus on the finish. Do one and if it messes up, so be it. Try again. Keep trying.

If you ever saw the Karate Kid original movie - that part in it where he is made to wax the car with "Wax on, Wax off" motions, he picks up the basic process for one of the major motions of karate. Well, that is a movie but the analogy and process works well in pen making. Get the feel of each step through repeated experience and you will find your skill level taking a great leap forward. It is not that one does not have skills, it is that when problems arise, and they do, the extra experience helps in overcoming problems and noticing potential problems before they arise.

 

[ericd]

Lathe $600
Other stuff needed to make a pen $300
Satisfaction of making your first pen: priceless

Congratulations

 

[GrantH]

Oh now here's a local! I'm in Hattiesburg, about 50 miles South of Raleigh!

Not a bad looking pen, I must say. Well done.