a few of my pens/pencils

[ELA]

1. A Pentel pen in Bloodwood
2. A Pentel clone in wormy Apple wood and Ketalox band
3. A Slimline kit with Pine Cones
4. A Slimline kit with Purple Heart
5. A Mesa Click with wormy Apple wood

 

[Janster]

Nice finishes but for me personally they seem somewhat under turned.......Be well......Jan

 

[Fay Prozora]

Those are nice pens. I did try to do a pine cone pen but the darn pine cones broke off the brass tubes. I had watched some videos on making them so I'm wondering if they have to be stabilized or some thing like that? None of the vids I had seen showed any thing about any kind of treatment or stabilizing or any thing like that... Great pens! Fay

 

[ELA]

Those are nice pens. I did try to do a pine cone pen but the darn pine cones broke off the brass tubes. I had watched some videos on making them so I'm wondering if they have to be stabilized or some thing like that? None of the vids I had seen showed any thing about any kind of treatment or stabilizing or any thing like that... Great pens! Fay

I have used Minwax wood hardner in the past with good results. The pen shown was not stabilized. I use a scraper and a skew to turn them. It takes a light touch and sharp tools. The pine cones are fragile. I also use 2-part epoxy to glue them to the tubes.

l have found that I have better results drilling them if I put them in my drilling jig and use my drill press, but turn the drill by hand and go slow.

If a cone has a bend in it, I soak it in hot tap water then put it in a vice with spacers to straighten it and let it dry for a day or two before I drill it.

 

[ELA]

Nice finishes but for me personally they seem somewhat under turned.......Be well......Jan

Not sure what you mean by "under turned".
I would like a critique. The photos are poor quality.

 

[Band Saw Box]

Nice

 

[Janster]

Nice finishes but for me personally they seem somewhat under turned.......Be well......Jan

Not sure what you mean by "under turned".
I would like a critique. The photos are poor quality.

..the ends on the barrels do not meet the bushing size, or so it appears. Perhaps you turned them intentionally to be as such? The exception would be the Sierra pen!

 

[Fay Prozora]

Thank you for the explanation on the pine cones. I will give it another try and get the wood hardener. I also want to try the corn cob ones too. I did see a video on using the wood hardener for those. I didn't have any trouble turning the pine cone but they broke off the tubes so I was thinking they weren't hard enough for turning. We go camping a lot so I will be looking for some good pine cones. Ours here are the real small ones and not good enough for pen turning. I thought about casting the little bitty ones in alumilite and try that but I have to go get more stuff to play with.. LOL! Fay

 

[ELA]

..the ends on the barrels do not meet the bushing size, or so it appears. Perhaps you turned them intentionally to be as such? The exception would be the Sierra pen![/QUOTE]

Ahh! :good: The two pencils are turned a little larger at the nib and are smoothed into the nib. The reason I did this is that the nib is very nearly the same size as the 7mm tube. I have tried to turn some down to the nib size, but there is so little wood there that it was easy for me to screw up. The pencils are also not made from a kit and sometimes the insert I make is drilled just a skosh off center.

The pine cone pen I need to disassemble and try to do a better job of fitting the bottom to the nib and the band. The purple heart pen is a better fit, but could probably use a little more work at the nib.

Thank you for your input. I really like your pens and hope I can someday reach that level.

For reference I am retired and just a hobbyist, but I do strive to improve. Other people sometimes see things I miss or overlook. When asked, I tell people I have several years of "one week" experience.:biggrin:

 

[ELA]

Thank you for the explanation on the pine cones.

I am lucky, I have a friend in GA that brings me Long Leaf Yellow Pine cones. He even has squirrels that chew off the outer petals.:biggrin:

A couple of years ago, a friend brought me some pine cones from California that were long and had a center that was large enough to make good blanks.

The idea of putting them in Alumilite sounds interesting. Be sure to post a photo when you make one.

I want to try some casting such as the steampunk watch parts and photos and stamps.

 

[Fay Prozora]

Ok I'll give it a try. Tonight I saw a video on turning a shaving handle with acrylic the had pine cones casted inside. It was very interesting so I will give it a try. I have a mold that I made that is large enough to put a small pine cone in and cast it. It would make a nice bottle stopper if it should turn out. Hey , nothing wrong with some experiments. Who know? One day I could come up with the unique blank. I have a few small pine cones here but our pine cones are pretty small up here in Wa State. I live on the peninsula and have no idea where to find the larger pine cones. Only time I see them is at Walmart during Christmas time when they sell the ones that smell like cinnamon... Fay

 

[79spitfire]

A couple of years ago, a friend brought me some pine cones from California that were long and had a center that was large enough to make good blanks

Those were likely Sugar Pine, I'd never thought of making a pen from one, they are common around Lake Tahoe.

(great, another project!!)