Harder than it looks!

[eddiefebuary]

I've been reading books, the internet, and saving money in anticipation of getting into penturning. Last night I took an intro to penturning class and found it is harder than it looks[:0]

Of course it doesn't help that I don't have any experience. The hardest part for me was keeping things smooth instead of herky-jerky. Thus I had a hard time not having my tool marks show.

It was fun though Now I can't wait to get my lathe and take my time with the next pen in my own garage.

 

[carverken]

welcome to the addiction [][]have fun and post some pictures of your creations
K

 

[ctwxlvr]

Welcome to the ADDICTION. Keep your tools sharp and to your preference and it will be a lot easier.

 

[Rifleman1776]

The tool mark thing will pass with hands-on experience. Try using a large (e.g. 1") skew instead of a gouge. Practice with the skew on scrap. Good luck.

 

[wudnhed]

Hi Eddie and welcome! You might be one of the lucky pre-turners to have found this site before actually starting. You will have alot of knowledge under your belt altho nothing is better than hands on experience. LOML nd I didn't find this site until we made about 50 pens and boy, you can sure tell the difference.[] Main thing is to have fun.

 

[randyrathbun]

Eddie, welcome!

Don't get hung up on messing up. My first few pens were horrible as I had never used a lathe at all. Now, I am still not a pro, but I am so happy with my work it is not even funny, and I am my own worst enemy when it comes to criticism. My problems were the same as yours. Nothing worse than getting the gouge to take a nice big slice out of the wood. I have shown a few friends how to turn and they do the exact same thing their first few times. I only did that for about a month, and haven't done it since.

The answer? PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! Keep at it.

 

[pete00]

howdy and welcome

there are no such things as oops, scratch marks, herky jerky <- i like that one []

They are ALL design implementations.
Some of which were planned, some divine intervention ...[]

The more help you have from above the more you should charge.
Because there gonna be one of a kind........[][}][]

 

[Alexander]

Addiction is right !! Crack doesnt even come close to turning wood !!

 

[Scott]

Hi Eddy!

I will echo what Becca said, and tell you to just have fun! Everything else will follow!

Scott.

 

[Ligget]

Eddy ~ welcome to the facinating world of penturning, as long as you have fun that is the main thing.
Practice makes perfect![][]

 

[jcollazo]

Welcome Eddie. You'll soon get that jerkiness out of your system... it just takes practice. To help you out, since I'm cleaning up the workshop, I'd like to send you some 24K slimline kits... no charge! I have about 5-7 of them and I'll never use them. 'Might as well send them out to a newbie. Just PM me with your address and I'll send them on Monday (getting ready to go out of town).

 

[eddiefebuary]

Thanks for the welcome everybody. This is an awesome community I have stumbled onto!
Joe, I sent you an email, thanks so much for your generosity. []

 

[thewishman]

Welcome! Lots of answers here - use the search tool (include the archives) to find almost anything there is to know about penturning.

This is a great place - always more to learn and to share.

Chris

 

[Brent]

When you get your lathe just put a piece of scrap wood between centers and pratice on that. Get use to using your tools and lathe speed on what ever scrap wood you have.

 

[DocStram]

Eddie .... you tried to turn a pen in a WC store? With people standing around watching? Hmmmmmm .... it's always a little harder to do something for the first time ... plus with somebody watching you? Give yourself a break. There's a learning curve involved but it's much easier and more relaxed when you're trying that first pen on your own lathe.
Plus, maybe one of us lives nearby to you .... lots of people here would be glad to get together with you. And, it's ok to put your location in your profile. I'm trying to figure out where you are.
Welcome to IAP!

 

[LEAP]

I have to second or third what Randy and Brent said, I had not turned anything for over 20 years when I picked up my lathe last fall. After doing a passable job on a couple of pens (passable only due to the amount of sanding I did to smooth out the tool marks) I cut some 2x4 material and practiced for awhile to get the feel for using the tools again. It's much cheaper than trashing pen blanks. one other thing I did was pick up some diamond sharpening stones / paddles and touched up the tools frequently to keep them as sharp as possible. Its amazing what a difference a good sharp tool makes. As Mark said Have Fun, my daughters and I have been really enjoying turning and hunting for a new type of wood to try is almost as enjoyable as the time in the shop. Happy turning! []

 

[dillonproturner]

Eddie,
Welcome! I too got addicted a couple years ago. Yep, definitely put some pictures on your profile, although if I put a picture of my first pen on my profile, I would be the laughing stock of the IAP, not now. Definitely try to learn the skew, get past the frustration and you will hardly ever use any other tools! It is my favorite now, and a word of advice, get one universal finish and get some hints from some of these guys first and then you won't end up having spent almost70 dollars on finishes like I have, try to learn CA glue, if you just can't handle that, try MM and friction polish, ENJOY!
Dillon

 

[eddiefebuary]

DocStram you are right, I tried my first attempt at turning in front of 7 other people in a WC store. I normally don't like people looking at me when I know what I'm doing so you can imagine my nervousness when I don't know what I'm doing.

I updated my profile so you now know where I am, just call before you visit []

No pictures yet.......

 

[eddiefebuary]

Hey Joe I sent you an email but I wanted to publicly thank you too. I received the pen kits you sent me. I now have plenty to practice on[] Thanks again!