jeff_in_AZ
Member
Hello from Jeff in Chandler, AZ (a suburb of Phoenix).
I'm new to woodturning in general and my son and I have been
turning pens for about a month now. For my day job I work as
an electronics engineer.
Our introduction to pen turning came in November, when there
was a special Veterans Day pen turning for the troops at the local
Woodcraft store. After some instruction, my son and I each made
a pen to donate. We had a lot of fun, and afterwards we had the
bug to try making pens at home. So I began to gather all the necessary
equipment to turn pens. I already had most of the power tools, including
a lathe, also eventually purchased a mandrel and bushings, morse taper,
pen press, 7mm drill bit, pen mill, and some blanks/kits.
Since then we've been having a lot of fun turning pens and we made
several nice ones for Christmas gifts this year. There were a few "oops"
along the way, but we learned from them. So far we've made about a
dozen 7mm slimline wood pens and pencils. The finish hasn't been fancy
so far, just sand down to 400 grit and apply HUT Perfect Pen Polish, but
they all looked nice.
I also read an article by Eric Anderson about how to photograph pens and
then set up a little pen photography studio in my bedroom closet (I have
an understanding spouse). I've attached a few pictures of our best efforts
to date. The first picture was my first try, made from paduak. After this
I decided to turn them a little smaller, although this one fits well in my
ham hands, so I'll probably keep it. :biggrin: The 2nd picture used purple heart,
the 3rd picture used walnut burl, the 4th picture is a pen and pencil set
made from a pair of matched bloodwood blanks.
Anyway I'm glad to have found IAP, this is a great resource. I look forward
to meeting and chatting with all of you.
jeff
I'm new to woodturning in general and my son and I have been
turning pens for about a month now. For my day job I work as
an electronics engineer.
Our introduction to pen turning came in November, when there
was a special Veterans Day pen turning for the troops at the local
Woodcraft store. After some instruction, my son and I each made
a pen to donate. We had a lot of fun, and afterwards we had the
bug to try making pens at home. So I began to gather all the necessary
equipment to turn pens. I already had most of the power tools, including
a lathe, also eventually purchased a mandrel and bushings, morse taper,
pen press, 7mm drill bit, pen mill, and some blanks/kits.
Since then we've been having a lot of fun turning pens and we made
several nice ones for Christmas gifts this year. There were a few "oops"
along the way, but we learned from them. So far we've made about a
dozen 7mm slimline wood pens and pencils. The finish hasn't been fancy
so far, just sand down to 400 grit and apply HUT Perfect Pen Polish, but
they all looked nice.
I also read an article by Eric Anderson about how to photograph pens and
then set up a little pen photography studio in my bedroom closet (I have
an understanding spouse). I've attached a few pictures of our best efforts
to date. The first picture was my first try, made from paduak. After this
I decided to turn them a little smaller, although this one fits well in my
ham hands, so I'll probably keep it. :biggrin: The 2nd picture used purple heart,
the 3rd picture used walnut burl, the 4th picture is a pen and pencil set
made from a pair of matched bloodwood blanks.
Anyway I'm glad to have found IAP, this is a great resource. I look forward
to meeting and chatting with all of you.
jeff