The following paragraph is taken from a news letter i receive on a regular basis. Those that receive it will recognize where it is from. They make a little publicity about our site. By reading it, i think they really point out what the perception of this forum is and what brings people in. I specially like the last sentence.
You have seen some very impressive pens out there and have wondered where folks get such great ideas from. Check out the International Association of Pen Turners, otherwise known as the IAP. The link to this wonderful pen turning forum is
http://www.penturners.org. It will take you a few minutes of your time and a very little bit of inconsequential personal information such as your name and the general whereabouts of where you live, and you can have access to a virtual treasure trove of pen turning information.
The forum has been around for about five years and has almost 8000 members worldwide and the membership is growing all the time. There are old time turners and beginners alike. Best of all, every opinion counts and everyone wants to hear what you have to say. You really don't have to input anything, some folks, like me, just like to sit back and listen (read), look at pictures of some very impressive work, and just take things in.
If you ever have a question about anything related to pen turning, just ask. I can guarantee you that you will get back more information than you could ever possibly imagine in a very short time. I think there are folks perched out there just waiting for someone to ask a question. If it is proprietary information which you seek then you may be out of luck and responded to with something like "boy would we all like to know that". Believe it or not, there are some folks out there who think that the knowledge of how to turn a basic pen is proprietary information to them. Luckily though there are not so many of those folks on the IAP.