I can't wait to see the responses you get on this one, Russ. [
] I've read everything I can about your penmaking and wood prep, wood finishing...loads of excellent stuff out there. And I've adopted as much of it as I can, bookmarking the rest for when I gain some experience and ability.
I think there are a lot of reasons for not stabilizing our own wood and many other cost cutting processes. Some of us cut our own blanks. Some stabilize, either with CA of a vaccum chamber and poly. Some buy wood and have it stabilized at only $1 per blank. Why don't we do more? A bunch of us have tiny little shops with barely enough room for a lathe, so we don't cut our own blanks. Some of us don't have air handlers and the strong smell of CA overwhelms us so we don't use CA to stabilize. Some of us use inexpensive kits to make pens because we have tight budgets for our hobby. Some of us work 10-12-14 hour days to feed our families, so we need the convenience of having a "ready-to-go" blank.
The more folks I talk to on this site, the more I realize that the circumstances vary so greatly between members that there's no way to standardize the way we approach pen making...even if it's the most efficient way imaginable. Efficient...cost effective...easy...these are all in the eyes of the individual crafter. One thing I will say, though, is ALL newbies should visit your (Russ) articles on how-to. There's something there for everyone. It's how I got started and I'm thankful for those articles everyday.