Excellent presentation of this technique. I know it works as i somehow fell into doing a plunge cut with square carbide tool on my own a few months ago. As I watched Mark's presentation I thought I watching myself. It was a game changer for me on my wood pens. Mark hit two important points - sharp cutter and at the highest speed than can be obtained. As an amendment to Mark's process prior to sanding, I make a pass or two with a wide skew (as sharp as I can get it). These VERY LIGHT cuts produce only dust as a result of each pass. Using a wider/flat tool is a personal preference that gives me the ability to control the shape/line better than I can with the narrow width of the carbide cutter. At that point the blank is very smooth. I can then slow my lathe speed and start sanding (600 grit paper through about 1000 grit) and then CA/polish finish. Mark - this technique will make a lot of turners very happy with their ability to control pen shaping as well as how quickly one can get to the all important finishing steps!!!
