mbroberg
IAP Activities Manager, Emeritus
There was only one entry into the 14-16 Youth Pen Making Contest. AJ Stensland (Jellydonut) submitted this beautiful Continental Fountain Pen (Chrome) in (Stabilized) Black Ash Burl.
Here is the information AJ submitted with his entry.
"I have been turning pens since May of 2012. I'm 15 years old and live in Ithaca, NY. I first learned about penturning after my dad (DStensland on IAP) brought home a Shopsmith multi-tool. Immediately I became interested in the lathe which led to pens. I turned my first set of Slimlines for my mother and while I was proud of them at the time I now know I could have done better. Eventually I learned many tips and tricks and then moved on to rollerballs, and now I recently started experimenting with fountain pens. I hope to move on from component pens into custom designs of my own.
This summer I had the chance to get a job like lawn mowing or something, but I chose to stay home and make pens instead (don't worry, my dad is around, but I make all of my pens myself).
The pen that I decided to submit to the Youth Pen Making Extravaganza is a Continental Fountain Pen (Chrome) in (Stabilized) Black Ash Burl. This is my first time submitting a pen to any contest. This was also my first time using this kind of burl. It was great fun to work with it. It cut very nice, and small voids I encountered were easily filled with CA and sawdust from the blank.
I had to deal with many problems with my CA finish when I started making pens. When I used to finish with bushings, I would get fractures where the CA creeped onto the bushing, so I switched to using Delrin finishing cones. After finding a CA that I like (Hobby Lobby), I found that the CA would lift up on the ends of my barrels during pressing. I solved this problem in part by padding my assembly press with wads of paper towel, and no dull/lifted spots came up on the ends of this pen. I attached 2 pictures of my entry to this email."
It is a shame that there were not more entries to this contest. AJ's pen is, without question a winner because of the pen's beauty and the quality of AJ's craftsmanship.
AJ will receive the 1st place prize package which consists of snake skin blanks from Don Ward and $30 gift certificate from Robutacion.
The remaining prizes have been reallocated to the Under 14 Youth Pen Making Contest.
Thank you AJ for sharing this beautiful pen with us. I hope to see many more in the future.
Here is the information AJ submitted with his entry.
"I have been turning pens since May of 2012. I'm 15 years old and live in Ithaca, NY. I first learned about penturning after my dad (DStensland on IAP) brought home a Shopsmith multi-tool. Immediately I became interested in the lathe which led to pens. I turned my first set of Slimlines for my mother and while I was proud of them at the time I now know I could have done better. Eventually I learned many tips and tricks and then moved on to rollerballs, and now I recently started experimenting with fountain pens. I hope to move on from component pens into custom designs of my own.
This summer I had the chance to get a job like lawn mowing or something, but I chose to stay home and make pens instead (don't worry, my dad is around, but I make all of my pens myself).
The pen that I decided to submit to the Youth Pen Making Extravaganza is a Continental Fountain Pen (Chrome) in (Stabilized) Black Ash Burl. This is my first time submitting a pen to any contest. This was also my first time using this kind of burl. It was great fun to work with it. It cut very nice, and small voids I encountered were easily filled with CA and sawdust from the blank.
I had to deal with many problems with my CA finish when I started making pens. When I used to finish with bushings, I would get fractures where the CA creeped onto the bushing, so I switched to using Delrin finishing cones. After finding a CA that I like (Hobby Lobby), I found that the CA would lift up on the ends of my barrels during pressing. I solved this problem in part by padding my assembly press with wads of paper towel, and no dull/lifted spots came up on the ends of this pen. I attached 2 pictures of my entry to this email."
It is a shame that there were not more entries to this contest. AJ's pen is, without question a winner because of the pen's beauty and the quality of AJ's craftsmanship.
AJ will receive the 1st place prize package which consists of snake skin blanks from Don Ward and $30 gift certificate from Robutacion.
The remaining prizes have been reallocated to the Under 14 Youth Pen Making Contest.
Thank you AJ for sharing this beautiful pen with us. I hope to see many more in the future.
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