JDPens
Member
Hi All,
My name's Josh Anderson, I'm 15 (I'll be 16 in February) and have been turning pens for about 3 months. I less than 3 dozen pens under my belt but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. I first gained an interest after going to a Woodcraft Penturning 101 class. As evidenced by the fact that I'm here, I had a blast!!
A few weeks back, Eagle requested a guinea pig (novice penturner) for an experiment he wanted to try. Dad (NavyDiver) replied and told him that he could have three. He agreed and asked each of us to turn one of his cross inlayed pen blanks and post our experiences.
So, here goes: </u>
I received the blank in the mail about 2 weeks ago, well packaged and in one piece (that's important you know! [] )
Edit: Sorry, I have pictures (I hope) of the pen in-progress, but I have so far been unable to transfer them to the computer.
I proceeded to treat it like a normal pen blank, a little bit more carefully (no replacements) but normally nonetheless.
After cutting the blank on our compound miter saw, I proceeded to do your standard drilling, milling, and gluing.
However, for glueing in the tubes, I used a tip of Eagle's. I took candle wax ($1 store tea candles) and plugged the end of the tube. After tamping it down, I then put glue in the hole of the blank, as well as on the tube. The wax-filled tube then acts as a plunger to make sure the glue coats the entire inside of the barrel, ideally preventing blowouts. It was a bit slow, but worth it.
Dad had touched up the tools for me on our diamond honing stone so everything was nice and sharp. After putting it on the mandrel and setting up the lathe, I started with a roughing gauge (3/4 in) and turned it round. After the blank was round, I removed the tool rest and stabilized the blank with a swipe of medium CA.
By stabilized, I mean that I took a paper towel, put a little bit less than a dime's worth of CA on it. This was then put on the wood with the lathe at low speed. This prevented the inlay from coming out, locked the colors in so the woods didn't bleed, and helped to keep the blank from splitting.
I then used a 1/2 in skew chisel to take the blank down to nearly form, and repeated the "stabilization" process.
After snugging it up, just proud of where I wanted the final shape, I switched to sandpaper. I'd rather go through several pieces of sandpaper than have to worry about the blank splitting because I got too close. [8D]
I started with 150 grit, followed by 240, 320, and 400. In between each of these, I stopped the lathe and sanded with the grain to remove sanding lines. I then used MicroMesh, starting with 1500 and going to 12000. That in and of itself produced a nice shine!
Now, for the finishing. I used CA again, only this time I followed up with BLO (boiled linseed oil for any new turners). BTW, the BLO was applied about half speed and then rubbed in at wide open. I wore plastic gloves for this part so I didn't have to worry about the glue, or get oil all over my hands. After the first coat of CA/BLO, I sanded it with 8000 and 12000 MM.
I repeated the above process two more times. After all that (wow! those fumes can be overpowering [xx(] ), I finished it up with one application of HUT Crystal Coat.
The pen was quite shiny by now, and the inlay looked fantastic!
After removing the blanks from the lathe, I proceeded to put the pen together. We use a metal-working vise as a pen press/pen vise(milling)/etc. After pressing in the nib and twist mechanism, I used an awl from the top end to ream back out the tip of the nib where it had just barely folded inwards (this a regular occurence). The rest of the pen went together without a hitch and looks fantastic!!
A few concluding remarks:
This was a unique opportunity to try something very different. The blank turned very smoothly and I didn't feel any resistance when turning or drilling.
The only thing I would recommend is that you don't be stingy with your CA.
I am very pleased with the way it turned out. From what I can tell, Eagle put alot of work into these and it shows. They are definantly worth the money! [No, I wasn't paid to say that ]
BTW,
It is a Walnut blank with a Holly/Maple (not sure which) inlay and Bloodwood cross. The kit is a Black Titanium Cigar from Bear Tooth Woods. The finish is mentioned above (CA/BLO)
Here are some pics of the finished pen:
A pic of the full pen, looks great doesn't it?
A closeup of the inlay. (Sorry about the glare, I couldn't get rid of it [:I] )
Let me know if you want to see more pics, I have a couple more of the finished product.
All things considered, I really enjoyed it, it was neat experience!
My name's Josh Anderson, I'm 15 (I'll be 16 in February) and have been turning pens for about 3 months. I less than 3 dozen pens under my belt but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. I first gained an interest after going to a Woodcraft Penturning 101 class. As evidenced by the fact that I'm here, I had a blast!!
A few weeks back, Eagle requested a guinea pig (novice penturner) for an experiment he wanted to try. Dad (NavyDiver) replied and told him that he could have three. He agreed and asked each of us to turn one of his cross inlayed pen blanks and post our experiences.
So, here goes: </u>
I received the blank in the mail about 2 weeks ago, well packaged and in one piece (that's important you know! [
] )Edit: Sorry, I have pictures (I hope) of the pen in-progress, but I have so far been unable to transfer them to the computer.
I proceeded to treat it like a normal pen blank, a little bit more carefully (no replacements) but normally nonetheless.
After cutting the blank on our compound miter saw, I proceeded to do your standard drilling, milling, and gluing.
However, for glueing in the tubes, I used a tip of Eagle's. I took candle wax ($1 store tea candles) and plugged the end of the tube. After tamping it down, I then put glue in the hole of the blank, as well as on the tube. The wax-filled tube then acts as a plunger to make sure the glue coats the entire inside of the barrel, ideally preventing blowouts. It was a bit slow, but worth it.
Dad had touched up the tools for me on our diamond honing stone so everything was nice and sharp. After putting it on the mandrel and setting up the lathe, I started with a roughing gauge (3/4 in) and turned it round. After the blank was round, I removed the tool rest and stabilized the blank with a swipe of medium CA.
By stabilized, I mean that I took a paper towel, put a little bit less than a dime's worth of CA on it. This was then put on the wood with the lathe at low speed. This prevented the inlay from coming out, locked the colors in so the woods didn't bleed, and helped to keep the blank from splitting.
I then used a 1/2 in skew chisel to take the blank down to nearly form, and repeated the "stabilization" process.
After snugging it up, just proud of where I wanted the final shape, I switched to sandpaper. I'd rather go through several pieces of sandpaper than have to worry about the blank splitting because I got too close. [8D]
I started with 150 grit, followed by 240, 320, and 400. In between each of these, I stopped the lathe and sanded with the grain to remove sanding lines. I then used MicroMesh, starting with 1500 and going to 12000. That in and of itself produced a nice shine!
Now, for the finishing. I used CA again, only this time I followed up with BLO (boiled linseed oil for any new turners). BTW, the BLO was applied about half speed and then rubbed in at wide open. I wore plastic gloves for this part so I didn't have to worry about the glue, or get oil all over my hands. After the first coat of CA/BLO, I sanded it with 8000 and 12000 MM.
I repeated the above process two more times. After all that (wow! those fumes can be overpowering [xx(] ), I finished it up with one application of HUT Crystal Coat.
The pen was quite shiny by now, and the inlay looked fantastic!
After removing the blanks from the lathe, I proceeded to put the pen together. We use a metal-working vise as a pen press/pen vise(milling)/etc. After pressing in the nib and twist mechanism, I used an awl from the top end to ream back out the tip of the nib where it had just barely folded inwards (this a regular occurence). The rest of the pen went together without a hitch and looks fantastic!!
A few concluding remarks:
This was a unique opportunity to try something very different. The blank turned very smoothly and I didn't feel any resistance when turning or drilling.
The only thing I would recommend is that you don't be stingy with your CA.
I am very pleased with the way it turned out. From what I can tell, Eagle put alot of work into these and it shows. They are definantly worth the money! [No, I wasn't paid to say that
]BTW,
It is a Walnut blank with a Holly/Maple (not sure which) inlay and Bloodwood cross. The kit is a Black Titanium Cigar from Bear Tooth Woods. The finish is mentioned above (CA/BLO)
Here are some pics of the finished pen:
A pic of the full pen, looks great doesn't it?
A closeup of the inlay. (Sorry about the glare, I couldn't get rid of it [:I] )
Let me know if you want to see more pics, I have a couple more of the finished product.
All things considered, I really enjoyed it, it was neat experience!
