Liz from New Zealand

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M

MacPacMum

Member
Joined
May 29, 2017
Messages
2
Location
Christchurch, New Zealand 8053
Hi
I am still very much a newbie in woodturning but enjoy it. I enjoy pen making but the most complicated one I have ever done was with a Celtic cross in it.

My pen mandrel only does slimline pens but I am in the process of getting a new mandrel that I can use for other kits. We do not have easy access to the laser cut blanks here in New Zealand and the cost of postage from overseas makes them exorbitant. So I have joined to look at how I can take my pen turning up a notch and make them more interesting.

Most recently I have been turning pens out of wood from our 130 year old house that is due to be demolished soon. It is badly earthquake damaged and so I have been getting Kauri and Rimu wood from the house and making pens for everyone who had been helping us with the rebuild (along with the floorboards to put in our new house).

These are the pens I made for the group that was at our rebuild signing, out of a kauri door frame. The wood was very brittle when turning but sanded up nicely.
Kauri%20pens%20for%20house%20signing_small.jpg


This one was for our colour consultant using kauri and offcuts of acrylic blocks.
Kauri%20acrylic%20pen%20for%20colour%20consultant_small.jpg
 
Last edited:
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Welcome to IAP, Liz !!!!

Your "slimline mandrel" should be good for other pens ... just need different bushings.

The mandrel is most likely 0.247" diameter ... Type A mandrel ... checking it with a rule will show that it is 1/4" diameter close enough (6.3 mm).

Segmenting your pens with pieces of different colored wood is one way to turn your pen-making up a notch. There are lots of segmenting examples on this website if you search for them and there are some tutorials about how to do it, also.
 
Welcome to IAP Liz. With your desire to learn, you have found a wealth of information, both in the members and the Library.
As you progress you might consider moving to TBC (turning between centers). This skill can free you from using mandrels and bushings. All you will need is a dead center for your headstock and a live center (which you probably already have), and a set of calipers. Turning this way reduces the need for bushings for all the many pen kits that are available which gets you away from just slimlines. Saves a lot of money on bushings and the frustration of keeping track of all of them. There are articles about TBC in the library.
Keep having fun.
Gordon
 
Welcome from the UK Liz. I've been trying to see your pens but the link seems broken. I'll have to try on the desktop later.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
Welcome! Sorry to hear of the loss of such an historical home due to the earthquake. Not familiar with the wood species from your country but look forward to seeing some examples of pens using them.
 
I noticed that the link to your pens is from dropbox and it is httpS. I am not sure how that plays into being able to view it, but I am guessing that they might be viewable only when you are online and signed into dropbox.

Welcome to IAP.
 
'I noticed that the link to your pens is from dropbox and it is httpS. I am not sure how that plays into being able to view it, but I am guessing that they might be viewable only when you are online and signed into dropbox.'

:question: Just asking how you are supposed to attach photos to the site as I obviously haven't got it correct and want to be able to do it properly in the future.
 
MacPacMum said:
'I noticed that the link to your pens is from dropbox and it is httpS. I am not sure how that plays into being able to view it, but I am guessing that they might be viewable only when you are online and signed into dropbox.'

:question: Just asking how you are supposed to attach photos to the site as I obviously haven't got it correct and want to be able to do it properly in the future.
Click to expand...

Hi Liz,
Here is the procedure I use.


Here are the steps I took:
1 Download picture from camera to my computer.
2 Log onto site and click on the photos tab at the top of the home page.
3 Click on Upload button.
4 under category click on member photo albums then continue.
5 Then click the button to upload from computer then choose file.
6 scroll down to the upload button.
after the file uploads then just close out that screen and go to the forum testing 1-2-3 and scroll down and click on the new thread button.
7 then got to the button "My Photos" under the emoticons and select your photo from the my photos section.
8 then select submit new thread button.

I hope this helps. If not let me know and I will try and figure out what is wrong.

jim
 
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