My first attempts

[mraynes24]

Hey all,

These are the first pens i have made over the last week since i started turning.

So far I have made eight pens of varying styles and materials, with a lot more to go.

I'm new to this so don't go to hard on me

The order they were made is

Slimline - Silky Oak
30 cal Bolt - Blackwood
Gatsby - Purple Acrylic
Sedona Fountain - White Blue Acrylic
Magnum - Woodlands Camo Acrylic
Slimline - Tasmanian Myrtle
Vertex Roller - Jack Daniels Barrel Stave
European - Black and White Acrylic
Cigar - Tiger Myrtle

Just got a heap of different australian burl blanks today in the mail so i am looking forward to having a play with them.

 

[Jack Parker]

Looks like you are off to a great start, Ryan. Welcome and keep up the good work.

 

[OZturner]

Nice Bundle of Pens. Ryan.
You sure jumped out of the blocks with a rush.

You asked to be treated gentle.
Frankly, I can't see anything to be overly critical about.
Your Pens look Excellent.

The first Slimline with Silky Oak, looks like the lower Blank, could be a little undercut to the Nose Cone, and the Finish looks somewhat subdued.
That could be because of the position of the light source when you took the Photograph.

What Finish did you use? The Tiger Myrtle, and the Jack Daniels, look a lot brighter, but then again they were taken in a different aspect.

Normally, I would suggest that you keep your first efforts, so that you can look back in a couple of Months and see just how much you have progressed, but with so many Pens, that could be a bit of a Problem, and probably your friends and family will want to grab some.

Great Work, and I look forward to seeing your future Pens,
Congratulations,
Brian.

 

[mraynes24]

Thanks guys,

Yes i was playing around with the skew in that first slimline, and undercut the tip a little too much, but I'm starting to get better with the skew now. I had literally only turned on piece of wood before i did that pen.

Yeah i think i have a little bit of a bug, i keep wanting to make more, I'm still working my way through the different suppliers and options out there. I have some nice mallee burls that I got today and can't wait to see how they come out.

The first couple of wood pens were finished with Eee-ultrashine and Shellawax, the Tiger Myrtle and Jack Daniels were done with a CA/BLO combination, I'm still learning the finishing process especially with the wax finishes, but i think I'm getting the hang of it. I am absolutely amazed by the shine that comes off the CA polishing with MM and plastic polish.

I am a scout leader and another leader has offered me a piece of oak from a tree that Lord Baden-Powell planted at our training facility/camp site when he visited for the 1st Australian Jamboree, so i need to find a kit that suits. Any suggestions on that would be awesome.

 

[lhowell]

They look great! The only thing I can see is a bit of tube bleed through on the silver/blue acrylic. Try painting the inside of the tube with an enamel based paint. I use model paints. You can paint it one of the colors that are in the blank or black, or really any color you want.

Pretty impressive you jumped right into a skew after turning only one piece of wood!

 

[qquake]

Very nice pens. The Sierra looks like a Gatsby to me. All the Sierras I've seen have a different trim band on the tip end.

Sierra® Ballpoint Pen Gold: Pen Kit Making Supplies Berea HardWoods

https://www.pennstateind.com/store/PKGAPEN24.html

 

[mraynes24]

My apologies it is a Gatsby, i was looking at sierras just before posting, confused myself lol.

Will edit to correct.

 

[Two Hair]

Great looking pens