My First Pen: Curly Maple, Comfort Grip

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BigRob777

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Well, I finally made it. I was facing a few difficulties with this pen, such as the following: I did this without the right bushings, or a barrel trimmer. I had to guess the top diameter, at the clip. I didn't notice the scratches on the upper barrel until I looked at this picture. I had to modify the grip, as the lower barrel was 3/16" too long (I didn't trim the blank enough and set it too shallow, but it didn't explode and it looks nice, except for the CB fit, which is horrendous (notice I didn't show you the bad side of it[}:)]. Nonetheless, I am proud of this pen. Not too bad for a stubby fingered beginner.

I'd like to say that Lou helped me, as did Jim, but I don't want to make them look bad. LOL Anyway, they did help me and this pen would look 10X worse if they didn't. I guess this isn't the place for perfectionism. I can't stop smiling:D

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Rob,

That is a nice pen and you've got all the rights to smile...so keep on smiling!

Now he will be hoarding the best pieces for himself too [:D][}:)] LOL
 
The first is the hardest. After that the sawdust is in your blood!
I tend to give away a lot of my first pens as they were not worth selling. That looks great for a first time w/o bushings even!
 
Wow, all of these posts in about 16 minutes or so. Thanks for all of your kind words. I can't wait for Lou, Jim and Michael to see it. My wife hasn't even seen it yet and her e-mail at work is still down. Can I still use a barrel trimmer, to lose the gap at the CB (on the back of this pic[}:)])?

Dario,
I'll always sell my best blanks, or give them to friends, as I have so many awesome half blanks and defective ones, with plenty of blank for pens. I used a 2" and a 1" piece for this pen. Now I wonder why more pen turners don't buy half blanks. I guess it is good to have the grain matching.

Billy,
Honestly, this blank had a corner all gouged off and it was darker than the rest of my curly maple. It may be that I put my customers first, combined with the fact that I am cheap.[:D]
 
Great start Rob! Rather than trying to barrel trim to lose the gap you mentioned, try judicious hand sanding. Put your sandpaper on the desk, and keep the pen straight up and down while rubbiing the end on the sandpaper. I have done "afterthought" barrel trimming successfully at times, but it can spectacularly fail also.

Keep up the good work.
 
Way to go Rob....The first is always the hardest. You have done a much better job than I did on my first.

I have learned that if I don't have the correct bushing to use a caliper to determine the diameter needed. Someone gave me that advise early in my turning days. I pass it along to you to do with as you wish.

Again thanks for sharing your first with us.
 
Thanks guys,
I did use calipers, but I didn't have a strong reference for the clip end. Thanks for the encouragement. I am champing at the bit to do another, but my back is really aching. I stood to do the sanding and MM. I applied 3 coats, and sanded and MM, then did one more coat. I had to skew off some of the crud after the 3rd initial coat. Fortunately, I have a great coach and some great friends here to help me. I spent months reading posts, soaking up (and forgetting most, as my memory stinks).

I posted a picture on the wood trader's forum and someone wanted me to tell him how I did it and what he needed to get started. I gently referred him to everyone else. Maybe he didn't see the subject, "First Pen". Of course, I told him where to get some nice pen blanks[:D].

I just realized that the picture doesn't show the chattoyance, at all. It just looks like there are horizontal stripes. I guess that's all that ever really shows in pics.
 
Rob,

Yep...pics never really show you how nice the actual pen is. The ones that wow us here are for sure much more beautiful in person. :)
 
Rob, first off, CONGRATULATIONS! This looks GREAT! And I appologize...I should have told you to leave off the rubber grip! Trimming everything away after all that turning is heartbreaking to me, plus, it makes for a nice pen. Not that this one is bad, but I suspect your next one will be a LOT better...the learning curve on pens is pretty steep.

Congratulations again!
 
Jim,
Maybe I should have read some instructions. I know I got some for this pen. I didn't trim the thing short, after I turned it, I put a short piece of blank on the end of the tube and turned a 2" and a 1+" piece. I tried to keep the curvature about the same. Is it normal to pull your first pen out of your pocket about 50 times a day, just to look at it? I wore a hole in my pocket (literally).

I thought about turning the whole blank, as you actually did say that you do that, but I like comfort grips on pens (my hands are extremely dry and I probably don't even leave finger prints. The comfort grip helps me to keep ahold of the pen. This is going to be my "personal pen". I've heard another term here before, to designate the pen you use all of the time, but can't remember it. I have collected so much curly maple, for using in projects, but I've never seen any with a nice finish on it before. It is so "deep".

I think I figured out why I made all of my mistakes. I mentioned the others already, but I don't think I'll use 100 grit on my next pen. I didn't use it after the first CA sanding, but that was enough. I am going to make a Teacher's pen for my wife to use at work. Every time another teacher asks her about it, she can tell them that I make and sell them. I figure by the time I get to them, I will be able to make a pen good enough to sell.

Jim, you'll like this. I want to make a teacher's pen, which uses 3 tubes, with pink ivory on the red ink end and Lignum Vitae on the dark ink (blue?) end. I will use something that looks good between, but it has to be different for each teacher (I don't want them getting them mixed up).

I sold some more lig. vit. today in another forum. I will probably post some wood here tomorrow, but I don't know what yet.

Thanks Johnny.
 
WTG Rob. The pen looks good for your first try, better than mine. It was a SL w/o the help of a barrel trimmer. The more I looked the more probs I saw. Then I discovered the IAP and life has never been the same.
 
Rob, congrats on the first pen! It looks really good and you already have learned much through the process. As with each one, they will get better and better. Keep up the good work and us informed.

All the best,
Dale
 
Rob,
I started with 120 grit on most of my pens, but based on advice I got here, I've found that it's a little too aggressive for most applications. I'm now starting with either 180 or 220 depending on how bad the blanks look, and that seems to be working out much better for me.

That teacher's pen sounds like a GREAT idea!
 
James, Dale and Jim,
Thank you for your nice comments.

Jim,
What I did to eliminate the small grapes I had from using the smaller grit sand paper was to follow Lou's advice of skewing it off. It worked wonders. I think I started sanding too soon, which exacerbated the problem.
 
Rob, fantastic first pen. Never , I repeat NEVER sell that one or give it away! One day you'll look at it and think how much better your later pens look ....but you'll always be proud of that pen! My first pen was out of plain old Walnut sanded to about 2000 and rubbed with a danish walnut oil. I look at it now and think "man was I stupid or what to think it was a great pen" but you know what? I'll always cherish that pen. It was the begining of a wonderful addiction....er hobby!
 
Mick,
Funny you should say to never sell my first pen. Someone was hinting (at a garage sale) that she wanted to buy a pen from me, when she saw mine. I was thinking, "You've got to be kidding". I guess the average person doesn't see the flaws as easily as the maker, or other penturners. I just mentioned in another post that I am getting ready to turn my 2nd pen, with Tulipwood and Kingwood. It is for my wife and she wanted those two woods. I groaned when she picked them. I was thinking "Don't you want some softer wood?" Oh well, I reused the blown out tubes from my first attempt at pen 1. I am turning a comfortgrip, without the rubber grip, like Jim(go) suggested.[:D]
 
Well Rob, you are hooked, and if you feel closly you will notice yourself being reeled in. Pretty soon you will be joining the rest of us in the boat. That one looks great for a first. Keep up the good work.
 
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