New from British Columbia

[HaroldD]

Hi everyone. I lucked onto this site looking for pen blanks for building reel seats for fly rods. I have never turned a pen yet, with "yet" being the key word. There are some very talented artists on this site, and just looking at some of the work has given me the itch. I have most of the tools already and I will have a few questions when I get going. Is there a certain style of pen that you would suggest I start on for one reason or another? I look forward to picking up pointers in just reading the posts.

You have a great site here.

cheers
Harold

 

[jimm1]

Welcome from Middle Tennessee.

 

[Jim15]

Welcome Harold.

 

[Padre]

Welcome from Connecticut!

 

[Mark]

Hello Harold. Welcome to the IAP.

 

[Fred]

Welcome, Horold, to the Forum and greetings from N.E. Georgia.

 

[markgum]

welcome

 

[Longfellow]

Welcome

Welcome from Sunny St. Cloud, Fla. Home of beautiful Florida wood.

 

[rherrell]

Welcome!

 

[Glenn McCullough]

welcome from the mitten. Get all the reels done for customers orders, for once you start on pens, there will be no time or interest in fishing.

 

[HaroldD]

Thank-you for the greetings. Glenn, I'm afraid you may be right. The more I look at the work you guys and gals are doing the more ancious I am to start on a few.

cheers
Harold

 

[Ligget]

Welcome aboard Harold!

 

[broitblat]

Welcome, Harold.

I'd suggest starting with a Sierra (the same or similar style also known as Wall Street II, Gatsby, Tapa, Diplomat, and other names). It is a single barrel that can be done straight or curved, it you prefer.

-Barry

 

[Twist-Ed]

Welome from Ontario

Start with a couple of slim lines (cheap)
Modify them
After that your screwed

Fishing is over

 

[HaroldD]

LOL...Now that's encouraging. I guess I could always write a cheque to buy some fish with my newly built pen.

 

[CSue]

Welcome Harold.

You know if you catch some nice fish, you could always sell them for pen stuff.

Below are links to two threads/articles that have lots of information on pen turning. The first one is a very basic overview of the many aspects of getting into turning pens.
http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=42446

The second link has postings by different pen turners and what they wish they had known earlier:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=46654


Here is another link - a PDF on the acronyms used here. I am sure you know many but this will help with those you don't.

http://content.penturners.org/articl...9/Acronyms.pdf

 

[HaroldD]

Ahh. Thank-you CSue. Those links are the cats meow.

Harold

 

[bgibb42]

Welcome!

 

[DotDoc]

Welcome Horold from East Tennessee. When you start try slimlines first, easy , fast, and forgiving.

 

[glen r]

And another welcome from Edmonton, Alberta.
glen r

 

[gmreeves]

Hey Harold. I missed this one. I posted over on your rod building post. I'm the same as you. I wanted to make my own seats and grips and here I am. Don't worry, though you'll still be able to find time to build rods while you wait on the post man to deliver more pen kits and blanks. :biggrin:

 

[HaroldD]

Thank-you. I can see this rapidly turning into another passion. I'm just waiting on some supplies and a few tools to arrive and then the questions begin. This looks like a very helpful bunch of guys and gals, so I'm really looking forward to being a part of this forum.

 

[Rfturner]

Welcome Harold. My suggestion is the Slimline style pens, They are a great starter and cheap if you make a mistake. When you make a mistake don't worry all of us have been there before just learn and move on. Look at the library there are plenty of great tutorials and what not to do in there.