PITH from D.Oliver to Tim Self

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D.Oliver

D.Oliver

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This is the pen I made for Tim. Its poplar, eastern red cedar, and black walnut. I would like a little honest feedback in regards to the spacing of the plugs. I made them so the the plugs line up going around the pen also, but in order to do that with varying size of plugs the spacing between each plug vertically is differnt and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Would have you made the vertical spacing the same and not worried about the alignment around the pen or would have you done it like I did? All other comments, critism, and critiques welcome also.

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And it keeping with a tradition I started last year, I also sent Tim an ornament.

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You can see the pen Tim sent me here.
 
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:confused::confused: Derek; I would have kept the vertical spacing even, because you notice the difference in the straight line. You would have to turn the pen to compare more than two lines across, and besides the dots are different sizes anyway, and you expect them not to line up side by side. Other than that, I would be a proud owner of this pen. Lots of planing and craftsmanship involved in the making. Happy Holidays !!! Jim S
 
This is a segmented pen of sorts and there will be different thoughts such as the one I would have done. But in the end there is no right or wrong. I would like to ask how you drilled the holes and how you made the plugs??? Are the plugs end grain???

My way of doing something similar would have been staying away from so many different size plugs. I would have used 2 sizes. and worked from the center outward. You would now have equal spacing on both sides in a line and all around.
 
Derek, no right or wrong, that is the uniqueness of pen making.

When I first saw your post, I read "PITH from D.Oliver to Him Self" and I thought WHAT.

I like the pen.

Ray
 
If I ever can make things like this, I would make same as you - as when you see circles, you see centers - and all centers are perfectly aligned and equally spaced. So for me, this looks much better then could be otherwise.
 
jttheclockman said:
This is a segmented pen of sorts and there will be different thoughts such as the one I would have done. But in the end there is no right or wrong. I would like to ask how you drilled the holes and how you made the plugs??? Are the plugs end grain???

My way of doing something similar would have been staying away from so many different size plugs. I would have used 2 sizes. and worked from the center outward. You would now have equal spacing on both sides in a line and all around.
Click to expand...

John, I drilled the blank by first doing all the math and figuring the spacing needed. I then laid out all the marks on the blank itself. Then I used my drill press equipped with a fence and a stop block. I would drill all four of the holes going around the blank. I would start with the smaller of the tow sizes and drill not quite half way through, then flip it 180 degrees and come in from the other way not quite half way in. At this point I would glue in the dowel in the two holes I just made. Once the glue dried, I would change drill bits and do the other two holes in the same manner. Once those four holes were drilled I simply set the stop block for the next four holes and thus proceeded to do all 16 holes in this manner. The plugs are not end grain. They are long grain. I turned them all on my lathe.
 
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