No problems with it. Its a light wood so it does lathe very easy so I had to work a little slower than other wood. I left the wood a little thicker before finish because the sand paper, even 400 grit, was taking it down pretty fast. The only thing I didn't like was not getting a good red/white color out of it. I made a cedar chest about 10 yrs ago and the color was awesome. But this was just a piece of 2x2 that I had bought from home depot a while back. If I do another one with this wood, I will probably stain it. Lol
I know its not a pen but this was the chest I made and the color I was hoping for.
Here is a lamp I made from the aforementioned tree. Both pieces came from different sections of the same branch. It is finished with several coats of polyurethane which definitely brought out the color. I'm hoping I can get the same effect in a pen. My plan is to make a Slimline pen using some of the same wood but without the clip and attach it to the lamp base with a pen funnel.
You might find the switch arrangement of interest. I had to drill two long holes which intersect inside the lamp, one all the way through top to bottom for the bulb and one through the side branch for the switch. I had to run the wiring from the bottom of the lamp post up to the top for the bulb, and run a wire up the "branch" at the same time for the switch. Then I had to make the connections inside the lamp to conceal the wires. It got a little hairy but I finally made it work.
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