Turning Contests

[Buzzzz4]

I may be crazy in thought, and this is just a thought so please bear with me. When it comes to some of the entries, especially in the creation of the freestyle entries, I notice the absence of pen turning. I see fantastic pens the look really cool, but with this being a pen turners forum, should we work to keep it pure pen turning in the Bash? I would think parts and pieces could be turned in the creating the final product, but there are two finalists that blow me away which I don't think saw a lathe more then being held on one to attach the parts.

I don't mind if you tell me I'm off my rocker, but it is just something I thought of.

 

[toddlajoie]

I see your point, but I've also always thought that for me the ultimate evolution would be the step from penTurner to penMaker, so I think this is something we want to consider fostering... Maybe (if we can take it) another category of non-TURNED pens? But is that not really what the freestyle contest is anyway. It may be best to keep freestyle the way it is and make a Kitless category that requires significant lathe use?

 

[Ed McDonnell]

I would be disappointed if this forum were limited to pen turning only. While I'm a turner at heart, my pen making is rapidly evolving to where the wood lathe is just one of many tools I use. While I will use a wood lathe at some point in every pen I make, it gets used far less these days then it did a couple years ago.

I can understand the enjoyment of turning things round on a lathe using hands tools and the satisfaction of quickly creating a finished product by pressing in purchased components. That may be as far as the majority of IAP members ever take things. But hopefully there will always be a place here for those who want to take it farther.

When you look at the guidelines for freestyle:

"Think the Paris fashion week of pens. The wilder and crazier the better.
This isn't a contest for nice well made pens. This is for the cannons, space ships, battle axes, jet fighters, and sailing ships, robots and whatever else you can come up with. Be fearless."

I wouldn't be surprised if none of the entries ever saw a lathe and I don't see anything wrong with that.

Ed

 

[Buzzzz4]

I can understand your feelings as things change and evolve. I just look at the title of this forum and personally wouldn't want things to get too far away from that. I wouldn't ask the question if it was called International Association of Pen Makers. Please don't misunderstand me, I love looking at how far the boundaries can be pushed.

 

[Displaced Canadian]

Eric,
I do and don't agree with you. I do think it's nice to have a contest where the mad scientists can come out and play. Where if you are a better wood worker or fabricator than pen turner you can show your skills. But it would also be nice to see a contest where more traditional equipment is used to produce really nice pens that actually could be used on a daily basis. We do have that contest, however over time I think we have seen an evolution in the contests. Modified pen a few years ago was make a pen from 2 or 3 kits now we see some very technical skill in that contest. It didn't get a lot of notice but one entrant put a parker refill in a slimline. I'm wondering if over time some of the contests have blended together and it's time to rethink the names of the contests, Beginners, intermediate and advanced to more kit, part kit, and no kit.

 

[Buzzzz4]

Thank you, just needed to process these thoughts among friends.

 

[mredburn]

I supported and argued for the change of the freestyle to what it was this year. Even with Landon. I dont believe we will ever see it overwhelm the other turned pen competitions for participation. I do think there needs to be an outlet for this creativity that is supported and rewarded. We have seen tremendous growth in the other competitions because thats where most of the talent and skill lay. I was very surprised that my first pen won the freestyle because it was just a pen. There were some very cool entries that year that should have overwhelmed my entry.

 

[Displaced Canadian]

Kinda on a related topic. I'm thinking of not having the edible pen contest next year. I think it might be good to not have it for a year or two because the original intent of the contest was to have something the whole family could do together. Two of our 3 entries were from people that are pretty much pros. I have no real complaints about that but don't think it should become a serious contest between cake decorators. Maybe taking a year off might help keep it more fun.

 

[mredburn]

We could always have contests like that rotate in and out of use. Keep them guessing.

Ugly Pen, Edible pens, x rated pens.

 

[Displaced Canadian]

We could always have contests like that rotate in and out of use. Keep them guessing.

Ugly Pen, Edible pens, x rated pens.

No wonder Jeff is bald. I do like the idea of a few rotating contests.