Bartstar
Member
I'm new to pen turning and have developed a method that works for me, but I'm always interested in how others approach their work. My turning routine is to use a roughing gouge to bring my blanks to within a very close distance to the bushings. Then I use a mini-spindle gouge (with a fingernail grind) to bring the blank to the bushings and make any final changes to the shape. Then I use a skew chisel to remove any remaining marks left by the spindle gouge. This routine seems to quickly bring my work to a ready to sand state. The final skew pass reduces the amount of sanding I need to do.
One final note - I do sharpen my gouges often, especially the rouging gouge that does the lions share of the work. I usually need to resharpen after each pen, and depending upon the type of wood, several times during a single pen. I purchased the wolverine jig awhile back, and I find it works great for making the trips to the grinder very fast.
So, how do you turn your pens?
Thanks for any replies.
Bart
One final note - I do sharpen my gouges often, especially the rouging gouge that does the lions share of the work. I usually need to resharpen after each pen, and depending upon the type of wood, several times during a single pen. I purchased the wolverine jig awhile back, and I find it works great for making the trips to the grinder very fast.
So, how do you turn your pens?
Thanks for any replies.
Bart