Pen - Serial # 0001

Ed Nelson

Member
Messages
1,486
Location
Charlotte, NC
Here's my first attempt at a pen. I am pretty well pleased and I think I found a new hobby!

IMAG0006.jpg


Sorry the picture isn't the best.

Ed
 
Congrats on the first pen, Ed. You're right...it's a pretty addictive hobby. Especially when people start giving you money for the pens. :D
 
Thanks Vaughn! This really was fun. Need to work on finishing techniques. I have had several people tell me to try CA finishing, so I'll have to learn how!

The fellow that posted before you will probably get a chance to see the pen in person! I am driving out to visit my folks next week!
 
Ed looks a lot better than my first pen :thumb:

They are addictive, and when you give one to someone and tell them that you made it, they are always amazed and seem to appreciate it that much more!

I really like making pens, fast and simple and very rewarding.

The CA finish is fairly straight forward, what I do is I put one of the little ziplock bags that the pen parts come in on my finger tip, and then I turn the lathe on nice and slow and very slowly drip some CA glue onto the blank, with my finger in the bag on the bottom of the blank, you have to move fairly quickly, but you can get a very smooth surface by rubbing your finger back and forth on the bottom of the blank while slowly dripping the glue. I'll say it again, slowly drip the glue, too much at one time and you get bumps.

I think that if you do one or two of these you will find out how it works, I use the thin CA glue and the medium stuff too, depends on the wood and the grain that needs to be filled.

Good ventilation and, of course, eye protection are needed, and keep the lathe speeds down slow, or you will be wearing that CA glue.

I put on a coat, let it dry (my work lamp close, but not TOO close helps with this) and then sand, I use #400 until I have a good build up, you want to sand really lightly, just get it smooth, you do not want to sand through the CA glue to the wood. Once I have a fairly thick coating on there, then I'll switch to #600, and the thin CA glue, then I stop with the glue and go through the grits, #800 #1000 #1200 #1500 is usually all you need, but I know some who go the micromesh route up to super high numbers, I've got the stuff, but I've not tried it yet. I've found that when I get to #1500 I just put a coat of turner wax (the stick stuff) on and buff it with a buffing wheel in a drill, while the lathe spins, and I get a silky smooth finish.

Good luck, there is a LOT of info out there on pen turning, it is fun for sure!

Sorry for the long rambling post :eek:

Cheers!
 
Top