Posts in Category: pens
Bit of Pen Work…
Finished up a special order for a set of 10 pens to be used as a graduation gift at a ceremony.
This is for a repeat customer of mine, and I’m pretty pleased with these pens. The Koa wood I used showed a lot of variation, and has some very nice grain patterning, as well as a substantial curl in some of the wood.  The Paduak looks gorgeous as always, and there was on in Rosewood by special request.
Special Order of Pens
I haven’t had a lot of work in the Pen department for a while, so it was good to get down to the shop and turn a bit of wood again.
I did have one blow up slightly at the last possible moment, so I had to make one extra in the 11th hour. The wood near the tip pulled up slightly, and was noticeable. It’s not terrible, just not up to my quality standards. Sucks that it happened at the last possible second, when I would have to totally pull the thing apart (no easy task, and no guarantee of success either).
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A couple of keychains
I haven’t done any pen-kit style turning in a while, but I’ve been meaning to make these kits for a while. I got a handful of these on sale a while back and never got around to making them. I decided to make a present for my wife this afternoon, and turned these little guys out of the mystery wood offcuts from my saw handle. There is some really nice curl in the section I cut off, and I wanted to show it off. I finished them with my standard mix of Walnut Oil, and alternating coats of oil and superglue.
A couple of Keyrings
These key rings have a little bit of a secret. They look like standard key fobs, but the top screws off to reveal a small tube inside. Not very useful unless you want to have toothpicks with you always. I’m going to use mine to keep a couple of pills in, for just in case I forget in the morning before heading to work. The older you get, the more pills you have to take it seems. I’ve got one that I need take daily, and sometimes I miss it rushing to the bus. My stomach will not be happy with me if I skip it, so I thought I’ll keep a spare on me for rushed mornings.
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Pen Assembly in action!
You can see 3 “Cigar” Style pens in progress, and one finished. They are all in bamboo as will about half this order of 16 pens. With large orders I like to kind of “assembly line” the production of them which saves time and effort since I can cut all the same size at once, drill all at once, etc. Then I can take my time on the turning which is the fun part anyway.
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