Purpleheart Project

[Greg Just]

The Minnesota Woodturners Association has been working a project in which members have been turning pens and pencils using purpleheart and slimline pens and pencils. All of the supplies for the project were donated by various companies. I made a total of 10 pens and the 5 pencils that are pictured here. I added the ebony ring rather than using the brass coupling that came with each kit. This allowed me to make the pencils a little bigger in the middle. A total of about 400 pens and pencils were turned and will be given to Veterans here in Minnesota.

[David Christopher]

Greg those are really nice pens....if you will lay them in the sunlight the purple will come back and maybe even brighter

[Dave Halter]

Very nice. I like the larger band giving them a heftier shape. I would guess it feels better in the hand than a standard slimline.

Dave

[michael gallagher]

very nice looking and for a good cause...well done!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking pens and for a great cause. Put them in the sun as was suggested and it will turn them a beautiful purple.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Great looking pens Greg! First time I've seen an ebony band used - looks really nice! I am sure the pens and pencils will be much appreciated! Nice work!

[Randy Hoch]

Greg,
These look great! So do you just leave out the center bushing and insert the ebony in its place in order to get the larger dimension, or do you use two upsized bushings on either side of the band? (Hope that made sense.)

Randy

[Dewey Torres]

Nice pens and for a great cause!!!

[Jeff Nicol]

Greg, The pens look great, and I like the ebony for thickness idea too!

Keep up the good work,

Jeff

[Greg Just]

Randy:

I didn't use the center band or the brass tubes that came with the kit. I measured the overall length of the pencil and cut one piece of tube from a long piece of tubing. I adjusted the length of the purpleheart sections depending on the thickness of the ebony. After drilling the 7mm holes, I squared up the ends on the tablesaw, then glued everything together and turned it all as one unit. It's more work than just making the standard kit, but I personally don't like the feel of the slimline pens and pencils as they are too thin for me. By inserting the ebony center, I was able to make the center a little bit fatter.

Hope that helps.

Greg



Greg,
These look great! So do you just leave out the center bushing and insert the ebony in its place in order to get the larger dimension, or do you use two upsized bushings on either side of the band? (Hope that made sense.)

Randy

[Paul Douglass]

Those are very nice. Like the centerband ebony.