Well I took David Keller's advice and the advice of

[Ken Fitzgerald]

others. I just wish I could take photos as well as a lot of these pen turners. I am not a great pen turner. However, these photos don't do this pen justice.


so..here's the first for Mike to try for a while:

it's a CSUSA black titanium Clicker pen in Red Jasper Tru Stone.

169004

169005

Critiques and Comments welcomed as always!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Ken that is a beauty. Really well done. Pen turner, huh!!!:eek::rolleyes:;)

[Steve Schlumpf]

Wow! What a surprise! Did you have to add ballast to your Mustard?

Great looking pen! Mike will love it!

[Mark Hubl]

Very nice. I like the warm colors of this pen.

[David E Keller]

I'm impressed with your pen skills... I think the pen looks great.

I got one of those clickers from another turner in the last PITH exchange on IAP, and it's one of my favorite pens.

I haven't done much with Trustone, but that color is one of my favorites.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Wow! What a surprise! Did you have to add ballast to your Mustard?

Great looking pen! Mike will love it!

No but I did use a new 60º live center and it made a significant difference. The new live center is steel instead of aluminum. That doesn't count as ballast does it?:rolleyes:

[Ken Glass]

Ken,
That is a striking Pen. I did a double take, too. I had no idea you turned pens and that can't be your first. What a great looking Pen.

[Tamara Brown]

" I am not a great pen turner."

Ken, I really like this pen, the red jasper is a favorite, but I haven't been brave enough to try tru stone yet.... I know you don't think your a great pen turner, but you will always be "Obi Wan" to Brian and I...you introduced us to that wicked cool tool "the Skew" and the drug we call pen turning. Thanks!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Ken,

I've turned a few pens but don't consider myself a great pen turner.

Tamara,

Thank you!

Guess what tool I used on that pen? It was the smallest of my 2 Lacer skews.

The only problem areas turning solid surface materials or Tru Stone is (1) in drilling the blanks and (2) getting too aggressive in the initial roughing.

I like to cut the blanks 3/8" too long. I drill and clear the cuttings every 1/8" drilled. I take it slow and maybe even stop part of the way through. Heat and cuttings building up around the bit are your greatest enemies at this stage. I drill to within 1/8" of exiting the blank and then cut the blank to the length of the brass tube + 1/8". Drilling should be done with a sharp bit. Cutting should be done with a sharp blade or ...sand it back on a disk sander.

The next difficult stage is roughing it. Of course I did it with my skew. Just take a little at a time. Don't get too aggressive as this material can be brittle and an aggressive cut with a dull tool will cause chip out and sometimes that can be fatal for a blank. This was my first Tru Stone but I have turned corian pens that spent 16 months in the Middle East on active duty.:) The Tru Stone dulled the tools quickly. I think I rehoned my skew 3 times during the turning.

I dry sanded through 600 grit and wet sanded with micro-mesh through 12,000 grit. The Tru Stone shines like mirror.

Hut's plastic polish was used as the final polishing agent.

Because the materials can be brittle be a little cautious to prevent excess force from being applied when assembling the pen.

Using Tru Stone or solid surface materials (corian, for example) aren't difficult if you keep these few things in mind.

[brian watts]

very nice pen you have there

[Lupe Duncan]

Very nice Job.

I havent ever seen a long click in Red Jasper true-stone.

Upgrade the refill and its one of my favorites....

[John Keeton]

Nice work, Ken!! Good to see you posting some turning - even if it is "just a pen!":rolleyes:;):D Just kidding - very nice work, and I don't see much at all wrong with the pic. Did you do the other work, too?? New hobby??:)

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Ken, keep this up and we'll all have to buy you a special "Pen Man" suit. Up in the sky, is it a bird is it a plane, no, it's Pen Man! Great Job on a beautiful pen. Love that color.:D

[James Combs]

Ken,

I've turned a few pens but don't consider myself a great pen turner.

Tamara,

Thank you!

Guess what tool I used on that pen? It was the smallest of my 2 Lacer skews.

The only problem areas turning solid surface materials or Tru Stone is (1) in drilling the blanks and (2) getting too aggressive in the initial roughing.

I like to cut the blanks 3/8" too long. I drill and clear the cuttings every 1/8" drilled. I take it slow and maybe even stop part of the way through. Heat and cuttings building up around the bit are your greatest enemies at this stage. I drill to within 1/8" of exiting the blank and then cut the blank to the length of the brass tube + 1/8". Drilling should be done with a sharp bit. Cutting should be done with a sharp blade or ...sand it back on a disk sander.

The next difficult stage is roughing it. Of course I did it with my skew. Just take a little at a time. Don't get too aggressive as this material can be brittle and an aggressive cut with a dull tool will cause chip out and sometimes that can be fatal for a blank. This was my first Tru Stone but I have turned corian pens that spent 16 months in the Middle East on active duty.:) The Tru Stone dulled the tools quickly. I think I rehoned my shew 3 times during the turning.

I dry sanded through 600 grit and wet sanded with micro-mesh through 12,000 grit. The Tru Stone shines like mirror.

Hut's plastic polish was used as the final polishing agent.

Because the materials can be brittle be a little cautious to prevent excess force from being applied when assembling the pen.

Using Tru Stone or solid surface materials (corian, for example) aren't difficult if you keep these few things in mind.

Great looking pen Ken. I'm impressed.

BTW, as someone who has turned a couple hundred pens and several being TruStone I can ditto everything Ken said.

[Paul Douglass]

Nice work. Is that needle point? If you would move that pen we'd get a better look!

Great pen. The long click is my overall favorite as a pen to carry. The Red Gasper is perfect for it. I have only made one Tru-stone so far but have several blanks waiting one me. I always like the Tru-stone pens.

[Jeff Nicol]

Ken, I think I like it better than a lot of pens for its clean lines and simple elegance. The tru-stone and titanium pen blank go together wondefully! I bought a couple of the Tru-Stone blanks and hope to get something turned out of them someday, and you did a fine job and I hope mine come out as well.


Thanks and the gift will be appreciated and cherished,

Jeff