My first pens

[Mike Cruz]

I've been avoiding this aspect of turning like the plaque. Why? More money to throw away (into the vortex), more time spent dreaming of turning, and since I'm fairly new to turning, time away from honing my skills on bowls. But at one of our last DAMP meetings, don't cha know, Dan just HAD to have Tony show him how to turn pens...I got hooked. Tony was kind enough to spend the day with me on (at his place) on Thursday to show me what to do and how to do it. Thanks, Tony, you have the patience of a saint. Saint Tony...kinda has a ring to it...:rolleyes:

I found an Ash burl last summer and cut it into blanks last week. I had a bunch of small cutoffs that I just couldn't throw away. So, I decided to make some blanks out of burl bits and brass/epoxy mix. So, here's the burl and brass cigar pen 223464223465223466 surrounded by its sibling burl blanks. On the bottom right is another burl and brass blank.

Also, when I turned a segmented bowl a couple months back, I had a lot of extra Bubinga left over. There is a bunch of fairly boring stuff, but a fair amount of figured/void laden stuff. So, this one is a cigar Bubinga pen 223467223468223469 surrounded by some future Bubinga pen blanks. Some might be begging for some sort of filler...

Kits are from PSI. Sanded to 12,000, EEE'ed, and finished with Shellawax. Burl and Brass is in Gold, and Bubinga is in Gun Metal.

Comments are certainly welcome on the pens and the pictures.

[Jim Burr]

Nice work Mike!! Stop avoiding it!! Pen turning has been around a lot longer and sells better than "art"...also more usable. Couple of things...finish on the ash looks a little inconsistent...could be the pic's. Maybe some fit issues between the kit and blank. The bubinga has a good finish on it. The bulb on the nib side kinda distracts me a bit, the fill job is a little inconsistent, but those are tough to get right. Fit on this one looks great! If ya need any blanks, let me know...I'm casting a Mont Blanc clone today. Good job overall!

[Doug W Swanson]

Nice job, Mike!

[Dan Hintz]

Finally, I get my revenge... someone else gets sucked into an interest of mine, not the other way around.

[Roger Chandler]

Nice for your firsts, Mike............you will find them a bit addictive.............I never thought I would have an interest in pen turning............something about it pulls at you, and it is a nice quick distraction from more in depth and protracted projects where it takes days to complete..............

Nice goin'! Kudos to Tony as well..................look out Dan.........you have competition moving fast up the inside lane there! ;):D

[Mike Cruz]

Jim, I think the incosistency you see in the burl's finish, is the pic, but I could be wrong. Yes, on the burl, there is a spot where the blank is juuuust a little shy of where it should be. Being new to this, I'm not sure what you mean by the bulb on the nib side...if you mean near the tip, Tony found that a little odd, too I think. But I was actually going for that. That wasn't an oops. But I can appreciate your not liking it. You say the fill job is inconsistent. Do you mean on the burl? There is no fill on the Bubinga. Those voids on the Bubinga may have gotten some EEE or Shellax in them...I'll have to take a look at that. I'm good on blanks, thanks for the offer, though. And thanks for your comments, I really do apprectiate it.

Thanks, Doug.

You are welcome, Dan.

Roger, Thanks. And yes, Tony deserves a pat on the back.

[Peter Elliott]

They are ok....... At least your photography got better ;)

Tony - I think I would have self called my cell phone - "honey, time for dinner".. even though it was 3pm :D

Patience, no way! that's some good beer you drink to go through that!

[Carl Civitella]

A lot better then the ones i first made. Pen making allows you to try a lot of techniques and a whole bunch of nice woods in little bites. When i started to post pics of my pens, the guys would say " not so much stuff in your pics" it competes with the pen. Good luck. Carl

[David E Keller]

Nice job, Mike! I'd try a little ebony/blackwood dust or coffee grounds mixed with epoxy for the next fill on one of those ash blanks... I think the dark color might make for a better contrast. I love the cigar kit... It's my favorite daily writer with the sierra/wallstreet kits a close second. The unfortunate thing about turning pens is that the usable sized cutoffs pile gets infinitely larger when you allow for keeping stuff as small as a pen blank!

[Mike Cruz]

Thanks, Carl. Yeah, I just wanted something to prop them up with, but with the simple white background and not enough light, I thought a bunch of blanks might be nice...maybe not.

David, thank you, too. The problem with ebony dust is that you have to ruin ebony to make it! And Ebony ain't cheap. I just purchased some black Mixol dye to mix into with the epoxy. I thought I would give that a try. Given the multiple brown colors in the burl, I figured I could also try any brown dust...like walnut. I've got plenty of burl chunks to make a bunch more blanks with. So, I'll experiment.

Peter, I should expect such replies from you...

[John Terefenko]

Jim, a Mount Blanc clone??? I will be watching for it.

I think the pens came out real well and yes they are addictive because so easy to knock a couple out. You get to play with the lathe and have a little fun. As far as photos go that is not my expertise so I will leave that to the pros. Thanks for showing. Yes by the way less is more when presenting pens.

[James Combs]

Love cigar pens, they show a lot of wood. Not crazy about your fill color but execution looks good. As John Terefenko said "less is more when presenting pens". Maybe one small piece of the burl with the pen propped up by it would be OK but 4 pieces is probably pushing it. Keep em coming though we love to look and compare notes. I bet a sky blue swirl would look good as a filler but black goes with anything. Have you thought about using a colored poly resin as a filler like these(scroll down the page too) (http://www.turntex.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=81).

[Mike Cruz]

Yeah, James, those look awesome! But where would I get a colored poly resin to fill my own blanks?

[Jeff Fagen]

Very
Classy!

[Billy Tallant]

Very nice looking pens. Both look sharp!!!

[Mike Cruz]

Thanks, Jeff. I appreciate it.

Billy, I suppose if they are sharp enough, then they'll be mightier than a sword, huh? :D

[Doug Herzberg]

I'm not a pen guy, either, but there ain't nothing wrong with that.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Good looking pens Mike. They do get addictive and easier as you go.

[James Combs]

Yeah, James, those look awesome! But where would I get a colored poly resin to fill my own blanks?

Well if you dare to look a little deeper into this vortex look into casting blanks. The best resource for it would be on the International Association of Pen-turners site. Just Google "IAP" then check out there casting forum or their library. I am a member over there also and most of what I know about pen turning has come from there.

[Mike Cruz]

Thanks, Doug and Bernie.

James, I've been doing a little research into resins for casting my own blanks already. But maybe I'll check out IAP. Deeper and deeper I go...

[David DeCristoforo]

Never made pens so I don't really know how to "critique" them. But these look good and anything that looks that good on a "first attempt" has to be considered a success! St. Ant'ny must have been a good teacher...

[Steve Schlumpf]

Never made pens either... but I kinda like the Ash burl and brass pen because it has a sort of camo look to it!

[Harvey Ghesser]

Nice pens, Mike. A made a couple a long time ago....then went back to bowls.

[Baxter Smith]

Nice work on both Mike!

[Mike Cruz]

DD, he is a great teacher. The rest of DAMP is lucky to have him.

Steve, the color of the brass really does go with this burl. I'm really happy with it. If it were too shiny, I think it wouldn't have "worked" as well.

Harvey, I plan to still do bowls. I have LOTS of bowl blanks. And won't "leave" them...