First Turnings

[Dawn Sunkle]

Well we did it. We finaly got our new lathe up and running.
Lastnight we turned one pen and have turned one this evening also.
I'm not totaly pleased with the finish. But we'll work on that next.
(oh and I saw "we" because hubby is taking to it also ;) I knew he would, but don't tell him I said so.)

The dark pen is Indian Rosewood. That's the very first thing we turned on the lathe (other than some practice turns). The light one is Maple.

Dawn (and Chris)

[Jerry Clark]

Great looking pens, Dawn. nice color and form. They make great gifts. I found some nice wood boxes at Woodcraft, :D that when you open it, the pen raises up at the same time. $4.99!

[Tom Pritchard]

Great job Dawn, they look beautiful! I am partial to the maple pen, it really looks classy and contemporary! Looking forward to seeing more great projects like these!

[Jim Becker]

Awesome start, Dawn!!! It can only get rounder, err... bigger from here!! ;) :D

[Carole Valentine]

Nice work Dawn! Now I will give you about 3 weeks of turning pens before you get the itch to turn a small bowl! Then it will be more accessories like chucks and more tools. Oh and be carefull... you will also be almost running off the road looking for chunks of wood or burls in trees. Then it will be bigger bowls...and then you'll start thinking about a bigger lathe. There is no end to it! DAMHIKT!:D

[Ernie Nyvall]

Great start Dawn. Nice looking pens. I haven't done any of those yet, but I get that people like it. I see myself exploding those little things.

Ernie

[Raymond Overman]

Good job Dawn! A word of advice about your husband though, don't let him near the lathe or you won't have any time on it yourself. :) Both pens are excellent. You'll be turning larger stuff like bowls and boxes in no time.

[Kurt Aebi]

Dawn,

Great job on those pens. Raymond is right that you should try to keep the lathe for yourself, unless you want to buy another one. Once someone starts using these addictive machines, they want to use it all the time.''

As far as the finish goes, review what others do - check out the penturner's site (if you want the URL, just PM me) and other posts about pen finishing on the turning and freedom pen forums. There is a lot of god information about finishing them out there.

[Joe Melton]

So, with two turners in the family, who does the cooking?
Joe

[Ken Paciulan]

Glad to see you are finally up and running! Your first two pens look great. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

[Dawn Sunkle]

Thanks everyone. I'm really quite excited. I have made several now.. well 4 pens and a pencil now. Here are 2 more. I'm trying to do more than just the straight pen. The dark pen is more Indian Rosewood, my uncle whom I can blame for getting me into woodworking told me he got the 3rd pen, so this one is his. I asked why the third, he said he was being nice and letting Chris and I have one apiece before he got his. LOL And the lighter pen is Zebrawood. I'm still not happy with the friction polish. But right now that's all I have. Hopefuly I can get something different soon. I don't want to waist my blanks and kits on something I'm not totaly in love with... know what I mean?

[Dawn Sunkle]

So, with two turners in the family, who does the cooking?
Joe

hehe.. that would be whoever doesn't have the saftey gear on ;)

[Carole Valentine]

Dawn, why are you not happy with the friction polish? I am not sure if the faint lines I see are from your polish or not...I suspect they might be sanding marks. A tip that helped me was at the end of sanding with each grit, turn off the lathe and run the sandpaper lengthwise along the pen. Wipe the piece with a soft cloth, then turn on the lathe and start with the next highest grit. Don't skip any grits. You might also want to try Micro-mesh. It's expensive but gives a beautiful satiny smooth finish. I like the Myland's Friction polish but I find that it reveals any little sanding marks that I missed and believe me, with my "old Lady" eyes I miss a lot! Keep up the good work...I know how exciting it is! :)

[Ted Shrader]

Dawn -

Looks like you guys really have the hang of it. You have turned out some very nice pens.

Regards,
Ted

[Dawn Sunkle]

Carole, Thanks for the tip. :)
One of my problems right now is limited grit. :( but we are working on that one.
As for the polish, its not shining like I want. Now that could deffinately be due to the lack of sanding that they are getting currently. So I'm going to wait until our new stock of paper comes in and then give it again try before I give up on it. :) I'll also make sure to do the lengthwise sand next time too to see if that makes a difference. I really appreciate any and all suggestions. :)

Dawn


Dawn, why are you not happy with the friction polish? I am not sure if the faint lines I see are from your polish or not...I suspect they might be sanding marks. A tip that helped me was at the end of sanding with each grit, turn off the lathe and run the sandpaper lengthwise along the pen. Wipe the piece with a soft cloth, then turn on the lathe and start with the next highest grit. Don't skip any grits. You might also want to try Micro-mesh. It's expensive but gives a beautiful satiny smooth finish. I like the Myland's Friction polish but I find that it reveals any little sanding marks that I missed and believe me, with my "old Lady" eyes I miss a lot! Keep up the good work...I know how exciting it is! :)

[Raymond Overman]

Dawn,

You're doing a great job on those new pens and I see that your obsessive compulsive disorder (in regards to finishing) is coming along nicely too.

A couple of tips for beginning pen turners and a friction polish finish:

When you sand with the lathe on, reduce the speed. This will allow the sandpaper to do it's work without burnishing the wood.

Start with a lower grit based on the imperfections/tearout from the tool. As you get more tool control/better technique/learn to ride the bevel this grit will be higher. I start with 320 or 400 now usually. I would suggest 150-180 for you.

Go up through the grits until you reach the highest you have available. Stop the lathe between each grit and sand with the grain. Use a clean cloth to wipe the dust from the pen between each grit. I use micromesh so my progression is 320, 400, 2400, 3200, 3600, 4000, 6000, 8000, 12000.

I use a piece of 0000 steel wool with danish oil and with the lathe off as a final sanding for my friction polish pens.

I then use the Mylands or Shellawax for the friction polish finish.

Now, all of the above being said, there are still other methods of finishing that involve CA glue that are much more complicated. I use them on most of my pens now. There are at least half a dozen other ideas out there too. You'll eventually want to try them too. So when you think you're finished with finishing, you ain't finished.

A note on the sandpaper: I buy a pack of 35 9x11 sheets of the j-flex cloth backed sandpaper from Klingspor for about $30. It comes with 5 sheets each of 80, 100, 120, 150, 180, 220, and 320. I add a 5 sheet pack of 400 on to that and then micromesh up through 12000 and 0000 steel wool. To get a good finish, use sandpaper like someone else was buying it.

Once again, good job on the pens and keep the pictures coming. I enjoy seeing the progressions.