Gift Pencil Gloat

[John Hart]

A few weeks ago, Blake McCulley visited Cleveland and he introduced me to the world of Pen Turning. I gave him a bag of pen blanks (cherry and pear). Well, today, I got a package. Blake made this shop pencil out of one of the pear blanks and sent it to me. This thing is so cool!!!! I will use it in the shop and try not to get it dirty. Thanks Blake. Nice pencil...You made my pear tree live a little longer.

[Dennis Peacock]

That's cool John. I like the shape of the pencil. Not get it dirty!!! In a shop? Ok...maybe not in my shop....it's too dirty to keep the pencil clean!! :rolleyes:

Congrats John. Very nice gift that you have received. ;)

[Carole Valentine]

Way cool, John! Now listen, don't you lose that thing in all those wood shavings you're piling up!:D

[Kurt Aebi]

John,

Great pencil. Blake's a great guy and there's the proof of that!

A word of warning, though - Penturning is quite addictive - although I am sure you have already figured that one out!

[Jeff Sudmeier]

That is a great gloat! It is always nice to see the genorosity of this group!

[Blake McCully]

John,
It was my pleasure to give you that gift. I also want to thank everyone for the kind words. And yes, penturning is addictive, but hey, so's life.

Keep the chips flying safely.

[Dawn Sunkle]

What a great gift :) I love the design.
Nothing better than a gift from the hands/heart and one that is usable too!!

[Charles McKinley]

Hi Blake,

That is a very nice work.

What pencil kit is that?

Thank you,

[Blake McCully]

Charles,
That is a wood worker pencil. Unfortunately, I can't give much more information than that. A buddy of mine gave me 5 kits to try. That's only the second one I did. The first is in my shop er... studio. As you can see, it is a one piece pen. There is no inner brass tube. The blank is nearly 5 inches long. You, or at least I, have to drill it in two steps since I only have a 3" stroke on the quill of my drill press. I have the drilling jig from CSUSA and am able to drill one end, turn it over and drill the other end. To put it together after turning and finishing, just put some CA glue on the threads at the nib end and let 'er sit.

At first I didn't care for that kit, but after making that one for John, I think I'll do up the other three. I'm not sure if my buddy got the kits from CSUSA or PSI, maybe someone else out there knows where to get them. I could prolly look in my catalogs to make sure, but I have a terrible streak of the lazies this morning :D

Give them a try, they're pretty cool.