2 more pens--Mesquite, Spalted Hackberry-Pic

[Curtis O. Seebeck]

Here are a couple more pens I made this evening. I promise once the new wears off I will quit boring you guys with pens!

These were made with a Woodcraft Mini-European and some of the blanks I have for sale. The finish on both is Crystal Coat with a coat of pure carnuba to top it off. The one on the left is mesquite and the right is spalted hackberry. Contrary to how they are portrayed in the picture, the barrels ARE flush with the nib!

I don't particularily like this kit but it was a good one to learn on. The mesqutie pen does not have enough "flair" to it to me and the hackberry one may have a little too much. What do you think? I learn from your critique, so please be honest.

Also, the scans do not do the mesquite justice. I has a wonderful chatoyance and beautiful figure. Too bad it doesn't show well in the pic.

[Rich Stewart]

Those are beautiful. That spalted one is very distinctive. I like the shape of them both.

[Curtis O. Seebeck]

Thanks Rich. I appreciate the comments! Yeah, I really like the hackberry as well. Especially since I salvaged the tree from a construction site, let it spalt, milled it on my sawmill, dried it, cut to pen blanks, and turned. From tree to pen! Pretty rewarding!

[Chris Barton]

Very nice Curtis! Very nice indeed! Ah, pen turning is the "gateway drug" to a life of turning addiction, the "crack" of turning if you will. Welcome brother...

[Dick Parr]

Great looking pens.:)

[Blake McCully]

I don't particularily like this kit but it was a good one to learn on. The mesqutie pen does not have enough "flair" to it to me and the hackberry one may have a little too much.

Curtis,
European style pens are cool. I've done a ton of them. My favorite is the double twist with a Parker style refill from Berea. I agree with the above statement. When I do Euros, I don't "flair" the barrels. On the lower barrel I just do a straight profile, the upper part of the barrel is slightly larger than the nib end. For the upper barrel, I make the profile even with the CB side until it gets to bushing size, then I turn down the clip end about 3/8" from the end until it gets bushing size.

I've attached a pic that I "hope" describes what I'm saying. These are both the double twist from Berea. The one on the left is a burled something or other, has two names, forget just now. The one on the right is some polyester resin that I've been casting for a while. It is pearlescent white with violet accents.

I hope this gives you some ideas.

[John Hart]

Here are a couple more pens I made this evening. I promise once the new wears off I will quit boring you guys with pens!

Us? Get Bored? I think not!! Nice work Curtis. Personally, I like the mesquite the best. I like the tightness of the burl and the many colors that it offers. It is definitely a wood that the owner can look closely and enjoy. I think a heftier turning gives the wood a chance to "show off" a little more....But that's just personal preference.

Hey Blake...nice casting!

[Blake McCully]

Hey Blake...nice casting!

Thanks John,
I've done a lot of it, I need to post more pics. I've made a bunch of pens, some bottle stoppers, I even used it for the top of one of my pepper mills.

Turns between regular acrylic acetate and micapearl. Can get aggressive if you're not careful. Using this teaches the turner about "light cuts".:p

[Hank Walczak]

Curtis - I've found that different pen platings can sometimes emphasize your selection of pen blank. IMHO, I would have used a black or black crome type mechanism that would make the Hackberry pen even more striking than it already is. Nice work.

Hank

[Curtis O. Seebeck]

I really don't care for this pen kit because it is too small. It does not show enough wood to me. That said, it was good practice since it requires turning a tennon for the center band and is a little more involved than a typical slimline.

My brother-in-law used to make pens for porfit and gave me 50 complete American Classic Flat Top Berea kits to play with. I had to order the bushings and a larger mandrel so I waiting for those to get here.

Hank, that is an excellent suggestion with the black chrome kit. I really don't like gold kits since it is so common but that is all Woodcraft had available when I went. They hardly had any kits. I guess the Christmas rush has hit them.

Thanks again everyone for the nice comments.

[John Hart]

Curtis...I think you're going to like the Flat Top. There is a trick to them though to ensure that they twist smoothly....and it is extremely important that you do one particular step, otherwise, they'll bind on you.

I don't think this step is in the instructions so you might want to print it out and keep it handy.

On the back part of the pen, prior to pressing the twist mechanism in, you need to ream out the tube at the centerband end....then burnish it with some good fine sandpaper. I generally use a Dremel grinding bit to do the reaming and I do it a lot....then burnish. When I was at Berea Hardwoods, Larry explained that the twist mechanism was just slightly oversized. He said that all you have to do is hit the tube ID with a rat tail file real quick, but I've personally found that a few more minutes of burnishing is very worthwhile.

[Cecil Arnold]

Lookin' good Curtis. Next thing you know you will be truning all that wood you have into bowls.

[Ed Scolforo]

Curtis: Looking good! One thing I see (I think), is that your lower barrel needs to be turned/ sanded closer to the nib so you have a smooth transition without a step. This will come with practice. BTW, Curtis had a great workshop and lots of turning wood when I went to visit him a couple weeks ago.
Ed

[Curtis O. Seebeck]

Ed,

Thanks for the comment. The picture is actually fooling you though. If anything, it is a little too thin and the nib stick out about the width of a thin piece of paper. The picture makes it look too big but it is just the glare on the gold and loss of detail from the cheap scanner I used to scan them.

Also, thanks for the nice comments on my shop and wood. Have you turned that mountain laurel I gave you yet?

[Ed Scolforo]

Curtis: These old eyes are playing tricks again! I haven't had a chance to do ANY turning in 3 months due to moving, powering up my new workshop, and now renovating the old kitchen. I've been watching the posts daily and am impressed (and intimidated) at the vast improvements many of our members have shown during that timeframe. Gonna be tough to catch up to these guys (and gals)! Should be ready to resume turning after the first of the year.
Ed