Sakura Fountain Pen and Matching Vahse

[John Hart]

Ok...This is a bunch of Firsts.
First time I've turned Sakura (From Stu of course)
First time I've made a Fountain Pen.
First time I've made a matching Vahse from the same blank.

Lots of fun this morning. I haven't been in the shop for a couple of weeks and it feels good to be spinnin' again.:) Stu's Sakura really caught my eye with all the figure so I've been microwaving for the past two days to get it ready.
Very burly stuff...reminded me of Amboyna burl.
Both pieces are finished in the not-so-secret finish, then spray lacquer. I left the vahse glossy but put some 0000 steel wool to the pen and then buffed it.

Thanks Stu!!! This pen is MINE!:D :)

[Lee DeRaud]

Unless that pen is a lot bigger than it looks, that's not a Vahse, it's a Vahse.:D

Very nice, though. "Size matters not." - Yoda

[Bob Noles]

WOW John.....

I love that fountain pen and it is close to the top of my list of "next project to turn" items. Wife has been after me to do one for her for her calligraphy. Waiting to find just the right one and just the right blank. Looks like you struck an excellent combo with Stu on that one.

NICE job on both projects buddy.

[Corey Hallagan]

Awesome on both accounts Mr. Hart! Fantasic mini turning and a beautiful FP. How did long did you need to microwave it to dry it?

Corey

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

The wood is beautiful and the VAHSE would have been a TOP Contender for the ITTY BITTY contest.

Stu is lucky to have that available to him.

Bruce

[Chuck Beland]

John,
That wood you got from Stu is gorgeous I love the grain & the color.

[Jim Ketron]

Beautiful Pen John! Nice Mini to go with it also:D

[Bernie Weishapl]

John they are both beautiful. Great job on them both. I really like the pen.

[Pete Jordan]

John,

You did a wonderful job on this wood! It is such a pretty color. I hope to learn how to do pens this summer. Thanks for sharin.


Pete

[John Hart]

Thanks guys! I'm a little surprised by the weight of the pen....but I do like the way it writes.

Corey...I started nuking Thursday and I really didn't follow a strict regimine. I just stuck some blanks in the microwave for 30 seconds on high and then pulled them out to cool. Cooling took 30-40 minutes but sometimes I waited several hours because I was doing other stuff.

Anyway...if you follow the 30 seconds - then cool...and do that about 25 times, they'll be ready. If you go any faster, they'll crack. Takes about 2 days.

[Dale Thompson]

John,
Why did you have to post these pictures so SOON? :confused: Now I will be embarrassed to show anything that I make for at least a year or more!
:(

Even taking into account that you are a Moderator, you certainly do incredible work. :cool: Thank you for sharing!! :) :)

Dale T.

[Barry Stratton]

Excellent job John!!!! What a nice pen and mini vahse. I'm gonna have to try that microwave thing.

Made my first antler pen (moose antler) and roughed out a cedar bowl, but the digital camera is broke so no pics until I get another one :( :(

Thanks again for your part in Stu's bomblet drops!

[Ernie Nyvall]

That is some purdy wood. Nice job on it John. What kit is that?

Ernie

[John Hart]

That is some purdy wood. Nice job on it John. What kit is that?

Ernie

Oh...I forgot. That's the Rhodium Emperor from Craft Supplies. $35 I think. The kit was a gift from my BIL and I had it stashed away for a special day.;)

Thanks again everyone.

[Rich Stewart]

Hmmm. The sakura I got is much lighter than that. Did you put anything else on it to darken the wood? I cut my piece into four pieces and made one pen with no drying. I just couldn't turn that much of a blank into sawdust. I'll see if it splits but it seems ok so far.

[Dick Parr]

Both look great John, can't wait to try mine. Thanks to you and Stu again.

[John Hart]

Hmmm. The sakura I got is much lighter than that. Did you put anything else on it to darken the wood? I cut my piece into four pieces and made one pen with no drying. I just couldn't turn that much of a blank into sawdust. I'll see if it splits but it seems ok so far.

I noticed that the Sakura had a fairly wide range of coloring. Some of the blanks were the color of light mahogany and went through a spectrum to very light (almost maple color)...sometimes multiple colors. This blank was somewhere in the middle. But, no, I didn't darken it at all. The first coat of finished darkened it a little but not much.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Wow John, that is some pen!

The Sakura is usually fairly light, but that one tree was infested with bugs, so it has some wild ranges of color....

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/jackpot/got_wood2.jpg

As you can see from this example.

In fact most of the trees there were in really poor shape, they had not be cared for very well.

I picked the gnarliest pieces I could find, so I hope you all got some good ones, and yes, I cut them way too big, noob mistake :o

Cheers!

[Paul Douglass]

Beautiful job, John. The piece I received is very light and looks like it has some beautiful grain paterns to it. Looks like I may be able to make a pen and a bottle stopper from it.

[David Fried]

Are you reading my mind again? When I first looked at the pen blanks I thought it would be great if I could do itty bittys because I could get 4 - 5 vahses out of one of these!

Great job! Nice to know you still remember how to do pens ;)
The wood looks great - I can;t wait to dig into mine.

[Ed Scolforo]

Beautiful work on both, John. I, too, was surprised at how dark your wood looks compared to the ones I got. Guess I'll just have to wait awhile to see what's inside.
Ed

[Keith Burns]

Wow John, they both look GREAT. Very classy pen and a great itty bitty mine vase :) :)

[Mike Ramsey]

That's A beautiful pen John!! The vahse ain't bad either!