A Few Beginner Pens, Plus "Name That Wood"

[Vaughn McMillan]

Here are a few of my latest pens. Three of the four I have no idea of the species, so I'm hoping others can chime in here and edumacate me. ;) Pardon the picture quality...a photo booth is about midway down on my 'to-do' list.

Here's the group shot:

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This blank was unidentified in the sale bin at Rockler. All I know is the blank was waxed, and even though I thought I had dried it, the wood sure liked to clog sandpaper. I used a Berea Flat Top American double-twist kit, and following various hints and suggestions posted here on SMC, I was successful in getting the mechanism to work smoothly. It's finished with Mylands Friction Polish. Any ideas what type of wood it might be?

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This one is an unidentified burl out of the sale price pen blank bins at Rockler. I believe it might be Amboyna, but then again I used to believe in the Tooth Fairy, and we all know how well that panned out. In other words, I'm not sure what this really is. Whatever type of wood it is, it's on a Berea Flat Top American snap-top rollerball kit, also finished with Mylands. I made the mistake of buffing it after assembly, and I pulled most of the gold plating off of it:

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Next we have another Rockler sale bin Dunno Burl. It's another Flat Top American double-twist, and again, it went together without a hitch.The pic doesn't really show it well, but the finish on this one came out pretty nice. It has about four coats of wipe-on poly, then wheel buffed a couple days later. This one's a gift for the DJ at our wedding reception (who's also an attorney).

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This one I know is birdseye maple. It was a 'thank you' blank included with my order from Arizona Silhouette. It's in a PSI black titanium Mont Blanc kit, and finished with a couple coats of wipe-on poly, then buffed on a wheel:

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Any ideas on the unidentified woods? I'm also open to critique on my rookie pen-making technique I've finally learned to not completely trust the biushings for barrel diameter. I've started using the digital calipers in an attempt to get smoother transitions from wood to metal. Upon re-examining the pictures here, the black background really makes the center band look a lot smaller than the upper barrel in most of the shots. Honest, the tolerances are closer than they appear in the pics. (I just may have to re-shoot the pics, but it's late, so it ain't happening tonight.)

Thanks in advance -

- Vaughn

[Corey Hallagan]

Wow, those are nice. Very nice. Really hard to say on some of the woods. Of the burls there are so many it is difficult to guess and the color ranges can make them look like something else at times. The 2nd to last one, my guess is Thuya burl. The one could be amboyna. I have amboyna that is almost cream colored all the way to dark red, but that one kind of looks like it has the coloring of desert ironwood. That first single pen is a hard one. Maybe mesquite? They are nice looking pens Vaughn. Nice job.

corey

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Looking good, but I'm lousy at the name that wood game, as I've seen so few in person.... :p

But I'll take a shot just the same

#1 Dunno wood..... :rolleyes: Maybe Mahogany?

#2 no idea on the wood, but what do you MEAN there is now toothfairy..... :(

#3 again Dunno Burl wood sounds good to me....... DJ who is an attorney.... makes sense, he spins in the day and the night... ;) :D

#4 Dang it, that was the one I had nailed......... :D

Nice looking pens!

[Tom Sherman]

Vaughn, those are nice looking pens regardless of the type of wood On the burls one of them could be Mallee burl.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Vaughn those are some nice looking pens. Nice job no matter the wood.

[Ernie Nyvall]

Real nice Job Vaughn. Keep it up.

Ernie

[Corey Hallagan]

Dario sells alot of pen blanks and turns alot of pens. He might have an idea!

Corey

[Keith Christopher]

looks like a redwood burl to me. Wonderful pens !!!!1

[RL Johnson]

I believe that the wood that clogs sandpaper real easy is probably Tamboti. Rockler carried a lot of it for sale. I ended up buying a bunch. Turn nice but I would wipe the wood down with acetone, let dry, and then sand. The sandpaper last longer that way. The burls look like cherry. Not sure but they are good looking pens.

Randy

[Martin Shupe]

Great pens.

I was looking at the "flat top double twist" in the catalog the other day. How is it different from the normal slimline. What is the double twist part all about?

Thanks for answering a dumb question.

[Corey Hallagan]

Martin, if you take a regular slimeline it will twist only one way. The flat top and other double twist do just that, they twist the ball point out in by twisting it in both directions. The one direction it will twist and if you keep going it will then unscrew so you can remove the refill to change it. The "flat top" if you are asking about that refers to the style of the pen which is a copy of the 1920's Parker pens of that era. They are nice pens but very finicky to put together. You must have the top cap the exact length or a smidgeon smaller. 1/32 too long and it won't work.

Corey

[Vaughn McMillan]

...They are nice pens but very finicky to put together. You must have the top cap the exact length or a smidgeon smaller. 1/32 too long and it won't work.

Corey
The other successful trick for me was to make sure the transmission slides FREELY through the top cap before pressing the center ring into place. I gently used a rat tail file to get rid of any glue traces and open up the cap tube on the two that I did, and between that and paying attention to the length, they worked out well.

Thanks all for the comments and compliments. I'm still very new to the pen stuff, but I'll keep practicing and try to improve on them. Regarding the wood species suggestions...thanks for all those, too. Tamboti rings a bell for the non-burl Dunno pen. I seem to recall seeing that label on the bin.

- Vaughn

[Barry Stratton]

GREAT job on these pens Vaughn! I see your attention to detail followed you into the abyss!!!! Keep `em coming.

[Corey Hallagan]

Good point Vaughn. I have a round..chain saw file that I run up and down thru the tube and all around to ensure a good fit. First I run the pen mill down thru the tube to open it back up if it compressed. That usually does it.

Corey

[Keith Burns]

Great pens Vaughn !! Can't help with the wood types. Keep it up:) :)

[Henry C. Gernhardt, III]

Nice work, Vaugn. Wish I could help you with the wood ID, but I'm just not that good at it yet...