best turning wood for beginner pen turning

[Chris Oakley]

Is there a type of wood that's better for beginning pen turners? How about the finish, what have you found to be the best?

[Brad Hammond]

Is there a type of wood that's better for beginning pen turners? How about the finish, what have you found to be the best?

anywood is fine....JUST GET ON THE LATHE! turn lots!
i like crystal coat, but i've been trying finishing with CA lately with pretty good results.

brad

[Dan Stuewe]

My first two pens were made with scrap koa and zebrawood. I also used scrap maple as a highlight (re. fixed a boo-boo in the purple heart) on my third pen. I've only used Myland's High Friction Polish. So far I love the way it works. I've never tried the dyed plywood blanks (sorry, can't think of the brand names right now), but I do like stabilized burls. You have to be carefull, but I've had success after "learning" on just a handfull of straight grained wood pens.

[Kevin Gerstenecker]

Chris, I turned my first 5 pens today, and I started with Cherry, because I found it to be about the easiest wood to turn. I also turned some Box Elder, Lacewood and Purpleheart pens. The Cherry was by far the easiest to turn and sand. I would start with Cherry, but as easy as they are to turn, you will quickly be moving on to other species. Did I mention that Pen Turning is a BLAST? :D I will be posting photo's of the pens I turned today.

[Scott Greaves]

Hi Chris!

A good wood for a beginner? Well, whatever is on hand! ;)

OK, that's too easy. I would choose a wood that is even grained, dense, and that turns well. It's a bonus if it looks great, too! If you don't have worries about allergic reactions, I'd try Cocobolo. It is beautiful, and turns nicely. But as Kevin said, cherry is a nice choice as well.

I use HUT Crystal Coat, but any of the friction polishes would be fine, including the Crystal Coat, Mylands, and Shellawax. Stay away from the HUT wax sticks.

Feel free to E-Mail me (swedg1@cableone.net) if you have any questions. I'm sure Ken would help, too! And as Brad said, just get on the lathe! :D

Scott.

[Doug Jones]

Chris,
I have found that fresh cut cherry wood turns the best for learning on. As for the finish, I don't know as I am working on learning that myself.

[Ken Salisbury]

Is there a type of wood that's better for beginning pen turners? How about the finish, what have you found to be the best?

I have made a couple of pens from time to time. Whenever I give demos/classes on pen making I encourage beginners to start with (as Scott suggests)an even grain, dense wood like cherry or beech.

I use Hut's Crystal Coat and a light application of Hut's PPP wax stick on 95% of my pens and other small craft items.