1st Corian Pen.............

[Ken Fitzgerald]

This afternoon I turned my first Corian pen. I was shocked how easily it turned.......actually got curlies with my sharp skew.

Here's my fist corian pen.....It's for my manager who got recalled to active military duty. Corian with black titanium hardware from Woodcraft. At the advice of someone who just returned from Iraq, I used the basic slimline pen kit as it will fit into and come out of the pen pockets on the uniform.

[Jon Shively]

Ken, I got permission to get scraps from the cut off table at our high end cabinet shop near my home. They do predominately corian countertops and wondered about it. Compared to ebony, antler or oak, where would it fall? Can't wait to see the picture.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jon.....I'll post a picture later tonight.....It really turned quite easily. I turn pens using only a skew and I keep it sharp. I'd been warned not to try to use a scraping cut...so I just rode the bevel on my skew. I will say that I tried drilling some more blanks this evening and had everyone of them blow out even though I was using a pen blank vice and taking time to clear the drill bit of shavings quite regularly. I've never turned ebony or antler....I thing it turned easier than oak from the standpoint that there was no coarse grain changes. I was surprised to get 1-2 inch curles with my skew....I'll post a photo later. I just turned it like I would a piece of wood....sand through 400 grit...then micro mesh. I was told you really don't need to put a finish on it.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Ken, looks really nice. Did you end up putting any type of finish on it?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Steve....no finish....just sanded through 400 grit and micromeshed.

[John Chandler]

That is a nice looking pen.

[Gilbert Vega]

Nice looking pen! I also did my first Corian oen last month. I like the way it turns and can be polished to a very high shine with Micro Mesh.

[Neal Addy]

Nice looking pen! I haven't tried Corian yet. This makes me want to give it a turn.

[Gary DeWitt]

No finish needed on plastic. Some finishes ARE plastic! You can buff with plastic polish or auto buffing compound after micromesh if you want a mirror finish.

[Keith Burns]

Great pen Ken !! I've done a lot of Corian in the past and I agree, it is a pleasure to turn. You did a great job !:) :)

Just an added thought. When I turned the Corian Pens I got the material from a top shop and would turn pens for him. He would then give a matching pen to his customers when they made a purchase.

[Tom Sherman]

Nice job Ken that pen looks great. I too like how Corian turns and finishes.

[Keith Outten]

I wish i had a way to get small scraps of Corian to you folks. I have a rainbow of colors in small pieces that would be great for pens...hundreds or even thousands of them. I don't have the time to cut all of the scraps into pen blanks which obviously would be the best way to reduce the shipping costs since Corian is so heavy.

I have a workbench in my shop right now that probably has over three hundred pounds of Corian pieces that are to small for plaques but would make a lot of pens in just about every Corian color.

Is there anyone in my local area that would like some free Corian to make pens?

.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Excellant Ken, you really made a nice looking pen. Looks like a very slim line, is that correct? What size was your blank and did you have to do any glue work to get it thick enough?:)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Chris.....It is indeed a slim line. I was conversing with a fellow Creeker who just came back from Iraq...He said to use the Slimline and keep the diameter to a mininum or it wouldn't easily fit the pen pockets on sleeves of the coveralls they wear. So......It's just a slim...slimline.......

The blank was about 3/8" thick....I received some during my lathing last year....from someone in Cleveland...I can't remember the fellows name.....I got to going through some pen blanks and found it. I just used my SCMS and cut it square...drilled it......used epoxy to glue it up....I blew out several blanks drilling them....I tried to be extremely cautious as I got to the end of the blank...cycled the bit to clear the debris every 1/8" or so...still blew out several blanks....Finally drilled a 3" long piece...it blew out but was able to cut it back to about 2 1/8"...glued in the tube....then trimmed it to the length of tube.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Ken that is a good looking pen. Nice job.

[Corey Hallagan]

Very nice Ken, I have some Corian that I haven't turned on yet. Looks great and a nice gift!

Corey