First "pens" after several years

[Rob Harville]

I was able to get into the shop today and my new pen mandrel had finally arrived, so I broke out the old slimline pen/pencil kits and a "secret compartment" keychain.

First the pencil. No pen yet as I had a trearout right down to the tube. Little rant here about pre-drilled pen blanks. Suck. It seems that "they" didn't drill straight through, rather to the center from each end. Since the bores didn't line up, I couldn't fit the tube and had to redrill all the way through. This left things a little "loose" and left a void in the center that opened when I had the tube just cylindrical. Grrrrrrgh.

Anyway...Slimline Pencil, 24k gold and black, Rosewood barrels. I left the wood just a little proud of the fittings, which I don't like. I do like the finish.

http://www.teddydog.org/wood/slimline_pencil1.JPG

I also had a bunch of these "Secret Compartment" keychain things that I bought a long time ago. The wood is "Amboyna Burl" and I think it looks pretty good with a distinct color change in the wood from side to side. No really soft spots on this one (but I've had some really blow apart).

http://www.teddydog.org/wood/amboyna_keychain1.JPG
http://www.teddydog.org/wood/amboyna_keychain2.JPG

Any and all comments welcome.

Rob

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking pencil and those secret compartments pieces are beauties. Nice to get back to the shop.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Rob....Looks like you still have the skills! Nice projects.

[Don Carter]

Rob:
I think you still got it! They look very nice. If you don't mind, why has it been so long since the last pens?

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nice work Rob! All look really good! You stated you liked the finish on the pencil - but did't let us know what that finish was!?

[Rob Harville]

I haven't turned anything in a while because I have too many hobbies! I had a pen lathe that I "shared" with my father-in-law, but haven't had possession for a while. I recently bought a Jet VS1220.

The pencil was sanded to 3600 rotating, then I stopped and sanded along the pen again with 800 and up. Since the Rosewood has some open grain, I first applied a coat of Hut Crystalcoat and worked it in with friction (it IS a friction polish), then sanded again with 800 and up. I finished with the 2-step Hut "Pen Polish" stick polishes. Apply the Satin Gloss stick first, then rub it in, then the High Gloss. That's it.

For the keychain, I used PSI Shellawax and then the two HUT polish sticks.

Probably not the most durable, but I like it for woods that have good color on their own.

Rob