Totally new at this

[Avery]

After buying my new toy from 44Ronin yesterday and sorting through the mountain of kits and blanks that came with it, I decided ,after a little practice to try my hand at a pen or two.

This is the first time that I have touched a lathe since I left school in 1971

The first one is an unknown timber and as you can see, I was quite conservative when it came to getting down close to the bushings. I used a spindle gouge for the whole event. As you can see the fit is not very good.

The second was done with a skew chisel and once again I did not get too close to the bushes. The dark grain marks in the timber came from some sort of contamination during sanding. I made a note to keep things a lot cleaner from here on in. The little rings at the ends was just a little whimsy with the chisel point. Not too clever and once again the fit is bad.

The third is a piece that was labelled "mahogany" . Once again rounded with the gouge and finished with the chisel. I was braver this time and it all ended up pretty good. I had a little "dig in" right near the end and took a chip out, that is hidden by the clip. I don't like the black chrome but all this is experimental

I think I did pretty good for my first days turning in over 39 years.

All comments and suggestions are more than welcome.

[corbs]

welcome to the slippery slope (and congrats on the nice buy from Ronin too:2tsup:). Nice work so far, but can't help you out with the wood id's sorry:rolleyes:

[I_wanna_Shed]

They all look good Avery. I think the black chrome suits that timber, it makes it look different from other pens.

My first pen (a slimline) wasn't all that crash hot, but I still use it, seems kinda cool being my first pen.

Keep it up!

Nathan.

[artme]

G'day birdman and welcome to the frustrating satisfaction that goes with pen turning.

Great start there for a novice. You will get better very quickly as you can see what you need to do in future. Great to see you experimenting wit different gouges and chisels too.

Good luck with your future efforts!!:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

[gawdelpus]

The first looks like it could be a red cedar especially if it was very soft ,didn't you get some sandpaper with the kit lol. its a very good finishing tool hehe.you can actually do ornamental rings with a piece of fine wire run lathe at high speed and it will "burn the grooves in for you, Don't let anyone kid you slims are easy they are not,as you will discover in time :) but they will allow you to play a bit as the costs are moderate ,and good to practice your skills. All up not a bad effort at all, And I have a big box of "unknown wood" as do most of us I would expect :). I came from a background of metal working ,and to plunge a piece of high speed steel into a fast spinning piece of timber was a bit unnerving for me at the time ,but it all comes together in time the more you do the quicker you learn :). Welcome to the "addiction" hehe, cheers ~ John :2tsup:

[MBUMIK]

great first effort mate, make sure you keep those first pens close and handy, shows you where you started and how far you have come

welcome to the site and good turnings

MIK

[PenTurner]

Well done for first efforts, give it another go and watch out, you will continue with a passion, Amos:)

[Les in Red Deer]

Nicely done for your first.
You're hooked now.
Keep em coming.

Les

[Rum Pig]

Very nice especially for your first well done:2tsup::2tsup:

[Ozkaban]

Nice looking pens :2tsup: Even without it being a first try!

Cheers,
Dave

[munruben]

Good work. :2tsup:

[Avery]

Thanks for all the comments and encouragement. I turned three more today and was quite pleased with all of them. I did one in silky oak which came up really, really nicely and then split it in half while pushing in the top end piece. I think the wood must have been just a little longer than the brass tube and the top pushed in at a bit of an angle.

There are a lot of ways to screw these things up. So far I have only learned a few of them.

Thanks fellas.


Duncan.

[gawdelpus]

All accomplishments are a combination of what to do ,and what not to do, sounds like you are well on the way to achieving just that !! cheers ~ John :D:D:D

[44Ronin]

They look good for a first try. :2tsup:

The wood on the left one is American Black Walnut. It is quite open grained as you can see. When finished with shellawax it tends to glimmer when view at some angles. I sourced that wood from Anagote's offcut piles. That's also where I got the Zebrawood. I love the guys at Anagote, because they are awesome - best place in Sydney to get fancy timber :2tsup:.

Middle one looks like tassie oak or something. Can't help about the one one the right.

Did you use the EEE on the light coloured one? The EEE will contaminate the grain like that if it comes in contact with metal bushings.

I think the best way to do the ends is to get them close and sandpaper them down to a good fit.

I did have a stack of sandpaper in the drawer that I forgot to give ya.....:doh:

[Allan at Wallan]

Good effort for your first tries ... practice makes perfect.:2tsup:

Are you using a pen mill to square the ends of your blanks
back to the brass inserts? This is very important and will
give you a nice join each time.

Allan