Pen Blanks Question

[lubbing5cherubs]

Hi Where is the best place to source good pen blanks from that won't break the budget. I have some to go on with but I am wondering.
Thanks Toni

[ss_11000]

theres quite a few places i know of that have mail order. but i dont know of any up in qld.

carrols, brads burls( from $1-2), carbatec, lumber bunker. pen turners paradise.

[CameronPotter]

Out bush (if you can wait for the wood to dry...) :D

Otherwise, see if you can find a local timber merchant or fine wood worker who might have some offcuts that they would be willing to sell.

Mind you, as Stirlo says, pen blanks aren't all that dear.

Also, a good option is to use two cheap woods and laminate them. That can look really impressive at VERY low cost.

Cam

[lubbing5cherubs]

How do you laminate Cam
bye Toni

[CameronPotter]

Cut, glue, wait for the glue to dry - done. :p

Seriously, it is actually about that easy... depending on what you want from it.

If you want to laminate in a band, get a blank, cut it at an angle, then glue in a thin strip of contrasting wood. This will look like a nice angled band around the pen.

There are also many more complicated ways to make a laminated blank (by mucking around doing really fancy segmenting) but for starters, just try a simple angled cut.

I did mine with a handsaw and a faceplate sander. If you have a mitre saw, you don't even need the sander.

I suggest that you look up Kip Christensen and Rex Burningham's book called "Turning Pens and Pencils". Lotsa good ideas in it.

Here is a pic of what I mean:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/photo_album_view.asp?cname=Main+Album&mid=2308&cid=2513&page=2

See the top left hand pic. - although I haven't updated that file for a while.

If you have any mores questions - I am always willing to answer them. :D

Cam

[JackoH]

Do you or your friends have a wood heap? I was in Longreach a couple of years ago and the local caravan park was using some top class Gidgee for firewood! I was able to "aquire" a few logs and when I got home turned some of the best looking pens ever from it.

[dai sensei]

Firewood stacks area good sorce. I've got good curly grained red-gum in Canberra, banksia along the NSW coast, and other bits as good - all at roadside BBQ's. Mind you, can't say I've been as lucky as Jacko, Gidgee - what a score, well done.

[Wood Butcher]

Heres an Epay auction I came across.
could be good for you penturners!
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Rare-Tasmanian-timber-collection-suit-pens-or-parquetry_W0QQitemZ6056751786QQcategoryZ112570QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[ss_11000]

thanx rowan, i'll watch that one, looks goog

[CameronPotter]

Many of those wood make for pretty boring pens.

If you look carefully, there isn't a lot of grain features on it.

(Still, maybe I am just picky).

Cam

[ss_11000]

yeah but sometimes the boring pens look better than highly figured ones.....

ps. ebay link got 1 day 3 hrs left and is at $50 for those interested.

[lubbing5cherubs]

. Mind you, can't say I've been as lucky as Jacko, Gidgee - what a score, well done.


Gidgee is no hassle my brother is a post supplier for fences. So I have access to gidgee or midgeroochi. But I did think gidgee would be to hard on the lathe. IT not hey? Cool. I am going for a walk today
Toni:o

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Many of those wood make for pretty boring pens.

If you look carefully, there isn't a lot of grain features on it.

(Still, maybe I am just picky).

True to form, I'll have to disagree again. :D

It's not the wood that makes for boring pens, it's lack of imagination by the turner. Plain woods are best for the fancier, ornamental turnings and fancy wood is best displayed with plain turning. Mixing highly coloured/figured wood and fancy turning is just asking for an eye-sore...

Tom, gidgee is a hard wood, yeah, and murder on the tools. Personally I reckon the effort pays off. 'Tis worth your trying at least once, anyway.

[bdar]

Skew I also think that the plainer timber is a harder timber to finish, Where as your figured timber or as my girlfriend puts it, the pretty stuff, has colour as figure to sell itself. The plain grained timber has to be finished so that it has a depth to it. What I am trying to say is that the finish has to be so that you can look into the finish and because of the plainess of the grain the finish has to be more perfect than on a highly figured grain. A pen with a figured grain will distract a person not familiar to timber from the actual finish. I will agree though that plain grained timber is not boring, but not that it lends itself to fancier turning. Bob Stockdale and Rude Osolink have used plain grained timber effectively making a strong statement for shapes of pure form. With plainer timber it allows for bleaching, ebonizing and dying of the timbers. These are just my thoughts though.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Yes, I agree. You're dead right that plain timbers need better finishes; they also need more precise turning. Without the figuring to distract the eye, what would be otherwise minor defects become glaringly obvious. I'm not saying that plain timber lends itself to fancier turning, but rather if you're doing fancier turning it's best displayed using plain timbers. Stockdale and Osolink sound like good examples of what I mean. :) Why hide the form? If you've turned well, it'll stand by itself and sell as readily as a "pretty" pen.

Similarly, I tend to colour or texture only highlight details and not the main body. I find things more aesthetically pleasing that way. 'Tis purely a personal thing though... it'd be a boring world if everybody's tastes were the same.

[CameronPotter]

It's not the wood that makes for boring pens, it's lack of imagination by the turner.

Ouch! If I didn't know you better, I would think that you are having a real go at me here! :p

Actually, I don't much like highly sculpted pens (regardless of the wood) so I suppose that explains that.

One sharp angle in my pen and I start to feel that it is "highly" adorned for a pen.

However, as you said, it takes all types. :D

I certainly don't feel that way about other things (like vases or goblets or even bowls - sometimes).

Cam

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Sorry if it seemed that way, not intended.

A pen doesn't need to be "highly sculpted" to have an interesting form; there's a real skill to keeping it smooth, simple and aesthetically pleasing, in and of itself. It's a knack I don't have, not consistently anyway, but I'm working on it. :rolleyes:

Even the plain ol' "stacked beer barrel" form that most newby's seem to start with can be either fugly or pleasing depending on the curves and symmetry. I've seen (and, admittedly, turned) an awful lot of lop-sided kegs. :D

[CameronPotter]

Nah, I didn't take it that way... Don't worry.

My first pencil was of the keg design... (or as certain family members put it - ahhh, a part of the female anatomy.. :rolleyes: )

It was even in its shape, but I just didn't like it all that much.

I think it has more to do with functionality to me. A pen is functional and if it is "tizzed up" then I don't like it so much. Mine you, SOME I do really like, but they are definitely the exception rather than the rule (ie the ring on the pen).

Also, it is not to do with form, as fancy lace bobbins look good to me, just not pens. :confused:

Anyway, again, it takes all types - even if some of them are wrong. :p ;) (only kidding).

Cam