Thread: Good news and bad news...

Looks good ,black can be very elegant ,shiny or satin finish,depends on how hard it is to get a finish to take. Its not the things that go wrong that test us, its the approach we take to overcome them ,mostly we never stop learning, and putting stuff in the forums good or bad ,will help someone be inspired later down the track, keep it up and enjoy ,I think I will make a brass pen soon hehe ,that should behave itself cheers john

john thats a good save and it takes a bit to notice the diff unless you are a woodie

noice

Thanks for the comments guys - I really appreciate the support I've received on this forum.

I didn't get a chance to turn another pen today, but I did pick up a couple of cycpress pine pickets from Bunnings which look like they have some reasonable grain and I'm hoping will be reasonable practice. It's amazing how quickly you start imagining pens in every bit of wood you see

I'm not sure if I'm being too ambitious, but a friend of mine is having a birthday in a few weeks so I bought a couple of Elegant Beauty pen kits which I'm hoping to turn into a nice gift. I've now got to find a really nice blank and start perfecting my craft Are the Elegant Beauty kits any more difficult to make than the slimlines?

Originally Posted by jcostab

Are the Elegant Beauty kits any more difficult to make than the slimlines?

easier, only one piece of wood, only needs a slight curve from one end to another
Actually I was looking at some bunnies pickets today but resisted the temptation

I had a similar experience the other day turning two pen blanks for a slimline using Flame Boxwood. Had a blow out on one of the blanks but the other one was perfect. Discarded it and threw it in my junk bin. Next day I thought I would have another try making a slimline and this time using Spalted Pecan. Yep, you guessed it, the same thing happened. One piece perfect and the other blew out. Both the Spalted Pecan and the Flame Boxwood from the day before are really pretty timbers and I was more than cheesed off at the results.
Out of sheer frustration I decided not to waste the 2 perfect pen blanks and put them together in a pen and it turned out to be a pretty pen. The contrasting timbers looked really good. I would have posted a pic but I have given the pen away as a birthday present.

So in future if I stuff up on one part of the pen I am not going to throw it away but wait until I do the same thing again and then put them together and make a two timbered pen out of it.

The EB and Sierras are much easier than the slims, as said only one barrel and the pens just push together no problem finding how deep to put the activater into the nib end hehe, you will find them no trouble at all, and they do look good, show off the wood or acrylic a bit better as well, Have fun

Good save John and a really good looking pen!

Black Palm can be a bugger to turn> I made one recently for our French student and the blank was quite "pithy" so had to get the CA out and keep stabilising as I went.

Excellent work and a good save. Black Palm is not the easiest material to work and you've progressed very quickly.

Originally Posted by Buzz

Excellent work and a good save. Black Palm is not the easiest material to work and you've progressed very quickly.

Thanks Chris. I've only progressed quickly due to the masses of great information I've gleaned from these forums and a few other websites. Thanks to everyone who has contributed

Originally Posted by gawdelpus

The EB and Sierras are much easier than the slims, as said only one barrel and the pens just push together no problem finding how deep to put the activater into the nib end hehe, you will find them no trouble at all, and they do look good, show off the wood or acrylic a bit better as well, Have fun

Agreed John, they are easier to assemble and make, only using one blank however, I think the slimlines still have a lot to offer. The slimline shows much more timber for those who like timber pens and can be quite impressive. I have found that some people prefer the look of the slimline and I have actually made a couple with no centre band and they look pretty good too.