Thread: April Challenge!

Originally Posted by Gary H

I have not been into pen making long enough to have a pile of unused blanks, but I'm working on it . Meanwhile, Ironwood has been kind enough to share some of his long held collection with me, hence this post. I know this is not a rare species, but am fascinated by the wavy grain it displays, and would like to hear how members would describe it. It's a Cigar kit using White Cedar (which makes my white cedar blanks look positively boring!). Thanks Brad, your generosity is greatly appreciated.

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Gary, what an amazing ultra cigar. White cedar is such an under rated timber. Love the components you have paired the timber. That is one pen to be proud of mate.

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That looks great Gary. The blank and that kit look like they are made for each other.
I think Euge has summed it up with “curly “.
I was given this tree about 20 years ago, still have couple of cubic M of slabs up to 900mm wide, and about a Ute load of crotch sections full of figure like this. Lovely stuff, just haven’t had a chance to use much of it yet.

I call this beautiful wavy magic Gary and while some regard Cigars as a piece of cake very few IMHO have the beaut design you accomplished. The nicest white Cedar you will see. What a ripper mate.

Peter.

Nice one Gary!!
Timber doesn't need to be rare to be beautiful.... Look at Redgum or Blackwood as classic examples.... And if this thread has encouraged you to turn one or two extra pens for your own enjoyment them it has done its job!

Excellent work and a fantastic finish on that one

That's a top looking pen. Obviously there is more to White Cedar than we normally see. Great work.

Thanks to Euge, Bdar, Penpal and Treecycle for the kind comments and especially to Gab, who got this challenge rolling, and encouraged all to get out those blanks from under the dust (or under the bench). And also to Ironwood (Brad) who gave me that blank, and others, to encourage me to keep on with my pen making efforts. The blank looked great (far better than anything I had) but it wasn't until the lathe stopped spinning that I really got excited and could appreciate just how good it was. One of the great joys of turning must surely be discovering what's hidden under the surface. Gab 's challenge is for us to make 3 pens this month. so I'm off to go through some more of the Ironwood bonanza to see what other surprises are in store.
And sorry, Euge but if I sold it I would have to charge enough to pay for both a divorce and a funeral - Mine! My Managing Director has grabbed this one (and I'm scared of her).
Cheers, Gary

Well Gab, I have made my first pen for April. It isn't the magical unicorn, cocobolo burl though. This pen is special for many other reasons. This is a shedded cast from the snakeman Ian Allen which is special in itself, but this pen is special for another reason. I received this blank when I swapped it with Tony Marron who was a great loss to the pen turning community over a year ago. This is why I chose th I as my first pen of my private stash20190407_145212_1554613183276.jpeg20190407_145331_1554613012377.jpeg

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Nice looking Cigar with a good story behind it. Does Ian still do his snakeskin blanks? Last I heard he was only doing knife scales.

Originally Posted by Treecycle

Nice looking Cigar with a good story behind it. Does Ian still do his snakeskin blanks? Last I heard he was only doing knife scales.

Not sure about snake skin blanks. Think he still does pen blanks if asked.

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Amazing Darren - actually quite humbled by the response of this little challenge and that there are others who seem to think the same way.

I have heard of Ian's fabled skin blanks but this is the first one I have seen finished so thankyou for sharing and delving into the dark recesses of your stash!

What a magnificent result.
Love the grain and it blends in nicely with the Cigar kit.

Ok folks, finally managed a bit of time in the shed. I had to modify my initial plans as the mangrove will need stabilising before being penerized (Mik term).

I treated myself to a new tool rest. My other ones are quite large, and anyone who has used a stubby tool rest knows they aren't the greatest (well, in my humble opinion).
I bought a modular job from nova. The post I got was a little oversize so I called in a favour from simplicity and with his steady hand and knowledge of metal stuff, a new tool rest is up and running. Much smoother to run the skew over and I think it will help my finishing cuts immensely.

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Enough about that and onto the challenge!!

First 2 down.

Sierra in gidgee burl finished with CA
Jr gent in buloke finished with Aussie oil - amazing multiple colourings in this piece

I have been playing around with Aussie oil as a finish for pens as it gives a more Matt finish, and instead of the plastic feel if CA, it still has the warm feel of timber

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Still a few more tubed up so I'll be posting a few more soonish!!

Cheers

Gab made some pens for me from woods I provided and I have to share them visually with others. He is too modest.

Here is #1 Brigalow Burl. (Brigalow is Acacia harpophylla). Acacia rarely produce burls but sometimes they do and when they do they are nice! I think Gab did a great job with this one. Thanks Gab, I cant wait to see and hold it !
Pics are by Gab - I have just cropped them .

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Another pen Gab finished in recent days. I cant say much about the design, fittings or how it turned or finished, but this wood is dusty to work. Will leave those details to him. This is a pic he sent me tonight. I have cropped and brightened it a bit to show more wood detail. Dark woods are hard to photgraph.

#2 Ancient River Red Gum: Dark woods like this are notoriously hard to photograph. This pen just shows a hint of it original red-brown wood colour before the iron salts from burial and water permeated into the wood and turned it black over thousands of years, possibly from around the last ice age. It is not carbonised as some say. You can just see the wavy grain as well. I may have more with fiddleback for another, one day.

Thanks Gab, cant wait to see it

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