Do you want a potpourri or are you driving?
Posted: Thu May 09, 2019 7:38 pm
This was a staple some years back here, a potpourri thread where people post just about anything and occasionally things related to wood working. So I'll start off with a post on some shop time I'm getting this week.
Pens, yes more and more of them. I've had some recent requests for more so while I'm at it I wanted to make enough to leave some legacy pens for the grandchildren now to young to have them. And it is always good to have a few extras just in case.
Right now I have a batch of 17 started, 15 different woods. A lot of the woods are ones I have not used before. So far the blanks have been cut, tubes glued in and barrels trimmed.
One blank was osage orange, one of the woods I have never turned or made a pen from. Since it came via mail I didn't get to pick out the blank, and in this case it had a crack/split on one end. At first I was just going to toss it but then what the heck why not try and save it.
I used some thin super glue and got it as deep in fissure as I could. Then went ahead and cut and drilled it. Then put more super glue in the drilled hole to stabilize it. At that point I still wasn't sure if it was worth the effort but glued the tubes in anyway.
As I turned it I added glue a couple more times to make sure I was turning stabilized wood. BTW I used a black CA glue, also new to me. For a finish I used CA, not something I love to use due to the smell but figured it was the safest way to preserve the wood.
Still not convinced I like it but I guess since I give these pens away it will do. Just hate to waste things.
So another observation I have had on pens. Since I give the pens away I like to if I can have a box of them to offer and let the user pick the one they want. Now keep in mind I've done maybe 350 pens and while lets say 50 of those were hand picked by me as gifts the leave some where near 300 that were selected by others. I do some plastic ones but they are not my favorite but back to subject. The dark wood pens always go first. The plastic ones always go last with the lighter woods between. The lone except are the coffee bean pens but they are for family only since the blanks are $10 ea.
Ed
Pens, yes more and more of them. I've had some recent requests for more so while I'm at it I wanted to make enough to leave some legacy pens for the grandchildren now to young to have them. And it is always good to have a few extras just in case.
Right now I have a batch of 17 started, 15 different woods. A lot of the woods are ones I have not used before. So far the blanks have been cut, tubes glued in and barrels trimmed.
One blank was osage orange, one of the woods I have never turned or made a pen from. Since it came via mail I didn't get to pick out the blank, and in this case it had a crack/split on one end. At first I was just going to toss it but then what the heck why not try and save it.
I used some thin super glue and got it as deep in fissure as I could. Then went ahead and cut and drilled it. Then put more super glue in the drilled hole to stabilize it. At that point I still wasn't sure if it was worth the effort but glued the tubes in anyway.
As I turned it I added glue a couple more times to make sure I was turning stabilized wood. BTW I used a black CA glue, also new to me. For a finish I used CA, not something I love to use due to the smell but figured it was the safest way to preserve the wood.
Still not convinced I like it but I guess since I give these pens away it will do. Just hate to waste things.
So another observation I have had on pens. Since I give the pens away I like to if I can have a box of them to offer and let the user pick the one they want. Now keep in mind I've done maybe 350 pens and while lets say 50 of those were hand picked by me as gifts the leave some where near 300 that were selected by others. I do some plastic ones but they are not my favorite but back to subject. The dark wood pens always go first. The plastic ones always go last with the lighter woods between. The lone except are the coffee bean pens but they are for family only since the blanks are $10 ea.
Ed