Certainly this process requires great precision but more importantly great patience to get every tiny part perfectly cut and then assembled to make this masterpiece.

Rockler has recently taken a lot of that work out of the equation so the rest of us mere mortals have a shot at creating one of these beauties. In a recent post on Buzz Saw, the Rockler blog, Jim Carroll, the manager a turning at Rockler, said that these while these kits are easier than doing them yourself they are not for the beginning turner due to the light hand you need to size the blanks and the sharp tools need for the cutting. Rockler’s kits are stabilized blanks and with all the CA glue used to assemble them you will need a very sharp edge on your gouges and you will need to keep it that way.

I also recommend definitely wearing a respirator when turning these kits as the resins used during the stabilization and CA can put off some funky stuff. Granted every turner should be wearing a respirator whenever they turn, but I’m not going to lie and say I do it all the time

So head over the Rockler’s inlay pen kit page and check out their new line of inlay pen kits and pick out your favorite design, make sure you are stocked up on CA glue and make yourself a masterpiece!

I have finished the last green and white acrylic pens for this school year and was ready to break down the lathe and get back to Roubo, when on a lark, I decided to turn some wood. (gasp!)

This is where it gets interesting. Wood turns so much easier than acrylic and doesn’t dull your tools so much. It was great to feel the greater control over the tool in a softer medium. I was having so much fun that I ended up turning a few pens. These two pens got me thinking.

Every woodworker is fascinated by the exotic and highly figured woods and pen makers are among the most voracious users of the exotics. Here is a great example why this is:

This curly Koa makes a beautiful pen and the curly grain makes the light dance. Here’s a close up of the grain.

I am going to keep this one for myself!

I mentioned that I turned one more pen and this one was an interesting contrast. I have a drawer dedicated to pen blanks in my shop. Lately, like a typical woodworking packrat, I have been taking my small leftovers from furniture projects and cutting them into 6″ lengths and just throwing them into the drawer. It makes pen turning like Christmas because I pull open the drawer and am surprised by the variety of species at my fingertips. In this case I decide to try somethign different and pulled a blank of Quartersawn White Oak. I love the smell of it so why not.

Isn’t it amazing how stunning straight grain can be. It was an eye opening experience for me because I usually lean towards the highly figured in my pens, but this was an exception I was not expecting.

Maybe straight grain is not just for hand planing anymore!

I have a very successful job in “the real world” that keeps my wife and I very happy and provided for. I have been selling quite a bit of my creations lately though and the primary benefit to that is that I get to reinvest the profits into my woodworking obsession.

So when I was recently comissioned to make a very special pen for a birthday gift, I was excited because the “my sold stuff” fund reached a very special number that I have been shooting for.

First things first, here is the latest creation hot off my lathe.

This is a PSI Sceptre kit with Ebony. I love the details on the top of the pen!

So what is it that I have been saving for that this recent sale will allow me to get? Check this out…

Phillip Edwards of Philly Planes just sent me this shot of my recently completed Skew Miter plane. OK, so maybe I was anticipating this last sale a little because I contacted Phillip back in early February about this order. As I write this, this beautiful plane is winging it’s way across the pond from merry ole England to my shop.

Expect a full report when I put it to work. I feel like I should make a better shooting board to go with this beaut of a plane!

This week’s episode is sponsored by Penn State Industries. I turn the new Bullet Cartridge pen and give a complete kit away at the end of the show. Also I turn this pen from acrylic and discuss how to work with this material. Finally PSI was kind enough to send two bottles of Plastics Polish so I test out this finishing method to great success.

Enjoy the show!

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OK that said, the Lumberjock pen swap is in the middle of round 3 and I was visited by the pen swap fairy this past Friday. I came home from a trip up to Lancaster county, PA to find a mysterious box on my front step. It was extremely heavy but I knew by the sounds it made that it must be my turn in the pen swap rotation. I quickly took it down to the shop and tore the box open.

Wow, this thing is full to bursting with pen kits, pen blanks, and completed pens. This is the second time I have participated in this swap and it is becoming more and more obvious just how great woodworkers are. The overflowing box is a testament to their generousity. It took me at least 15 minutes to unpack everything and be able to take stock of what was inside. My entire benchtop was covered with stuff. This go around several of the Jocks has put in some local “exotics” from their part of the country like Kentucky Coffee Tree, Pecan, River Birch, and Mesquite. Of course there were samples of the pen turning standards like Cocobolo, Ebony, Pink Ivory, and Curly Maple; however, this round is unique in that several of the Jocks had also dropped in some “challenge” blanks.

These challenge blanks are from locally harvested woods usually on the Jock’s property that are unusual in some way. The challenge part of it was not only to take a blank, but to make a pen with it. The taking is no problem because these two blanks: Cherry Burl, and Spalted Willow are both stunningly beautiful. The making however is the real challenge. Both blanks provide their own tests as the burl is very unstable and the willow is just plain punky and soft. They will take a steady hand and fine tool handling technique to turn effectively. I think this will be a good opportunity for me to try some home stabilization techniques that I have been reading about on the forums. Whatever happens, I am up to the challenge!

I admit that since this box was so full that I may have taken more than I put in just so that I could get the box closed again. We Jocks are probably abusing the flat rate shipping box and the US postal service must be losing money on this deal because the weight alone would drive up the shipping cost. I tried to offset the space and weight issue by putting in more pen kits and less blanks since they take up less space. I also put in more exotic and expensive blanks and kits to balance out the karmic effect.

Here was my take:

Blanks:

2 Laminated Walnut/Poplar
2 Apple
Spalted Willow
Cherry Burl
2 Cocobolo
Pink Ivory
2 KY Coffee Tree
2 Pecan
Walnut Crotch
Tulip
PurpleHeart

Pen Kits

A cool satin nickel Euro

Pens

Great Euro turned in acrylic
Beautiful Slimline in Big Leaf Maple burl

And here is what I put back in the box:

Blanks

2 Quilted Maple
2 Bird’s Eye Maple
2 Very Curly Koa
Kamani (Hawaiian hardwood)
2 Yellowheart
2 Quartersawn White Oak
2 Quartersawn Sycamore (from my backyard)
2 Buckeye Burl (see my Euro Screw Cap post)

Pen Kits

2 Classic Screw Cap
2 Rhodium Euro
Refrigerator Pen

I didn’t put in any of my own pens mainly because everything I am making now is going towards my craft show in two weeks. Next time around maybe I’ll put some of my own creations in there. I can’t wait to try out some of this interesting wood I pulled from this. Thanks to everyone who is participating and especially to Tim D for organizing the whole thing. Now it’s time to package this up and ship it off to the next lucky Jock!

To make your own go to www.pennstateind.com and get your Majestic Jr. kit. You will also need

10.5 mm drill bit
12.5 mm drill bit
3/4 x 3/4 x 5 pen blank
Barrell trimming sleeves (or make your own)
Majestic Jr bushing kit

This is a great high end kit and will be a wonderful gift this holiday season for that special someone.

Stay tuned to the end of the episode where I announce the winner of the drawing. We had over 400 entries to this contest in our very first giveaway. Thank you to all for entering and I now have a very compelling story to share with PSI to continue this sponsorship.

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Today I started filming for the giveaway episode of this above Majestic Jr. pen kit. This pen is similar to Jr. Gentleman or Jr. Statesman pen that Craft Supplies offers, but I am really pleased with the lines and details on this particular kit. This is the first Majestic Jr. that I have turned and it was very simple and straightforward and comes together with a spectacular result.

This will definately make an outstanding gift to someone this holiday season or just a nice reward to yourself for making it through another year. I’m not going to show any pictures of the one I just finished here, you will all just have to tune into the podcast to be released Monday evening, November 24th. I will hold the drawing until 9 PM so for those of you who like the thrill of waiting until the last minute can get their emails in to me by then.

Good luck everyone!

Shannon,

I finally was able to turn my pen (pictures attached). I made it out of ebony, sanded to 2400 grit, then finished with EEE-Ultra shine paste wax, and Mylands friction polish with a final coat of paste wax. Thanks for putting out such a great show I look forward to your next turning project.

Thanks again,

Todd O

Richfield, MN

Here are some more pictures of Todd’s glorious creation:

Thanks for sharing Todd and keep up the great work. Ebony is one of my favorite woods to turn and pens are small enough to allow me to do it without breaking the bank!

So how about the rest of you listeners out there. I know you are turning so let’s see what you have made.

As always, please email me your questions or comments on the show. I would love to hear what everyone thinks of the video. I would like to do more of these in the future but I need some more time working with my software to get all the advanced features right. Please send me your pics of your own completed pens too. In the coming weeks I will probably take a little break from turning and discuss some of the other woodworking styles that go on in my shop. If there is a topic you would like me to cover please drop me a line or a comment here in the blog and I will do my best to add it to the lineup. Thanks to everyone for stopping by and watching!

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Throughout the week I will release additional videos which cover the individual steps in the build. Stay tuned and let me hear from everyone who will be turning along with me. I want to see your finished pens when they are done and will post them here for the world to see if you like.

Here are the required supplies:

Pen Kit Woodcraft item # 128435
Bushings #128452
3/4 x 3/4 x 5 1/2 blank
3/8 drill bit
3/4 Roughing Gouge
1/8 Parting Tool
Vise or Pen Press
Sandpaper to 600 grit
Finish of choice: I will use EEE cream and Shellawax

These are the Woodcraft instructions for this pen kit.
Euro Screw Cap Pen Instructions

Click To Play

After drilling the blanks and glueing in the brass tubes it was time to square the ends with the brass using my barrel trimmer. With all of the talk of sharpening lately I have been paying more attention to my tools and sure enough this barrel trimmer is in a sad state of affairs. Can you blame it? All it does is cut end grain and mostly hard exotics at that!

Out comes my handy dandy DMT diamond file.

This is a very simple operation and the trimmer doesn’t have to be razor sharp. Like most things though you won’t realize how dull it was until your sharpen it again. I take light swipes on the bevel like this.

I use both sides of the file to refine the scratch pattern. In this particular instance there was some crud build up on the flats so I touched up those faces too. Once I loaded it back into the cordless drill and put it to the wood the difference was phenomenal. With these barrel trimmers gravity should do all the work for you. If you force it too much you risk tearing out the end grain around the brass tube and that is no fun to fix with CA glue.

Don’t forget to sharpen those little tools you have around your shop. These DMT files are excellent for all around sharpening including router bits!

Anyway, once I had that done I went to work on the pens and here is the result. Man, that newly sharpened roughing gouge made a big difference too! This kit is a typical Euro style pen but it has the screw off cap. Not a new kit to the market, but a new one to me. I really like the slightly beefier profile and the screw cap is an added touch of elegance.

I also have these certificates of authenticity to add the the holy land Olive wood mystique.

Pardon the gratuitous pictures but this stuff is B-E-A-utiful!!!

Here is the other side. Check out that crazy grain!

This last shot I call the “Starry Night” because it looks just like Van Gogh’s painting.

Surprisingly the Buckeye turns much better than any other burl I have worked with. It is a very soft and light wood so the gouges just tear through it like butter. With other, denser burls you constantly have to be on the look out for tear out. Not so with this stuff. I highly recommend it. The finished product is outstanding and will garner oohs and ahhs for a long time.

See y’all after vacation!

My nearest Woodcraft is about 35 miles away. It is rare for me to make a trip there and leave without at least a few pen kits. Often I will be there for something else entirely, but always end up with a few pen supplies. It is getting to the time of year where I start to turn out the pens in great numbers preparing for holiday craft shows and client gifts.

When I turned to the inventory today to make a few pencils (see my previous post) I found a Euro style pencil that looked pretty nice. I also have some beautiful Buckeye burl that I though would make a pretty slick pencil. I cut the blank, drilled the hole, and glued in the brass tube. Ready to start, I threaded it onto the mandrel only to discover that this particular style needs it’s very own bushings. My 3 other sets of Euro style bushings were not sufficient.

This really annoys me because it is not the first time this has happened and probably won’t be the last. I buy pen kits from a variety of manufacturers. Sometimes one manufacturer is the only supplier of a particular style. Sometimes they are on sale somewhere. Regardless, you will notice that each manufacturer makes sure there are subtle differences so that each time you buy a style from them you need to make sure you have the matching bushing.

So when you set out to make that special pen or pencil and get to the exciting part when you are just about to turn on the lathe… bummer I don’t have all the parts I need! Leaving me with just a pile of parts.

I guess I can’t blame the pen manufacturers and I certainly understand the need for a different bushing when the profile is different. I just wish that there could be a little more standardization in this industry. Oh well, I don’t want to whine, but at least take this as a public service announcement and check to make sure you have the bushings you need for the kit you are buying.

This was the primary lasting impression I got from Neil Lamens’ interview with Wendell Castle. Whether you like his designs or not, it is obvious he spends a great deal of time refining his ideas. I definately take the time to draw out my projects, but I have to admit that I often take the first drawing I come up with. Lately, after watching this interview from Neil, I have been doing a lot of drawing and refusing to accept my first idea.

I really like this practice and I have taken to carrying around a little notebook with me everywhere. Whenever I have a free moment I flip it open and see what falls out of my head. In a way, I find it is like taking a little bit of my workshop everywhere I go. Unfortunately I can’t spend as much time in my woodworking clubhouse as I would like so this is a nice substitute. (There I go quoting Dave again)

So with my annual vacation to Maine fast approaching, I was packing up my notebook and some graph paper to take with me. As I picked up the graph pad a pencil slipped out onto the floor. Then it hit me: if I am going to spend more time sketching why not do it in style. I am a woodworker after all. So after about a blissful hour this is what I came up with:

I figure why bother constantly sharpening a normal pencil when I can sketch in style. Not only that, but the always sharp edge I get from a mechanical pencil will hopefully add some more accuracy to my half laps and dovetails.

This spalted maple came from a tree in our neighborhood that came down in a storm about 8 months ago. I took some chunks from the curb and sawed them into planks and from the leftover I made pen blanks. I am really excited about how beautiful this came out because I have a lot more and I think customers will really like this look.

Anyway, now I have to make sure my drawings come up to scratch with the writing utensil. I guess if I can’t think of a good design at least I have something pretty to look at.

The wood is African Bubinga and it has been finished with Danish oil and a coat of wax. I love that no matter how many pens I make they all end up a little different. I don’t think I will ever get tired of watching them take shape.