Pen and Pencil Turning

[Patty]

Steve's wood blanks make beautiful pens, I can attest to that!  I have made 2 pens from the blanks he sent, they are beautiful! Pictures will be soon. 

[Patty]

The thick is good for filling in tear out, pores, or little imperfections.  Before you complete the shape - let's say 95% complete, fill in the gaps with a touch of thick CA glue, hand sand with the grain diection using 220 grit or so, let dry, then sand with the machine on.  Repeat if needed, then turn to completion.

Ok, back on page 3 I asked about turning dry spalted wood with checks in it. Today my glue came in. I have both the thin and thick viscocity. So now do I just pour the thin stuff down into the cracks and hope it satuates the wood so I can finish my itty bitty bowl? The wood has splits around the edges, and when the gouge hits them it tears off a chunk. I cut the chunk of wood into a circle with the band saw, so I pretty much have my outside dimensional shape and size, unless I tear out another big chunk when I am turning it.    , and the wood looks like a little solid cylinder about 3" long and 2" wide. I just need to secure the outside so to speak with glue so I can add some shape to it, like a curved rim or something.  The inside is still not scooped out. I wanted to glue the outside edges of it first which seemed to make the most sense to me.

I want to explain the "splits" in my little cylinder. They are not thick cracks that run verticle, they are like edge fissures that run horizontally around the circumfrence. The wood kind of "peels" off in chucks when these fissure are exposed. 

[metalspinner]

Patty,
The fissures your speaking of,  are they breaks across the grain called "brash failure"?  If so, that particular piece of wood is probably to far gone to turn safely.  Is the texture of the wood more like a sponge than a solid piece?  A small spot of "sponginess' is O.K. Sometimes those little spongy spots break off and look really cool in the finished piece. But if the structure of the piece is compromised, a catch could send your bowl bouncing off the wall or your head. That's why I like to wear a full face shield rather than just glasses.


In general,  I don't use the CA glue until I've got some shape to the piece.  That little block of wood will soak up 10 bottles of that glue.  Before you make a piece with your nice spalted stuff, practice on a piece of wood that doesn't have the added complication of spalt.

Also, I want to make sure of the orientation of the wood on your lathe.  If the grain of the wood is parallel to the axis of the lathe it's called spindle turning.  If the grain of the wood is perpendicular to the axis it's called face plate turning.  Is your grain oriented parallel or perpendicular?

[metalspinner]

Here is a pic of a small spalted maple bowl if anyone is wondering what in the world we are talking about.

[Patty]

The grain of the wood is horizontal to the axis. So the end grain is pointing into the chuck on one end and waiting to be removed on the other if I were to make a bowl.

I googled "brash failure", and I don't think that is what is going on with this piece. It is more like I can peel the pieces off the edge with my hand if I can get my fingernail into the crack. I am going to sqeeze a few drops of glue down into the cracks that I can see, and hope that it will stabilize the edge a bit. If it doesn't work, then no problem, but now I am curious and just HAVE to know!

Your bowl is gorgeous! 

[metalspinner]

Yes,  a little bit of CA should work just fine for that.

[Norm]

I wanted to post a picture of a couple of turnings Patty and I have done.



She made the bell for her Mom, the handle is spalted hard maple.

I made a pepper grinder for myself.

These would have never been made without Charlie's help, directions and patience answering our questions about how to do these projects. Without his help they'd still be square pieces. 

Thank you Charlie.

[Fla._Deadheader]

 Nice pieces, Norm. The first ones ??

  We will be in the states in 2 weeks, and a mini-lathe is a priority to carry back down here. MIGHT have to ship a couple pallets of stuff I just can't seem to get along without. 

[Steven A.]

It looks like a fun hobby but I wonder if anyone makes any money making and selling them.  I see some guys sitting at flea markets with a whole bunch of them and not many customers.
If you are going to get even $10/hour for your production time, the real cost of materials including your time shopping for them, freight, etc., some money for your shop expense and your expense and hours to sell them how much would each one have to sell for so you could make a reasonable profit?

Like many hobby/business schemes I think the only money is made by the people selling supplies to the makers.

[Patty]

I do not know if I will ever be in a position to actually "make money" working with the lathe. I am sure many folks do, but their skill level is more like Charlie's and metalspinner, and burlcraft.  I know one lady on the forum that seems to do well selling her pens, but I do not think it is her only income source. 

The sheer pleasure I receive working with the lathe is my reward at this time. 

[metalspinner]

For small projects like pens and such, the problem is that the market is saturated with craftspeople making the same thing.  Just look at the number of catalogue's dedicated just to pen making.
The time I "make" money at the lathe on those type of projects is for gifts needed throughout the year - Christmas, birthday's, weddings, ect....  And it's so fast to make, that I can procrastinate until the last minute!

The sheer pleasure I receive working with the lathe is my reward at this time. 

This should be dually noted.

[Tom]

The trick to making  money in niche markets is to like what you are doing and be satisfied with your output.  You can't compete with automated machinery and a shop full of 50¢ and hour labor.  You have to love what you are doing.

Take a lesson from the old masters.  People have, for eons, painted pictures of landscapes and portraits.  The ones that are notable and who made it in the end, were the ones that kept turning out product, signing their work and allowing the public to generate the 'worth'.  Try comparing a Picasso to a water color done by the local kid in kindergarten.  They may not look much different, but the kid would be happy with a dime.  There was a time when Picasso probably would have too. 

[dail_h]

   How big do pen blanks need to be? I have some small bits of chestnut from this job I'm on now,if they would be usable. IM me if interested

[Modat22]

I've been thinking about drying out some nuisance grape vine and some wild rose bush trunks for pen blanks. It might be an interesting figure.

[beenthere]

Modat
Do you just air dry it?  How dry does it need to get for pen blanks?

[Modat22]

I haven't tried it yet. I'm guessing it could be stabilized with PET and turned soon after. Someone with more knowledge should answer this one 

[metalspinner]

The skinniest pens can be made from 5/8" square stock that is about 6" long.  The larger pen styles like Patty made need 3/4" - maybe more if your drilling set up is undependable.  Of course the blank will be cut in half, so two shorter pieces can be used.

beenthere,
I guess the best answer is "dry enough."  But really, air dryed (12-15%) is o.k.  The turning will be quite thin and the center will be drilled out.  The blank will crack while drilling if there are wetness conditions.  I use air dryed pieces all the time with no problems.  If the pieces makes it through the initial drilling for the tubes, it should make it to the finished pen.

[beenthere]

I was just curious, as Modat said he was ""thinking about drying out some nuisance grape vine "". 
I'm wondering what PET is 

[Modat22]

Sorry beenthere. I had a blonde moment 

I think its called PEG Polyethal glycol or something like that.