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View Full Version : sorry, not CW stuff, but I wanted to show them to y'all



lawrence
03-02-2013, 09:41 PM
In addition to my carvewright stuff, I do a bit of turning and some furniture/flatwork which doesn't normally make it here on the forum for obvious reasons. I turn 10+ pens a month as they are good sellers/gifts and usually they are pretty run-of-the mill and once you've seen one, you've pretty much seen them all... these two pens were a bit different for me....

Sorry for the poor pic, but the customer came over to get the pens about 20 minutes after they were done to pick them up (they are a gift for tonight)

He dropped off the wood yesterday- 2 pen blanks of mulberry from Mount Vernon from trees planted by George Washington... he paid $125 each for the pen blanks so needless to say I was a bit nervous when I turned them... but I got 'er done without too much trouble (other than one large inclusion which I filled/worked around.

The kits are Hancock stainless steel (made in USA) pen kits and are of a nice quality.

The wood actually came out prettier than I expected (it was quite bland when I cut it) and it polished up really well. I sanded it to 12K micromesh and then did a polished CA finish on top.

The stainless steel really picks up fingerprints so I'm not sure I'd want this to be a daily use pen, but for special occasions, it is a nicely balanced kit and I can recommend it. (and they are on sale at woodcraft right now) The pen certainly has nice clean lines and it feels "high quality" without being showy.

Lawrence

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u313/ldr_klr/P11307521024x768_zpsaab74fb3.jpg

lawrence
03-02-2013, 10:34 PM
just figured it out... the wood was $3700 a board foot... I'm gonna have a scotch now...

Lawrence

lynnfrwd
03-02-2013, 10:38 PM
Wow! Good thing u didn't calculate that before u started. Awesome.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

jmoriearty
03-02-2013, 10:55 PM
It came out BEAUTIFULLY! I love a person that knows how to do a good CA finish. I don't do them often, they don't sell well in West Texas, but I personally LOVE the look and feel. I've done a few of the historic woods and they always make me sweat! I pay 88.50 per blank for them and it's enough to make me cringe. I have done a couple with Kauri as well, whitebait, and a board foot of that will just about break the bank. I've gotten into the habit of stabilizing the rare woods before turning, just in case. It saves me a lot of heart ache. You do amazing work my friend! I love that kit! Here's you a good blank link, in case you want to try some more historic woods or some odd ball stuff.

http://www.exoticblanks.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=110&Itemid=60

easybuilt
03-03-2013, 01:21 AM
You always do such beautiful work Lawrence. Thanks for sharing your talent!

jpaluck
03-03-2013, 02:00 AM
VERY Nice Lawrence

badbert
03-03-2013, 02:36 AM
Those are beautiful! I just recently learned what a CA finish was. But now am I to understand that you can also stabilize wood with it? What would be the method/procedure? I use clear epoxy for knots and dents or the occasional erroneous cutpath!


furniture/flatwork which doesn't normally make it here on the forum for obvious reasons. I for one would love to see more of your work! I check your portfolio for updated work.

Sorry for the hijack! I get so fascinated when people show off their work.

I have a horse chestnut tree in my yard. It is old and been through hell. It has a huge burl in the crotch. Just so happens that my power wires run right through it. I think I may have DTE come cut it down for me. I already have a mill lined up that will mill/kiln it for half and I get first pick.

Of course I would be willing to share some burly horse chestnut crotch wood with my friends! Maybe I'll start a pen collection. Something like so many blanks for free, but you have to make me a pen! LOL

http://woodstabilizer.com/page/2/?s=horse+chestnut&x=-456&y=-320 This is what I am talking about!

rcdages
03-03-2013, 08:22 AM
Outstanding job Lawrence.

Always enjoy seeing you work.

Bigtyme
03-03-2013, 09:07 AM
Great job on the pens, Lawrence. I like the CA finish alot. I don't turn 10 pens a month but usually a couple. They are a good break from furniture projects that can take a while to see things come together. The wood you used is sure special. A friend of mine from Kentucky sent me a nice sized board of white oak that came from a tree on the farm where Abraham Lincoln was born. This tree was actually one of the boundary corners of the farm and Lincoln was born about 150 yards from the tree. It was struck by lightening several times and was taken down in the mid 1980s by the park service. I have a certificate of origin signed by the park service and had to agree to not use the wood in projects that were to be sold, but only for charitable causes. I did make a pen for myself but guess it was ok since I didn't charge for it :).

Capt Bruce
03-03-2013, 08:24 PM
Great job Lawrence again,

You keep on nudging me closer to pen turning all the time. Thanks for the nudge again.

lawrence
03-03-2013, 09:00 PM
Great job Lawrence again,

You keep on nudging me closer to pen turning all the time. Thanks for the nudge again.

Thanks again all-

jmoriearty- I really love CA finishes. It takes me a practice try or two to get back into the swing of things, but it's one of my favorite woodworking techniques when it works. I find it amazing that I have to use all my senses... I smell when the glue is curing, my eyes water, I can hear the finish and the way it interacts with the towel and BLO, and of course I feel the interaction. All this happens completely separate from seeing it, which makes it really fun to me. It is one of those things that I found youtube videos and reading about it didn't help that much... I just had to LEARN... and I love it.

bert- I'm down for a swap anytime and would be honored to turn you a pen in exchange.

Capt- let me know when you are ready and I'll send you some blanks and maybe a kit or two. I have waaay too many :)

Thanks to everyone else for the comments too... I'll try to post more stuff here from time to time. I do everything from traditional woodworking to glass etching and even a little leatherwork. (for those of you that wonder how I fit it in... I watch very little television!)

Lawrence

jmoriearty
03-03-2013, 09:16 PM
Isn't that the truth! I bet I tried every technique I could find out there and nothing worked. I think it took me about 30 failures before I finally had it down......and then had some (not all) cloud up after only a year or two and had to re-evaluate the process and figure out where I went wrong. I love doing the finish, it's soooo much faster and so much easier once you learn it! I have about 200 pens between 3 craft booths and probably stock about 30 CA finished pens. I probably sell one CA finish for every 100 pens....lol. Funny that those same people are always clamoring for acrylics. Customers never have good taste around here!