this weeks pens

[John. B]

Got meself started on pens now :roll:

Have a relative living in Durham. sends me little bits of wood in jiffy bags.
Does this turn? he says!
These are my third and forth, made from Hawthorn. Turns beautifully.




These are 5th & 6th the [top one] YEW. The other is Blackthorn. He only sent me a small piece
so I cut it into three glued them together staggered, recut them across the grain, came out quite nice I thought :roll:




Please excuse the pics they're not as sharp as they should be.

John. B

 

[stewart]

Nice looking pens, John. Good finish on them too. The blackthorn looks really good.

 

[tekno.mage]

Very nice pens, John. Not something I have any urge to make myself (not sure I could be bothered with all the non-turning assembly required), but I do admire the ones I've seen posted here.

Hawthorn & Blackthorn are both lovely woods to turn. There's a lot of it where I live, but it's really difficult to season successfully without splits amd large sound pieces are hard to come by (it also often contains hidden iron "surprises" - fencing staples!) . I've just roughed some hawthorn boxes and the wood had amazing swirls of purples and pink.

tekno.mage

 

[boysie39]

Nice pens John B. the Hawthorn is lovely timber to turn as is the Yew.
I keep saying to meself when you see one pen you've seen them all, but it's not that simple, everyone has something different about them.
I suppose the old saying of "It's all in the eye of the beholder" rings through in this case. Beautyful pens thanks for showing REgards Boysie.
HAPPY EASTER to ALL.

 

[greggy]

hiya john, great looking pens youve done. certainly to be proud of.
what happened to the nib end on the fifth one.

 

[wizer]

All very nice John. Especially the very first (topmost) one. I love that little feature at the very top.

 

[John. B]

Thank you gentlemen for your kind words,
Greggy, that is a poor finish IMO. I thought it was too sharp in the transition the wood was too pale at that point, but I'm learning :wink:
Tom,
That 'little' feature is just a knot, but it finished it off perfectly.
My first pens didn't come out too well, the mandrel (second hand) is not too straight.
So I made myself a mandrel, single size on my metal lathe. Takes a little longer to turn but there's less of a chance of flexing of the mandrel between centres.

John. B

 

[stevebuk]

Lovely pens john, never turned any hawthorn but it looks real good.

 

[Jenx]

They're lovely, John ...
still not tried a pen myself... would like to try !

They look superb 8) 8)

 

[John. B]

Steve,
It is the first time I've turned Hawthorn and it turns like solid butter, or lime wood.
very little grain, tools cut absolutely true. A delight to turn. :lol: :lol: :lol:
Jenx, beware. It sort of grabs you, then off you go spending money,,,,
on all sorts of things like different glues, presses, blanks, insertion tools, oh the list goes on and on :arrow: :duno:

John. B

 

[Turn It In]

Hi John,
Nice pens you've there and a lovely finish too!
Regards,
Ian