# Wood Pens Turned



## mikehonda23 (May 9, 2011)

New to this site and to turning wood. Hope to learn allot off this site and im sure I will have allot of questions eventually. 


So I have just gotten into this hobby of making wood pens, I have started to sand them down from 320 threw 2000 grit. I am still trying to find a good sealer for them right now that I like but here are a few that I have done. I consider myself a beginer so be nice


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## wildwood (Jan 25, 2011)

Some nice pens. I am a bushing to bushing pen maker, folks like odd looking pens but do not always buy them. Really no right or wrong way to turn a pen if you are happy so am I.

Can see sanding circles on a few of those pens. If you sand with the grain (lathe off) before moving to the next higher grit you will take care of that. I like to get rid of sanding dust between grits too. 

I stopped using CA glue as a finish, many people like the look. I use several coats of poly or lacquer as a finish. I never sand bare wood more than 400 grit. Once finish has dried will wet sand and polish with micromesh. Only exception for me would be an oily wood pen which do not plan putting a finish on anyway. 

Have a look at what other pen turners do:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=13

Finishing ideas have a look::
http://www.penturners.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=28


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## mikehonda23 (May 9, 2011)

:thumbsup:wow first post and I've already learned allot. Yeah I have noticed the sand marks as well, gotta start somewhere. These are pretty much my first pens I've made so each day is a learning experiance. I'm deff going to try your method on the next ones I make. 

Thanks for the positive feedback


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## rrbrown (Feb 15, 2009)

Those or some wild looking pens. Nice work but I have 2 things I noticed. Pictures 1,3,& 5 all look like you sanded down a little far by the tip of the pen That can be caused by a worn bushing. Picture 6 looks like you missed flattening the ends before turning (uneven in the middle). I know because it happened to me. 

As for a finish I learned with CA but I will be experimenting a little soon.


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## mikehonda23 (May 9, 2011)

yep your right on the ends of the pens, im trying get a feel for how much I should turn the pen down befor stopping. Ill get it down eventually. This weekend ill be in the wood shop again


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Mike,
you're off to a good start. Hope you find turning as addicting as most of us do. The only thing I would mention is that if you like to turn the thicker bodied pens, you may want to try a different hardware kit. The euro style had a band in the middle that's almost twice the diameter of the ones you are using. It would give you a little more freedom of design without strangling them in the middle. 
Mike Hawkins


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## duncsuss (Aug 21, 2009)

Some really creative designs :thumbsup:

There's no reason you have to keep the center band, I've pretty much given up using them when I make up the slimline pen kits. You just have to remember to add the extra length to the blanks at the mid-point (that is, don't trim the wood down to the end of the brass tube, leave about 1/4"). The cap won't fit completely onto the barrel if you don't leave this extra.

Here's one I just turned from Katalox. It was really difficult to finish, I sanded it back to bare wood several times because the finish wasn't going on smoothly.


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## Kirkus (Dec 19, 2010)

duncsuss said:


> Some really creative designs :thumbsup:
> 
> There's no reason you have to keep the center band, I've pretty much given up using them when I make up the slimline pen kits. You just have to remember to add the extra length to the blanks at the mid-point (that is, don't trim the wood down to the end of the brass tube, leave about 1/4"). The cap won't fit completely onto the barrel if you don't leave this extra.
> 
> Here's one I just turned from Katalox. It was really difficult to finish, I sanded it back to bare wood several times because the finish wasn't going on smoothly.


That is just so classy looking without the center band. I may have to give that go.

::

I'm new at pen turning too, Mike. I've just recently learned and accepted what wildwood was saying about stopping at 400 grit on the bare wood. Any thing higher is really not improving it much. I've also learned the importance of giving the wood a couple passes with the grain before moving on to the next grit.

And, for me anyway, micromesh turned out to be the Holy Grail. At first I was sure I could get buy with what I could find at my local hardware store. It wasn't until I started finishing with micromesh that I stopped pulling my hair out and started getting the finish I wanted.

Good luck! But beware, it can be habit-forming. :yes:


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