My (and my kids') first pens

[Daniel Heine]

Jerry,

Before you order from Craft Supply, check out this web site:

http://www.arizonasilhouette.com/

Bill has excellent prices, good service, and top quality pen kits. My favorite kit to make is the Baron. Arizona Silhoutte is the oly company that sells it. It is easy to turn, and looks fantastic when finished. Their Sedona is basically the same pen. http://www.woodturningz.com has very good prices also, but their kits are from Penn State Industries, and are not the same quality level as AZ or CSUSA. AZ sells only Berea Hardwood kits.

If you need decent kits fast, Woodcraft's kits are very nice, and they have a decent selection.

Welcome to the bottomless pit. One tool I could not live without is my pen drilling vise. I bought my first one at Woodcraft, and it lasted about 5 months. I now have one of Paul Huffman's, and it is the very best. You can contact him at phdesigns1@yahoo.com if yiou want to order one - I get no comission, just recomending an incredible product. I have a picture of the vise below, you must supply the base.

Happy Turning,
Dan Heine

[Jerry Ingraham]

Thanks for the links Daniel. So far CS has been excellent as far as customer service and shipping is concerned. As far as a blank vise is concerned, so far I have just been clamping them in a wood screw clamp and drilling away in my drill press with no problems. A couple times I nearly drilled out the side of the blank but still managed to leave enough material to turn down to size. As I get more and more involved in pen turning, I'm sure I'll see the need for a vise.
Jerry

[Nancy Laird]

I wish that one of my children was still young enough to want to take an interest--unfortunately, even the grandkids are too far away.

Nancy

[Jonathon Spafford]

Wow! That is really awesome work and a great way to spend time with your kids! What finish are you using with these? It looks nice!