Lathe Gloat with first turned pen (Pics)

[David Sallee]

Hey all...

Well, the wife and I went to Woodcraft in Tulsa and picked me up my first lathe.... a Jet mini lathe 1014I non VS and stuff to turn my first pen....

here's the details:

Cut the Cocobola blank to size on my table saw.
Drilled the blanks using the lathe (I don't have a drill press yet).
CA'ed the inserts in the blanks (fingers are still covered in dry CA... LOL).
Milled the ends of the blank on the lathe also using the drill chuck I got at woodcraft.
Mounted the blanks on the pen mandrel.
Started turning at lowest speed to round off the corners
Bumped the speed up to 1850 for finishing turning.
Oh, I used a Wood River 1/2" Spindle Gouge from start to finish (recommended by the manager, only thing he uses..). First blank, first ever turning and NO BLOWOUT!! Once I got it down to the bushings and shape I wanted I stared sanding. Bumped the speed up to highest speed for sanding. Started with 240 then 320 then 400(all aluminum oxide sand paper).

Then switched to the Micro Mesh pads in this order.. 1500, 1800, 2400, 3200, 3600, 4000, 6000, 8000 and finishing with 12000 whisch is the final finish you see in the pics below. and yes, I did turn off the lathe and sand with the grain after each level.

Then came the assembly of the pen which went very well, no problems at all and perfect fit... I used a large C-Clamp for this...

Well, here is the pics.... not the best pics but will do until I get my tent setup tomorrow...









The only thing I see that I could have worked on better is the center band area.... the wood is just a hair proud of the band...

How'd I do?????

All comments and suggestions welcome!!

Dave

[dennis kranz]

The pen looks great. Nice lathe. Sooner or later someone will tell you to take a picture of your money because this is the last you will see of it. I also have the Jet mini and it is a lot of fun.
dennis

[Don Eddard]

Ya done good, David. Nice job. especially for a first pen. They probably won't all go quite that easy, but most of them will.

[Ron Ainge]

I guess that you know the rest is downhill. All of the flat work tool are doomed to rust away and you will soon use the table say for a work bench. Welcome to the round world I wish you luck with it. I started about five years ago and the drain on finances has never stopped. I just ordered my (hopefully) last lathe, the mustard monster. and now I have to get the larger chucks to fit it.

the pen is a great first project and I am sure that you will make many more because everyone you know will have to have one of you special pens. Just give them to your good friends and charge the rest

[Terry Quiram]

Very nice. After your first couple of hundred you will get the hang of it. I would recommend that you use Gorilla glue to attach the tubes. I know you have to wait overnight but I have never had one fail with Gorilla but have had failures with CA. If you make your own centerbands either using a contrasting wood or Corian you open yourself to all kind of design options. Good luck.

[Terry Quiram]

I got in a hurry with the last message. These are some I turned for Freedom Pens. The red, white and blue are corian I made.

[David Wilhelm]

Looks like a great start from here. Fine job and one to keep for sure.

[Dennis Peacock]

The pen looks great. Nice lathe. Sooner or later someone will tell you to take a picture of your money because this is the last you will see of it. I also have the Jet mini and it is a lot of fun.
dennis

True and right on Dennis!!!

I really like the "Sooner or later someone will tell you to take a picture of your money because this is the last you will see of it."

[Dave Carey]

You're hooked! BTW, nice job!!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Very nice first pen Dennis! You are hooked for sure!

[Paul Douglass]

Nice job. I just started pen making also and it is really fun. Hope you check out International Assoc. of Penturners (IAP) at penturners.org. Lots of help and tutorial there.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking first pen. Yep you are hooked.

[Jeff Mohr]

Nice pen....yeah, like the others say you'll get hooked. I made one pen and now I'm making dozens!!!

But....I still play with the table saw and other stuff. I'm not totally hooked with turning....probably because I only have a pen lathe. If I had a bigger one I'm afraid it would be more of a problem!

[David Sallee]

Thanks for all the comments... VERY much appreciated!!

I had a blast making it last night. After I got it assembled I told my wife about the center band being a tad off and told her that I was thinking of putting it back on the lathe. She said "Don't you dare!! Looks great the way it is and no one will even know it's off but you..."

I personally think it's "OK" for my first piece... not GREAT but OK... The wife absolutely LOVES it and wants me to make a small shadow box for it so I can keep it and hang it as my very first piece that I had ever turned. She also said this way I won't lose it or give it away... LOL

Now she wants me to make her one today so she can show it off at work tomorrow.. LOL

Welp... off to my new toy...

Dave

[Brad Knight]

My wife is hooked too.

I got my lathe about a 2 weeks ago. I started with a $250 lathe, which cost about $1000 by the time I got home, and less than two weeks later I've got another $650 sunk... and my wife and I both are loving it.

Congrats, especially with having a great wife that's behind you with this... you'll need it.