Budgetary Concerns

As one may expect, I have not exactly stayed away from Woodcraft just because I have not been blogging. :-)

Recent purchases fall into two categories: upgrades to the workshop environment, and pen materials. I bought a sturdy wooden stand for my drill press, since the existing bench top was not really working. I also bought an assortment of clamps that I had my eye on, since they were $5 off. I bought a woodturning book, and a Pink Ivory pen blank, and two pen kits. The pen kits were a titanium Classic American kit, which is more expensive but may look really nice with bloodwood or acrylic; and a satin pearl slimline pencil kit, which was commissioned by a co-worker who liked the pen that I made a while back and wanted a pencil like it. I also bought a new pen mandrel, since I noticed that the old one was acting a bit warped (more on that later).

Expenses: $91.15
Totals:
Out-of-pocket: $169.93, Total: $229.93

Broker Pen Progress

Much has happened since the last post - I have not really been keeping up. Unrelated to pens, I have golfed for the first time and blown the shofar at Rosh Hashanah services (not for the first time, but every time is different). I was struck, as I am every year, at how much the Jewish services revolve around the idea of peace. If only all religions did that (I know that Jews are not the ONLY ones, by any means), can you just imagine what the world could be like?

The broker pen commission has continued, with mixed but mostly positive results. I finally made one from the beautiful piece of cocobolo that I was working from (unsuccessfully up until now). I also made one from holly, which came out fine but was a bit disappointing as to colour (kind of a dull white, and it had a knot which does not really add). My latest attempt was with pink ivory, trying to recapture the magic shade of deep pink that my Classic American pen achieved. Alas, this piece of pink ivory came out well but was not as bright.

I showed the group of existing broker pens to my sister, who liked them all except for the holly and the lignum vitae. I was not too surprised about the holly, but I thought that she would have liked the lignum vitae. So, the list of "commissioned" pens is as follows: Orangeheart, Pink Ivory, Cocobolo, Bocote, Bubinga (one that I made a while back). I am looking to make a bloodwood one and then make a couple more of cocobolo. I *may* try one of purpleheart or padauk. Somehow I need to come up with 10 pens that are different from one another.

Next up: What's going on with the budget? We KNOW there have been other visits to Woodcraft...

Hughie, Dewey, and Gluey

Well, the first two broker pens are done, and they came out really well! I turned an orangeheart pen first, to see what it would look like, and it looks pretty cool.


Then I turned a lignum vitae pen, and that came out well too.
All this after turning a pink ivory CA pen that is one of the best I have done in a long time.

I was on a roll!

Then...I started trying to turn the other broker pens. Four in a row have either had the wood split or had the glue come undone between the tube and the blank. I would turn the blanks down, and start to sand them, and would feel that the tube was turning without the wood spinning with it. In a couple of cases, I got to the point where I was about to put the pen together, and the tube would slide a bit.

Luckily, I have noticed, in all cases, BEFORE using the pen kits. The pen kits are the most expensive parts of the process, and it is important to not waste one if it is avoidable. In all of the cases mentioned above, I just cut the wood off of the tube, and sanded most of the glue off of the tube so that it could be re-glued into another blank.

Tonight, I added some glue to the glued-in blanks that I already had made, and I also cut and drilled and glued a few more (one bloodwood, one holly, and three cocobolo that could come out really sharp). THIS time, I used a lot more glue. I am used to having to be very careful about using too much glue because the tube would get stuck in the blanks. This does not seem to be an issue with the broker pens. The tubes are just a bit smaller in relation to the holes that get drilled.

Side note: I canNOT see the appeal in sniffing glue. My eyes get very irritated just having the glue open and nearby for more than a minute or two, even when the garage door is open.