One thing I always keep repeating to my students is "keep your bevel
rubbing". Which means always start a cut with the bevel, that's the
ground surface on the back of the tool that leads up to the sharp edge,
keep it rubbing against the wood. So that the cutting edge of the tool is
always supported by the bevel whenever it is cutting. This will help your
control of the tool, it will help cut down skewbacks, it should help get
rid of those annoying ridges and give you a smoother finish. Good Luck.
Hotfoot

"William Noble" wrote in message
.. .
: andy - a basic pen starts with a 3/4 inch square piece of wood - I'd turn
: at 2,000 to 3,000 RPM, it is actually easier to turn fast than slow. take
: light cuts. use a spindle gouge (3/8 inch is the size I use for pens) -
do
: NOT make fancy pens at first - make the simple ones that are a knock off
of
: the CROSS pen, and try to get the shape perfect - no ripples, bulges,
etc -
: then make the one that is a copy of the Mont Blanc (they call it "euro" I
: think) - when you have those to shapes down right, you can decide what you
: want to do next. I haven't made pens in a while, when I did, I would put
a
: small (about 1/10th inch) bulge near the tip to make them easier to hold -
: pens with lots of coves and beads are tiresome to look at and not
: comfortable for writing either (my opinion, others may differ). Also,
stick
: with woods that have high contrast grain close together - zebra, cocobolo,
: etc - things like walnut and maple don't look good in pens. Bamboo is
: interesting, baltic birch plywood is interesting, but I found that teak,
: zebra wood, canary wood, and that kind of stuff sold the best (and as
gifts,
: when given a choice, those were choosen first). Also, eschew pencils -
no
: one seems to want them.
:
:
: "Andy K." mcse666@gmail_com wrote in message
: ...
: Hello All and Happy New Year,
:
: I have a couple of questions being new to turning. Currently the
: only thing I have done is to try and make square stock round and other
: things to get a feel for the lathe. My main projects at this time are
: going to be turning pens. How do you figure out what speed to turn at,
: is it different for the different species of wood, or is hardwood
: hardwood? When I am turning what type of shvings should I expect;
: actual shavings, dust or what?
:
: Also can I figure out what I am doing wrong based on what is coming
: off of my turned piece? Any and all suggestions and info would be
: greatly appreciated.
:
:
:
: I'm never lost, someone is always telling me where to go...
:
:
:
:
:
:
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