Hi all,
This afternoon I turned my first ten pens. Six were turned from tulip and
the others from spalted maple. They came out pretty damn snazzy (if I may
be permitted to say so). I never expected nor desired to turn pens. I don't
have anything against pens or pen turners, but I was never interested in
turning them.
A short while ago I bought another lathe (15" Craftsman w/electronic speed
control) to keep company with my Jet mini. The man I bought the lathe from
included everything one would ever need to turn pens (presses, trimmers,
mandrels, bushings, etc.) along with many, many, other turning tools
(someday I will list them). So with all this pen turning stuff, I ordered
10 pen kits from the guy in Arizona to practice with. Well, it didn't take
much practice to turn all ten pens. It took about three or so hours to
complete them and, I must admit, I enjoyed it. The next ten will probably
go a bit faster.
The turning wasn't very challenging, but it was lot of fun and very
relaxing. Don't know what to do with the pens though.

Hank