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29K views 50 replies 28 participants last post by  Chipncut 
#1 ·
The Background

I have had my lathe for about 18 months. I started right away turning pens. If I had to guess, I would say I have made somewhere around one hundred pens at this point. I have enjoyed turning pens since it's typically a quick project cycle and provides that immediate sense of accomplishment. The majority of these 100+ pens were made using a single piece of wood or acrylic stock. That all changed at the end of 2007.


A collection of early pens made with Bird's Eye Maple and Rosewood.

One of my friends, and fellow Jock, also turns pens. He had provided me with some "gentile encouragement" to take my pen making abilities to the next level. With Christmas coming up quickly, I decided I would take the opportunity to experiment on a group of pens my wife had asked me to make for our daughter's school teachers.

The pens made for the teachers were all made with slim line kits. I created six different designs for the 13 pens. For wood selections, the set of pens used Sapele, Bloodwood, Maple and Walnut. I also used a new finishing technique of CA glue (superglue) and BLO (boiled linseed oil). I'm pretty pleased with how the collection turned out and have received several very nice compliments from the teachers that received them. The designs I like best from this group are the "harlequin" style that are shown in the picture below. The harlequin in the middle, of the picture below, is made with walnut and maple. The harlequin on the far right, of the picture below, is made of maple and bloodwood.


A sample of the designs used in the Teacher's gift set.

Shortly after finishing the pens created for the teacher's I attended a local turner's group meeting that featured one of the members doing a demonstration of his segmented bowls. I decided to try implementing those techniques into my pens.

The segmenting process I use is fairly straightforward. I build my pen blanks in a bricklayer's fashion (offsetting seams). For this first pen, I used a combination of Maple, Jatoba and Walnut segments. After milling strips of ¾ inch wide stock down to 1/8 inch in thickness, I then cut each of the segmented pieces at 30 degrees allowing for six segments to be used in each layer of the blank.

My first segmented pen attempt was a success and failure all in one! The body of the pen came out as I had hoped. Turning the cap however, is where the trouble started. In the process of turning the cap, one end of the blank blew apart. I eventually completed the pen by turning a piece of Ebony for the cap.


My first fully segmented pen with damaged cap.


My first completed segmented pen.

This segmented pen was also my first time using a fountain pen kit. The kit is a Classic American Fountain Pen. There are few things I didn't like about this kit:
• With the cap screwed on to the back of the pen, the pen is very top heavy and awkward to write with.
• When turning the cap, you are required to turn on end down to the brass tube (this is where my segmented piece came apart) to fit the pieces together.
• The ink dries out real quick in the nib and it's a bit of a nuisance to get it flowing again.

I have seen several postings, at the IAP (International Association of Penturners) website, of pens made with the Jr. Gentlemen's II kit. Liking the look of this kit, I decided I would try a few out. I ordered four kits to start with, two rollerball and two fountain pens. I've made two segmented pens using the Jr. Gent kit, and have a third in the works, and have been very happy with the look and feel of this kit. I've also found, from quite a bit of reading, that rhodium, black titanium and gold titanium are the most durable finishes on pen kits. My goal is to try and focus on only using kits with these available finishes.


My first segmented Jr. Gent II fountain pen with black titanium finish.


My first segmented Jr Gent II rollerball pen with black titanium finish.

As I work on my next segmented pen I thought I would take some time to work on a few different designs to see what works and what doesn't. I decided to work with some smaller segments as well. The next few pens will include eight segments per layer versus the six segments per layer I had used in the first couple of pens. To start, I cut several hundred segments of Maple, Jatoba and Walnut.


Maple, Walnut and Jatoba segments (left to right).
 
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#2 ·
Looks to me like you are becoming quite the turner. The pens look great. You must be a very patient man to do all those little pieces. I'm not sure I could be that patient.

Looking forward to more pictures.
 
#6 ·
Building Prototypes - Group 1

Prior to finishing my latest segmented pen, I cut several hundred segments with 22.5 degree angles to create a few more pens with eight segment layers. Having these pieces of Maple, Walnut and Jatoba, I thought it would be a nice way to get a good visual of what some different designs could be. Kind of like a rough sketch in 3-D.

I didn't want to get into gluing anything and commit myself to a design I didn't fully like, so I carefully stacked my segments and let gravity hold everything together for me. I figured this method would let me quickly see, physically, what I thought I was seeing in my head. It would also be much less time intensive than gluing a full blank together to flesh out the complete idea. Each design I have put together is the full size of a Jr. Gent II cap.

After stacking a design and taking a couple pictures from different angles I took apart what I had done and designed another. It was after I had six or eight of these designs that I thought I would put together a blog series to show how these segmented pens would look from design to completed pen.

A couple of the designs I've come up with include all three species that I had prepped. This first design is one I've been thinking about for a while. With the light color of the Maple separating the Walnut and Jatoba diamond patterns; it reminds me of an argyle sock.

Design 1:


Another design I put together uses all three species in staggered columns. I'm on the fence about how I feel about this design. I think this design is the best example of why I find it helpful to put together these little prototypes though. I know the final look will be slightly different than what is shown here simply because the length of each segment will be smaller. But I'm not convinced yet that it will work.

Design 2:


I've not yet thought of a nick-name for this third prototype but it is one that I like. The only real concern I have with this design is how it would transition from the cap to the body of the pen. I can't decide if perhaps a solid color body should be used, or should the pattern repeat itself on the body. Again, here is another good example of how prototypes can help prevent wasting time and materials on a design.

Design 3:


The forth prototype is a similar design to my first segmented Jr. Gent II roller ball. In this example the peaks and valleys are a bit higher and deeper. I think the colors contrast well in this example. I think there is a good chance that this prototype could become a pen. I think the balance of color is what I like the most about this particular design.

Design 4:
 
#9 ·
Building Prototypes - Group 2

In my second group of prototypes I wanted to experiment with using just two species of wood. In these examples I have used Walnut and Maple. Of course any one of these designs could be created with a different selection of wood. I just wanted to mix things up a little to keep it interesting for myself.

The first design I put together with the Walnut and Maple selections is based on the popular celtic knot design. In this version, I went with a single knot. I didn't think the design would be recognizable enough if I tried a double knot. Then again this is why I'm putting together these prototypes, isn't it? I'll have to try the double knot with three wood species that might help define the design enough.

The alternating color layers at the top of this design are just something to break up the solid Maple. I think it may distract a little from the knot design and I may eliminate that if I do glue up this design.

Design 1:


I like this second design for the mere simplicity of it. One of the keys of this design is not just that there is a large diagonal stripe of Maple running through the Walnut, but that there is only one full layer of Maple in that whole transition. That of course just might go to show that I really over think this stuff!

I again run in the dilemma of what to do with the second half of the pen though. This example is the length of the pen body rather than the pen cap. Making the design fit the cap would eliminate the ability to add the solid layers of Walnut, which I will admit is not a crucial requirement. I think some more thought is going to be needed before this design sees any glue.

Design 2:


This third Maple and Walnut design is a variation of the "argyle sock" I showed in group one. In this version I didn't separate the diamond patterns with a defined border. I also added the alternating wood species to the center of each diamond. I think this design could look ok if it were glued up as I think it would transition well from the cap the pen body.

Design 3:
 
#10 ·
scallops

I have seen other penmakers use this scallop techinique and thought I would give it a try. To start out I wanted to get an idea of what size I need to use initially to know what to expect when the blank is turned down. So far I like how everything is looking. I want to try incorporating this and a couple other segmenting techniques I used to come up with something a little crazier than I've done previously.



I've got several long weekends coming up so hopefully I should have some time to play around in the shop.
 
#12 ·
To Dye For

One of my top goals in the making of my wine bottle stoppers is to make each and every one unique. Currently I'm only working with four species of wood (maple, walnut, jatoba and cherry) and while this does provide a large number of options I'm always looking to see how I can inject a little something extra.

I've been a big fan of Joe's (trifern) postings and the amazing work he does. His work has inspired me to try working with dyes. A realized early on that a key requirement for me is my pieces can't rely on just the surface being dyed, I would have to make sure my pieces were completely saturated. Thankfully it wasn't hard to do!

Here's a mockup using some maple samples dyed green:


a close-up:


whoa… back up!


I'm pretty excited to see what new concepts come to life with this new capability!
 
#29 ·
Is that your natural color?

well here it is, my first attempt at a dye job.


As you can see, the dying process mostly worked, but not 100%. I'm not really sure I like the color selection anyway, but it would have been better if each piece of dyed maple had dyed completely. I wonder now if using a pressure pot is the only way to ensure that each piece gets 100% color saturation… time and testing will tell I suppose.

here's a detail shot of the piece.


Any feedback, suggestions & insights would be greatly appreciated.
 
#30 ·
Almost…I think you might be onto something with the pressure pot. I'm not so sure about using alcohol under pressure….be careful.

This stopper is still cool even though I think we had all imagined the stain different.

Nice work, Keep trying…

Lisa
 
#35 ·
the heart stopper

I've made quite a few segmented wine bottle stoppers now. I want to continue to push myself with in complexity and creativity… so I've got a new design that I've been working on. In this piece I use two species of wood (maple and mahogany) to create a heart shaped pattern with the segmented pieces. I am acutally now working on the second version of the heart stopper design. I was fairly pleased with the first, but I thought I could do better.

To give an idea of how it's assembled, here's a view of the 1st blank before turning. This piece includes 183 individual pieces.


The turned piece looks like this


while happy with the overall results, I wanted to make the heart a little smaller so it could be viewed in its entirety without having to twist the stopper. So i made some adjustments to my tablesaw sled to cut some smaller segments and I finished assembly of the new blank today and hope to turn it this weekend. There are 207 pieces included in this version.


I'll be sure to post pics of the finished piece… good or bad!
any and all feedback is appreciated.
 
#44 ·
Segmented bowl with floating bottom

Being a fan of segmented turning I joined the group Segmented Woodturners, a chapter of the AAW, earlier this year. While I've made quite a few segmented turnings, I have not yet made a segmented bowl… well until now!

The current preseident of the Segmented Woodturners group is Malcolm Tibbets, an astonishly talented turner. Malcolm has written a book on segmented turning and has also produced four dvd's on the subject. With Malcolm's advice and encouragement, I incorporated his floating bottom technique in my first bowl. The floating bottom is used to prevent damage to a piece due to wood movement.

Here is a series of pictures that covers the process:

yes, there is a hole at the bottom… it's actually designed that way!


the base has a recess to hold a floating bottom.


the floating bottom is a single piece of pine, turned to a diameter of about 2". the floating bottom is just shy of 1/4" thick.


the floating bottom is kept in place with this "keeper ring" made of ten segments. there is a 1-3/8" diameter hole in the middle and the ring is about 2" in diameter.


the floating bottom in place.


the keeper ring installed. The keeper ring was designed to be about 1/8" shorter than the base of the bowl.


a top view showing the floating bottom in place.


the bowl is 2-3/4" tall. 4-1/2" wide at the top. 2-3/4" wide at the base. the wall thickness is a fat 1/8".

for dry items or display purposes the floating bottom seems to be the way to go. If you want to use any sort of liquid… you'd be better off taking your chances with a solid bottom.
 
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