| Blog series by darryl | updated 55 days ago | 6 parts | 2078 reads | 28 comments total |
Part 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 o...
Part 2: 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 to...
Part 3: 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 b...
Part 4: 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 hav...
Part 5: 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 ...
Part 6: 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 woul...
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