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Newbie....

C

ChrisF

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Dec 17, 2015
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16
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Staffordshire Moorlands
First Name
Chris
Hi all, though I'd introduce myself by showing my first attempts at turning pens....First is in elm, the second is spalted beech. Both have problems....the beech one has gone on to shrink, there's now a distinct gap of about 1.5mm between the body and the centre ring. The elm is better but is out of round. Got more to play with though so plenty of chances to get it right. C&C most welcome.
 

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Buckeye

Buckeye

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They look nice, was the wood not properly dried?

Welcome, by the way.

Peter
 
Macaronytony

Macaronytony

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Welcome Chris, at least you had the bouncey things to show yours my first half dozen never left the shed.
They don't look bad to me...:thumbs: I had alignment issues when I started found to be the tailstock not properly centered.
 
Woody

Woody

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They look good if that's your first attempt then I look forward to seeing more if you can get the end off then you can sand the tube back that little bit and make it a good fit or square it up better
 
Doug

Doug

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Take a guess
Hi & welcome Chris :waver:

Looks like you made a good job of your first pens, shrinkage can always be a problem with wood, I keep my blanks in a centrally heated environment for a few months prior to turning even if they are supposed to be fully seasoned.
 
Dalboy

Dalboy

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A good first attempt in as far as the shape. as for the problems this is the learning curve as said above wood not dry enough and as Doug says bring the blanks indoors to make sure they are nice and dry I have a corner of the airing cupboard to place mine in so if they don't split then they pass the pen making test(luckily I don't make that many so get no complaints from her indoors).
If you do a search there is a post about out of round and plenty of advice there.
Keep at it and hopefully things will improve and in no time you will be producing some very nice pens
 
Phil Dart

Phil Dart

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Hi Chris - welcome aboard. The blanks on both your pens look as if they may be crosscut. That would make a difference if they are not quite seasoned.
 
Vic Perrin

Vic Perrin

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Hi Chris and Welcome to the forum. Nice to see yet another Staffordshire Turner. Good effort on your pens mate keep em coming!

:thumbs::thumbs:
 
bluntchisel

bluntchisel

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Hi, Chris, Welcome to the forum, matey!

Those pens are very good for your debut attempts. As the members have said, this is all part of the learning curve and you'll soon get past those little glitches. One tip with the shrinkage problem - is the gap wide enough to roll a rubber "O" ring into? If so then roll away!

Bob.
 
Les ELm

Les ELm

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Nicely done for your first go at it.
I don't think your wood shrunk, may have trimmed the blank too short.
To avoid being out of round make sure you dead center and live center points match statically and with the lathe running with the tail stock locked down
Turning between centers can resolve a lot of out of round issues when using a pen mandrel.

Les
 
billyb_imp

billyb_imp

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Welcome aboard Chris, they look nicely turned for a first attempt, shame about the ends not been square, you'll soon have that fixed though :thumbs::thumbs:
 
C

ChrisF

Apprentice Member
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Dec 17, 2015
Posts
16
Location
Staffordshire Moorlands
First Name
Chris
Thanks all, appreciate the welcome and the comments. I did wonder whether cutting them cross-grain might have exacerbated the shrinkage problem. The beech one has moved a lot and is certainly cross grain. I thought he wood was dry....it's a good 5 years old and has been in the workshop for several months.

I suspect the roundness problem is going to be....problematic. I have a graduate short-bed....the tailstock is not really designed to be super-accurate and the slightest bit of woody-swarf underneath can knock it out quite a bit.....but that's probably just an excuse :thinks:

Will be turning some more over the weekend so may be able to show the next batch soon.....
 
Jim

Jim

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Oct 19, 2011
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15,617
Two good attempts to say they are your firsts Chris .. :thumbs: I would take the bottom blank off and have a go at sanding out the wobble .. Looks to good to leave .. :winking:
 
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