What is the best wood for turning pens?

[CGS01]

Hello fellow Penturners.
I’m new to wood turning and especially pen turning but what a rewarding hobby - mental welfare perhaps more than the potential for financial.
I’m interested to know what members suggest to be the best woods sourced within the UK for turning pens?
Hoping to get some help so thanks in advance.

 

[flexi]

There are loads of potentially good woods available for not a lot, but they tend to be rather plain....
Ash, Elm, Cherry, Oak, Walnut, Pine , London plane,....should be good starters!

 

[CGS01]

Excellent. Many thanks for the response and great advice.
I’m very much a novice having turned just two pens to date from some gifted mahogany - I think it may have once been a chair leg or similar.
Im very much looking forward to more pen turning with different materials and as I alluded in my original post, a fantastic hobby for mental wellbeing.
…….. But what a time stealer. I tell my patient other half I’m popping in the garage for an hour and emerge 5 hours later happy as Larry.

 

[flexi]

It's fantastic therapy, frustrating at times, expensive (if you let it), but so so rewarding when it goes right...

 

[CGS01]

 

[alan morrison]

Colin, welcome to the forum.
If you are just starting and don't want to spend a lot of money initially here's my recommendation;
Find a single barrel kit that you like and buy a couple plus the bushes and more importantly half a dozen spare tubes for that particular kit.
A lot of people start with Slimlines/Streamlines, but they are not the easiest.
Gather up old chair/table legs, odd bits of timber.
Practice squaring off the blank and drilling straight for the tube.
Practice turning to the bushes and getting used to the tools.
Practice finishing techniques.
If you make a cock up, just turn the timber off the blank and start again.
Everything that you turn doednt need to be made into a pen!!!
Find a turning club and make friends, especially with a pen turner who can help you!!!
Ask plenty of questions!!!

 

[Gordon]

Hi Colin, welcome along to the site. As you say, it can be very good for your mental welfare turning pens (well, until a blank is just about finished and then decides to split! )

I have used a company near you for pen blanks, (to suppliment the off-cuts I get from other sources for free), they are https://www.woodwiseuk.co.uk/product-category/pen-blanks-knife-blank/pen-blanks/ Their service is very good and they have quite a range in stock, I'd advise some of the cheaper blanks at first, but occasionally I get a few of the more expensive blanks as well, just as a little treat for myself

Also, if you don't mind a little travelling, I have the good fortune in my day to day job of truck driving to visit https://www.sykestimber.co.uk/ They have an off-cuts shed which I like to have a rake around in when I'm loading from their premises. (Did I say 'good fortune', my wallet doesn't seem to think so as I always end up coming out with more off-cuts than I need, but hey we need a little treat once in a while )

Hope this helps, and you enjoy your time at the lathe.

P.S. as for pen kits, I would recommend https://www.cscrafts.co.uk/ I use them for most of my kits, they are local to me and I can't fault their service.

 

[CGS01]

Hi Alan,
Thanks for the response and suggestions.
I purchased a pen turning with 5 tubes, ends etc. and have had a go at my first pen (picture attached). I’ve made mistakes as I’d anticipated i.e both barrels were turned by eye, I didn’t use callipers. I used my bench vice to assemble the parts, tricky & lucky to have them assembled squarely. I used a relatively cheap pillar drill assembly which didn’t give me a 100% straight & even hole - will try with a shorter drill bit & using the lathe next time - I’m not sure if that’s the answer but plenty of practice on scrap timber bits is giving me more confidence.
However I’m definitely bitten by the turning bug and the pen was great fun to create.
I’m struggling a little with finding a local club but I have found a couple of people I know that have turned wood previously so I’m asking them lots of questions too.

 

[CGS01]

Hi Colin, welcome along to the site. As you say, it can be very good for your mental welfare turning pens (well, until a blank is just about finished and then decides to split! )

I have used a company near you for pen blanks, (to suppliment the off-cuts I get from other sources for free), they are https://www.woodwiseuk.co.uk/product-category/pen-blanks-knife-blank/pen-blanks/ Their service is very good and they have quite a range in stock, I'd advise some of the cheaper blanks at first, but occasionally I get a few of the more expensive blanks as well, just as a little treat for myself

Also, if you don't mind a little travelling, I have the good fortune in my day to day job of truck driving to visit https://www.sykestimber.co.uk/ They have an off-cuts shed which I like to have a rake around in when I'm loading from their premises. (Did I say 'good fortune', my wallet doesn't seem to think so as I always end up coming out with more off-cuts than I need, but hey we need a little treat once in a while )

Hope this helps, and you enjoy your time at the lathe.

P.S. as for pen kits, I would recommend https://www.cscrafts.co.uk/ I use them for most of my kits, they are local to me and I can't fault their service.

Hi Gordon,
Thanks for the links and suggestions, really helpful and really appreciated - I’ve struggled with finding a supplier. However that said, as I’m only a couple of months or so into wood turning I’m still practicing on builders waste, found logs etc. Cheap & cheerful but great for practicing and get a bit of confidence with the tools etc. I did buy a reasonably sized mahogany plank but that’s waiting until I’ve got a better idea of what I’m doing and honing those skills.
Oh and the Mrs is being really supportive with words like “that’s lovely” and “that’s really good” when under her breath she’s probably saying “not another mushroom, egg cup, bowl!”

 

[Gordon]

Hi Gordon,
Thanks for the links and suggestions, really helpful and really appreciated - I’ve struggled with finding a supplier. However that said, as I’m only a couple of months or so into wood turning I’m still practicing on builders waste, found logs etc. Cheap & cheerful but great for practicing and get a bit of confidence with the tools etc. I did buy a reasonably sized mahogany plank but that’s waiting until I’ve got a better idea of what I’m doing and honing those skills.
Oh and the Mrs is being really supportive with words like “that’s lovely” and “that’s really good” when under her breath she’s probably saying “not another mushroom, egg cup, bowl!”

Well if you can spare the time for a visit to Sykes Timber at Atherstone, their off-cuts shed has a great assortment of bits and pieces, all of them are marked with an individual price so you know how much you're spending as your arms sag under the weight of lumber, lol. You'll find buying a lump of off-cut can be a lot cheaper than a bundle of pre-cut pen blanks.

 

[CGS01]

Thanks Gordon, that’s great advice and hopefully easier on the pocket.
I used to drive passed Atherstone every day on my way to work (back in the days when I used to work - retirement is wonderful) at Hinckley so know pretty much where the site is.
I’ll plan a visit in the next week or so.

 

[Adal6]

A warm welcome to the forum Colin. most of all enjoy. you will find as much help as you need from the gentleman on this forum who make top class Pens

 

[CGS01]

Many thanks Alan. I’m really quite impressed with the feedback, help and advice given by the forum members.
I’m certainly enjoying my journey into wood turning, pen making etc. …… slightly dearer as a hobby than I’d anticipated but frankly worth every penny.

 

[CGS01]

My third effort. Turned from a piece of spalted cherry. Again not perfect but great fun and good practice.
Oh and I had far greater success drilling the blank with the lathe than a pillar drill.

 

[Dalboy]

More of a question of what to avoid as a beginner, as most wood are suitable. Those to avoid are those that splinter very readily, like panga panga which can not only splinter but have known to cause problems from the dust as well as going septic if you get a splinter. Yew is another that can cause problems if the right precautions are not observed. There are many others.
For character, try some of the burr woods

 

[CGS01]

Thanks Derek. To be honest I had to Google what burr woods were but now I’m wiser for it. They certainly offer some character to a finished project. I have several reasonably sized cherry branches that are spalted, so some interesting projects to come.
I uploaded a picture of my 3rd turned pen from spalted cherry in my previous post.
To be honest my biggest issue at the moment is the fact that my garage is possibly the coldest place in all Christendom.

 

[Curly]

To be honest my biggest issue at the moment is the fact that my garage is possibly the coldest place in all Christendom.

We have -40C outside at the moment. Fortunately the shop is always heated.

Use whatever you can get your hands on to practice and learn tool control. Anything you can find on the ground, a dead branch, scraps from a cabinet shop or similar, pieces from an old piece of furniture, then you can turn until they are too small to be safe. Don't use tubes until you get the hang off it. You can also use practice wood to get a scratch free surface and then confirming by putting a finish on it. Repitition makes you a good turner.

Lastly. Welcome to the forum.
Pete

 

[CGS01]

Thanks Pete, all advice noted & will be put into practice.
-40C !!!
What am I complaining about, it’s positively tropical here in comparison.

 

[21William]

What is the best wood for Pens? Box, African Blackwood, Ebony, Olive Wood plus a few more. But we make do with lesser woods!

 

[CGS01]

Hi all,

A quick question and please excuse me if it’s an obvious answer that I’ve missed - newbie pen turner, it’s all still a bit of a mystery.

So I’ve had issues drilling blanks and getting a satisfactory precise hole, centred etc. with my cheap pillar & drill assembly. I then decided I’d place the blanks in the lathe and drill. This provided much better results with a far more precise hole - little or no movement of the drill bit. However I wasn’t getting as near perfectly centred holes due to my placing of the blank in the chuck.

So I’m now thinking, place the blanks in the chuck, turn the last 2.5cm or so to round, place that end in the chuck, and then drill?

Is this obvious, are there any issues I’m going to encounter or should I be doing this anyway OR do I bite the bullet and invest a few hundred ££’s in a decent pillar drill? If it’s the latter are there any recommendations on that too please?

Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Colin.