# Amazon Rosewood Cigar Pen



## Vern Tator (Aug 15, 2012)

I turned this Amazon Rosewood Cigar pen using a mandrel and bushings.[attachment=9277] What a PITA. I finished it with CA and sanded to 24,000. I am pleased with it, my 6th pen, but not thrilled with it. It may be time for me to learn to turn them between centers.[attachment=9278]


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## JimH (Aug 16, 2012)

Nice pen. love the grain in the wood.


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## West River WoodWorks (Aug 16, 2012)

Looks great to me, nice job!
Tom


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## DKMD (Aug 16, 2012)

I love it! Great job!


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## NYWoodturner (Aug 16, 2012)

Nice pen Vern ! Great Job!
Scott


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## EricJS (Aug 16, 2012)

VERY nice! It has perfect curvature for that style of pen (in my opinion). Beautiful wood too. Turning between centers is very refreshing after using a mandrel. Now go turn another one like it!


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## justturnin (Aug 17, 2012)

Vern,
I think you did a great job. It is hard to tell from a pic, because angles can play tricks on you in pics, but it seems to be slightly out of round at the nib end. If that is the case and you are using a mandrel I would offer a couple of suggestions to help with that. First, if you don't have one check out the mandrel saver from PSI. It really makes a difference because you are no longer putting pressure on the mandrel which can cause it to flex but instead you are putting even pressure on the blank. Next, I would recommend turning one piece at a time. By this I mean only one piece on the mandrel at a time. Doing this in conjunction with the mandrel save will greatly shorten the the length of exposed mandrel reducing any flex from heavy handed cuts. Next, and it seems by your fit that you already have these but if not get some calipers, digital are easier to use for this. I have a dry erase board next to my lathe that I write the actual measurements off all the parts of the pen kit. Then as I turn I measure each part until I have sanded down to about -0.10mm. I then build back with CA to +0.10mm over the finished size. I only use thin CA as it goes on smoother and do not count the coats, I only got by measurements. I will wet sand with 600 down to about +0.08mm and run through the MM which will leave you so close you cant feel the transition. If you go to far rough up the blank and allow to dry at least overnight and apply a little more CA to build back and I would start at the MM to clean it up. It takes me at least 3 days to finish a pen.

Day 1: Drill and Glue (I use epoxy)
Day 2: Turn, Sand and apply CA finish. Allow CA to cure no less than overnight.
Day 3: Polish. If you see low spots or ridges and the finish is not perfect I will rough it up and clean the blank.
Day 4(if needed): Blank is dry apply more CA
Day 5: Repeat Day 3.

The reason I allow my CA to cure for 24 hours is because if you have low spots that have collected more CA the CA will need more time to cure and will shrink as it cures. You may be able to polish to a glass finish in one day but you may go back to the pen a few days later and notice "pits" in the finish. That, IMHO, is where the CA was thicker and finished curing and shrank some. Also, it is believe that CA will off gas for at least 24 hours and if you place the pen in a box it can cloud the kits finish on the pen and ruin it.


Well, so much for a few suggestions. I hope this helps. I love making pens but get frustrated when people make a pen in 7 mins on You Tube and set the expectation to someone that is new that this is acceptable. 

I don't know that a single turning will be under so much scrutiny as a pen and especially the nib transition from wood/resin to component where there fingers go over the transition several times a day. If it is not spot on they will feel it and eventually start picking at it and peel off the finish and then you have your pen back.


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## Vern Tator (Aug 17, 2012)

justturnin said:


> Vern,
> I think you did a great job. It is hard to tell from a pic, because angles can play tricks on you in pics, but it seems to be slightly out of round at the nib end. If that is the case and you are using a mandrel I would offer a couple of suggestions to help with that. First, if you don't have one check out the mandrel saver from PSI. It really makes a difference because you are no longer putting pressure on the mandrel which can cause it to flex but instead you are putting even pressure on the blank. Next, I would recommend turning one piece at a time. By this I mean only one piece on the mandrel at a time. Doing this in conjunction with the mandrel save will greatly shorten the the length of exposed mandrel reducing any flex from heavy handed cuts. Next, and it seems by your fit that you already have these but if not get some calipers, digital are easier to use for this. I have a dry erase board next to my lathe that I write the actual measurements off all the parts of the pen kit. Then as I turn I measure each part until I have sanded down to about -0.10mm. I then build back with CA to +0.10mm over the finished size. I only use thin CA as it goes on smoother and do not count the coats, I only got by measurements. I will wet sand with 600 down to about +0.08mm and run through the MM which will leave you so close you cant feel the transition. If you go to far rough up the blank and allow to dry at least overnight and apply a little more CA to build back and I would start at the MM to clean it up. It takes me at least 3 days to finish a pen.
> 
> Day 1: Drill and Glue (I use epoxy)
> ...


Thanks for the suggestions Chris. The pen is not out of round, but it took a lot of work to get it there. I have discovered that many pen bushings are not round and or well centered on the mandrel hole. This pen was turned one half at a time, but the bushings being flawed caused me to have to re-position the pen on the bushing several times. The dry erase board is a great idea, that will help a lot, cause my memory is very good, but it is really short. :rotflmao3::rotflmao3::rotflmao3: 
I am new to CA finishing, so this is taking a bit to get used to. Now that you have given me some instruction of that finish, I can do it differently. I will be posting about the next pen I have done, turning it between centers. It seems more time consuming, but I think I have better results.


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## woodtickgreg (Aug 17, 2012)

Looks great to me! I don't see a think wrong with it. It's a pen, a thing of beauty, not a part for the space shuttle. Don't be so hard on yourself. I think you did a great job!


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## BassBlaster (Aug 17, 2012)

Looks great, I would carry it!!

JT gave a lot of great advise. I need to get me a dry erase board for the shop too, thats a great idea.

The only help I can offer and please dont take offense, thats not what its about, I really do think your pen looks great!! The top of the lower barrel needs to be a very slight round over. That componant piece is actually a bead so if you dont round it over, you see the sharp edge of the corner of the wood. I made all my cigars just like you untill someone over at IAP told me this exact same thing. It makes a big difference on this style of pen. I just round it over just a tad while I'm in the sanding process. It dosnt take much at all.

The problems you mention with bushings is why I have stopped using them for the most part. I use them in the beginning to get the rough shape down and then go to between centers and use calipers for the final cut and sanding process. I have yet to find a single set of bushing that could be considered perfect, they are always out somewhere. Usually the hole not centered. There are places that sell "high end" bushings but they come at a "high end" price, lol.


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## Vern Tator (Aug 17, 2012)

woodtickgreg said:


> Looks great to me! I don't see a think wrong with it. It's a pen, a thing of beauty, not a part for the space shuttle. Don't be so hard on yourself. I think you did a great job!


Thanks Greg.


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## Vern Tator (Aug 17, 2012)

So I started a JR Gent pen and immediately ran into a problem. The bushings I got from the supply house in Utah were way out of round. I could see this which my naked eye, calipers showed that one side was .022 bigger than the other. So, I decided to try it between centers.[attachment=9359] I turned a drive center out of cherry and used a 60 degree tail piece. This worked pretty well, slow, but pretty well. Next time I will rough the pen with the bushings and then fine tune between centers. I managed to go a few thou too far on one cut, but pretty good for a first one.[attachment=9360] This is my favorite style of pen, turned in Padauk. I am really pleased with the results of this one. [attachment=9361]The Utah supplier is sending me a new set of bushings so I can rough with them next time.


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## justturnin (Aug 17, 2012)

Vern Tator said:


> So I started a JR Gent pen and immediately ran into a problem. The bushings I got from the supply house in Utah were way out of round. I could see this which my naked eye, calipers showed that one side was .022 bigger than the other.



Out of round Bushings is a huge issue. I TBC and make my own bushings using some Corian I glued up. As for the different sized bushings the Jr Gent body has 2 different sized bushings. I think the larger one is for the Nib side and the smaller is the finial of the body and then the 2 cap bushings are the same. Great looking pen.


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## Vern Tator (Aug 17, 2012)

BassBlaster said:


> Looks great, I would carry it!!
> 
> JT gave a lot of great advise. I need to get me a dry erase board for the shop too, thats a great idea.
> 
> ...


Thanks, I can see the bead shape now that I am looking for it. I am also going to try roughing with bushings and finishing between centers. Doing the entire pen between centers is too time consuming, and too easy to go past what I need to cut. Sure appreciate the information.


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## BassBlaster (Aug 17, 2012)

Vern Tator said:


> BassBlaster said:
> 
> 
> > Looks great, I would carry it!!
> ...



My problem doing it entirely between centers is that I have a hard time visualizing the final product without having both pieces on the lathe together.

Your Jr. Gent looks great too. Thats also my favorite pen to make thus far. My gent bushings are also way out, in fact, they are the worst of all the bushings I have.


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