# incredible wood



## duncsuss (Nov 14, 2012)

This is a piece of Honduras Rosewood Burl that I'd prepped about a year ago but hadn't gotten around to turning. It's the last one of three pieces I had that were sold as "exhibition grade" (whatever that means).

Usually I'm happy when I make a good pen. This one, I'm happy because I didn't screw up such a glorious piece of wood.

[attachment=13500]


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## DKMD (Nov 14, 2012)

Hubba, hubba... That's gorgeous!


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## BarbS (Nov 14, 2012)

I agree.. I'd feel the same way! Beautifully done.


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## healeydays (Nov 15, 2012)

I don't think anyone could have taken that little sliver of wood and had done anything that could have brought out any more beauty than you did. 

Well done...


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## duncsuss (Nov 15, 2012)

thanks for looking everyone ...


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## Patrude (Nov 15, 2012)

duncsuss said:


> This is a piece of Honduras Rosewood Burl that I'd prepped about a year ago but hadn't gotten around to turning. It's the last one of three pieces I had that were sold as "exhibition grade" (whatever that means).
> 
> Usually I'm happy when I make a good pen. This one, I'm happy because I didn't screw up such a glorious piece of wood.



Beautiful peice of wood, you sure did it justice, great work!!!


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## duncsuss (Nov 15, 2012)

Thanks again.



PegLeg said:


> I would like to learn how to turn pens on a drillpress. Where can a find a mandrell to do so?



I'd start with THIS from Penn State Industries; they also sell a mandrel designed for drill presses, LINK 

Have fun -- but beware, it won't be long before you decide you really need a lathe ... it's a vortex!


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## duncsuss (Nov 15, 2012)

PegLeg said:


> Thank you. Does harbor freight offer a decent lathe?



Can you define "decent"?

I've had one of THESE for close to 2 years, and it's served me well enough. The 2 biggest drawbacks for my type of turning are:

(1) the slowest speed is 600rpm, which is way too fast for large out-of-balance bowl blanks

(2) the speed control is a Reeve's Drive, which requires the lathe be running in order to change the speed setting

There's another HF lathe, THIS ONE, which is the one I intended to buy originally but was out of stock the day I drove to HF. The research I did on it led me to believe it's an okay lathe, almost identical to the one sold under several other labels at much higher prices.

If you're going shopping at HF, do not forget to take a 20% discount coupon with you. They can be found in almost every issue of Wood Magazine and a load more places.


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## BassBlaster (Nov 16, 2012)

duncsuss said:


> PegLeg said:
> 
> 
> > Thank you. Does harbor freight offer a decent lathe?
> ...



The second one duncsuss linked is a decent lathe and gets excellent reviews. As he mentioned it is the same lathe sold under a number of names including Grizzly. Its a Jet clone. Catch it on sale and use a 20% off coupon. I walked out the door with mine with a replacement plan for around $180. It has standard MT size and a standard spindle size so accessories are readily available. If you only plan to turn pens, its all the lathe you'll ever need but trust me, youll want to turn more than pens. I'm looking to upgrade to a Delta soon but will keep the HF around.

Nice pen, that wood is incredible. I recently picked up some HRB blanks here. I hope mine look that good when I'm done with em!!


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## jerryhill17 (Dec 11, 2012)

Wow.. awesome color in that piece. I have used rosewood once on a high end pen kit and the pen cracked about 6 months later. I decided not to try that wood again, but after seeing this, I might go back. Great work.


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## duncsuss (Dec 11, 2012)

jerryhill17 said:


> Wow.. awesome color in that piece. I have used rosewood once on a high end pen kit and the pen cracked about 6 months later. I decided not to try that wood again, but after seeing this, I might go back. Great work.



Thank you.

I've made several pens from HRB -- haven't experienced any cracking once finished. I've had one blow out while drilling, and several lost chunks at the bushings while turning ... I'm doing better now that I use a skew for the final pass and make sure my roughing gouge has a fresh grind before starting.


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## Patrude (Dec 11, 2012)

duncsuss said:


> This is a piece of Honduras Rosewood Burl that I'd prepped about a year ago but hadn't gotten around to turning. It's the last one of three pieces I had that were sold as "exhibition grade" (whatever that means).
> 
> Usually I'm happy when I make a good pen. This one, I'm happy because I didn't screw up such a glorious piece of wood.



Well done, you have done justice to the wood!!!


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