# Why did you start?



## Kami (Jul 24, 2007)

Just a quick quest as to why you started pen turning?  

For me it was due to my girlfriend suggesting I made my own fountain pen rather than spend Â£1300 on a visconti.

I bought a lathe and some blanks...then a mandrel.  Then a barrel trimming kit then an asortment of pen kits then an asortment of wood from America.

I must have spent more than the original Â£1300 on pen kits, lathes and wood. However mine are much more intersting.

A family friend has run several companies of her own and is now giving me advice on starting up, She loves staionary and has placed an order for xmas.  Others are now comming in too , small scale but enough to fund the hobby at least.

All because of a simple suggestion from my girlfirend...god I love her, marginally more than I love pens 

whats your story?

Kami


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## leehljp (Jul 24, 2007)

I started because I love the smell of wood and I have been working with wood in one form or another as a hobby or work since a being kid on a farm in the '50s. With my work here in Japan, I don't have room for a large shop and often I have to take the saw out and put it up; for projects, take the material out and put it up. I used to spend 30 minutes to an hour getting set up for a wood working project, work an hour and spend an hour putting things up and cleaning. 

I made a 4 door rail and stile cupboard for LOML and it took me two years. I needed a hobby that I could start and finish a project in an hour to two, so I started pen turning.

BTW, where did you get the name Kami from? Is it related to the Japanese word (for hair, paper, god, protector?


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## Blind_Squirrel (Jul 24, 2007)

I knew someone that made pens.  I thought to myself "that looks fun."  About 5 years later my wife enrolled me in a pen class as a christmas gift.  I was right, making pens is fun.


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## Jim15 (Jul 24, 2007)

I wanted to leave my children and friends something to remember me by when I am gone ( which I hope is a long time from now)[].However there is a trade off, as now I don't have any money to leave them[].  Also as Hank I didn't have a lot of room for a large shop.


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## alamocdc (Jul 24, 2007)

I've been a flat woodworker for years, but when our youngest son made us each a pen in shop class (over 8 years ago) I fell in love with the idea. It took aobut 4 years to get my first lathe, and I haven't looked back since.


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## Rifleman1776 (Jul 24, 2007)

When I bought my lathe I was determined to NOT make pens. I had seen too many old men at craft shows selling (or trying to sell) poorly made pens. And, I have a friend who made pens (nice ones) who was unable to get more than $3.00 locally for good pens. But, then he took ill and had to give up turning. He sold me a bunch of supplies and blanks at a very reasonable price. So, I had the stuff and had to try a few pens......and here we are........[]


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## LanceD (Jul 24, 2007)

I still haven't a clue []


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## bkc (Jul 24, 2007)

I started out turning making turkey calls. I'm getting a bit bored with that, so I branched out to bowls and doodads. I saw some REALLY nice pens, so now I'm starting into that. Got a lot to learn, but I'm having fun []

And I can't do flat work. That's a total disaster, the lathe suits me better.


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## lwalden (Jul 24, 2007)

I started out as a result of forgetting my wedding anniversary[:0][B)][V][B)]...... and as you can guess, I had to jump through quite a few hoops (and rightly so)to get back into LOML's good graces. I guess she felt a little bad about holding my feet to the fire so long, because when I finally received her forgiveness, she encouraged me to buy a lathe. I'd always done a fair amount of flatwork as my creative outlet from a white collar job, and had a fairly large collection of woodworking tools when we married. She always expressed surprise that the one tool it seemed I didn't have was a lathe. Well, with her encouragement, I went ahead and got a small Delta midi-lathe. I hadn't turned anything since high school woodshop, 25 years before, so I figured I'd sign up for a couple of refresher courses at the local woodcraft. As I'm sure some of you have guessed, the first one was basic penmaking. I was hooked, and that was roughly 700 pens, or two years, ago. We now have three lathes- two Delta Midis, and a Jet minilathe variable speed (currently my usual lathe). And by the way, our wedding anniversary is this Thursday the 26th, and the details are already all taken care off............


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## Jim in Oakville (Jul 24, 2007)

I needed a pen[)][?][?][?]

I almost quite 5 years ago.....then I discoved CS and Arizona Silhouette......[:0]

Now I need a Dr!![]


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## wood-of-1kind (Jul 24, 2007)

Just to prove to myself that I could make a nice pen.

-Peter-[]


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## txbatons (Jul 24, 2007)

To make cheap presents for family and friends. Boy, was I wrong?! []

PS Happy anniversary to you and your wife, Lyle.


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## LEAP (Jul 24, 2007)

I had a lathe when I was a kid and always enjoyed making chips. Stopped by a wood craft store one day for something else and they had a little Rikon lathe on sale. Well a pile of $ later I was heading out the door with lathe, tools and kits.


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## kent4Him (Jul 24, 2007)

A friend of mine in college had made a bowl in highschool.  I always thought it was cool and I want to make one some day.  About 3 years into our marriage, my wife needed a Christmas suggestion for me, so I said a lathe.  She bought me a craftsman that year.  We had no basement or room outside for a shed, so it sat in the box for a couple of years.  After determining that we were not moving soon, I decided to break it out and put it in the garage.  I made my brother-in-law a nut bowl that year for Christmas.  After making bowls for a few years, spending money on bowl blanks, I went to the wood show up in Milwaukee.  There I watched a demonstration by fellow IAP member Steven Russell.  In about 20 minutes, he made a Cocobolo 10k Americana.  It looked like fun.  I asked how much he would charge for that pen, and he said, $150.  More if he used a better finish.  The thought of being able to make some money at this interested me.  So, I bought a Jet mini, mandrel, mini turning tools, a few pen blanks, bushings and pen kits.  They turned out well enough to do some more and try selling them.  So far I've made a couple hundred and have sold most of them.  

Now, bird houses are another story.


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## gerryr (Jul 24, 2007)

I bought my lathe so I could turn my own fly rod grips and reel seat inserts.  After turning a few it got sort of boring.  I mentioned I had a lathe to a guy one day and he pulled a truly ugly pen out of his pocket and said I could make one just like it and should order all my stuff my PSI, because he said, they make the best stuff around for pens.  It was several months later I was in Minneapolis in vacation and went to a Woodcraft store where the guy said he knew all about making pens.  I bought a mandrel, 2 slimline kits a couple of pieces of anonymous wood and a couple of other things, but he never said I needed a barrel trimmer.  That was just about 2 years ago.


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## Penmonkey (Jul 24, 2007)

My dad gave me a single pen kit and a mandrel for my 12th birthday and I made my first pen on a shopsmith. Now I make more than I spend on pens and I have two lathes, my own drill press and a bunch of other tools.


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## Paul in OKC (Jul 24, 2007)

I always wanted to do some kind of wood working. Being a machinist, though, proved to be too much of a mind set to get past being anal about tolerences. I would try to make something, measure, make a cut, darn it, not straight enough, etc. Went to a woodworking supply place during an open house and saw a kid of about 11 or 12 turning a pen. Made a home made lathe, bought a kit and a mandrel and a pen mill, and WOW. I can do wood work and keep an eye on tolerences at the same time! Imagine that. A few hundred pens later and.......


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## wudnhed (Jul 24, 2007)

For about 6 to 8 months I watched the LOML buy machines, tools and such at yard sales and various other places.  I kept thinking, "Oh Lord, more tools and cr-- that he will never use"!  He had a plan I didn't know about and it turned into a bigger addiction for me than him[][}][]


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## Brewmeister35 (Jul 24, 2007)

Dad found a great deal on an old craftsman lathe.  I borrowed it and made a few bowls.  Then I found this pen starter kit at woodcraft and thought wow, a neat way to make cheap gifts.  Took them to work to show them off and sold them within 5 minutes of punching in.  Haven't hardly turned the lathe(s) off since []


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## neoWizard (Jul 24, 2007)

I remembered doing turning in grade seven.  (many long years ago)  When one day my Mom threw me the Canadian Tire catalogue, and asked what I wanted for Christmas, I pointed to the lathe and said, I'd like one of those.  (12" Mastercraft)

About two years later I took it out of the box (I bought a house, and moved out of my apartment), and have been turning since. 

Gordon


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## OKLAHOMAN (Jul 24, 2007)

Almost 2 years to the date we found out the LOML had cancer and I was trying my best to keep up a good front for her but needed something to get by myself and immerse in. I had built Street Rods for years but needed something I could do in a small building we had in our back yard as we had down sized and I no longer had a large shop.I was on ebay one night and bid on a small Wilton Lathe. You know the rest of the story 2 more lathes a floor drill press, a new table saw,grinder, etc.,etc.,etc. But the best part is the LOML is now cancer free and we both think my pen turning saved both of us from going over the edge as I was able to get out and let her be. (She said that I was smothering her.)


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## richstick1 (Jul 24, 2007)

Ok, Roy has the best story so far!!  Awesome.

I'm a pretty noob turner, but got into it for fishing rod handles and reelseats - I'm primarily a custom rod builder.  In between rod builds, I needed something to occupy me, so I'm interested in bowls/boxes, etc.  Well, no cash for a decent bandsaw, so I turned (sorry) to pens as a way to feed my addiction.  I enjoy penturning, I don't think I'll get as into it as many of you do - at least not until I get a good bandsaw and tablesaw.  One thing about penturning I like is that you can see/try so many types of wood for relatively cheap.  I'm going to have to try selling them soon though - although I already have orders for 10 BOW pens thanks to the one I made my Mom


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## Jerryconn (Jul 24, 2007)

I always liked pens and woodworking, I was in a woodcraft one day and saw the pen kits, wood etc. got myself set up to turn a few pens. Made myself a rollerball and wasn't happy with the finish (friction polish) and after about 6 months the plating wore off the pen components and the wood cracked I got disappointed and put pen turning aside for about 4 years.  One day I was in the local woodcraft and a very helpful individual showed me Micro Mesh, other finishes and turned me on to this site (darn him) and I've been broke ever since. []


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## GoodTurns (Jul 24, 2007)

Has some spare $$$.  No longer a problem.[]

Seriously, my son (GoodTurns JR ID) took a wood turning class at his school and loved it.  He went to the same camp the next year and really showed a talent for it.  We made an offer on an old Craftsman lathe they had in the shop and when we picked it up, it came with a bunch of chucks, plates AND the workbench it was anchored to! (would be a gloat, but was 2 years ago now).  We wore out the lathe, taking turns (pun completely intended).  Went to the local Woodcraft to look at a new lathe and they had a special on Jet minis, bought 2 of them and we now turn side by side in a shop we built in the basement.

Long story short, to spend more time with my kid.  It's still working and I wouldn't trade that time for anything!


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## Kami (Jul 24, 2007)

What a great response!

Roy - Glad to hear that the Big C dissapeared!

Hank - I am not sure where I got kami form but I had a facination with Japan for about 8 years so it must be form there, or perhaps it was a characters name in a book.

Lance D - Well thats an honest response ... sometimes we do the best things in life without knowing why.

Lyle - Have you made her a pen for your aniversary?

JerryCon - Yes I know the feeling of being broke every month now []

Keep them comming!

Kami


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## Texatdurango (Jul 24, 2007)

Had a shop most of my adult life making mainly furniture, poker tables, gun cabinets and the like but never a lathe.  I always wanted one so when I retired I bought one and took a Peppermill class at the local Woodcraft store.  After the class, we were given a discount on anything in the store and I saw some pen kits, it was all downhill from there!

Now, 6 months later, I am up to my eyeballs in completed pens, blanks and dozens of unopened kits.  I have given away more than I can remember, sold a few but will continue making them because I enjoy it.  Now, rather than just turning pens bushing to bushing for the sake of making a pen, I buy the nicer kits and enjoy spending more time on the designs and different finishes.  

George


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## skiprat (Jul 24, 2007)

I can't compare at all to Roy's wonderful reply either, but here's my story.
Twenty odd years ago my wife and I bought our first property. I was an apprentice and she was at university. We could not afford to buy even the cheapest kitchen cupboards let alone the rest of the furniture. Together we built our own pine wood kitchen, then I started making more furniture over the years. I never had or used a lathe till about two years ago when my wife said she wanted to buy an Ottoman with round feet for the lounge. I said we could make one for less than the cost of the one she liked, even if I bought a lathe to make the feet. She gave the ok and we looked through a tool catologue for a cheap lathe and saw pen kits. I bought some to practice turning. She got the Ottoman just a month or two ago but I bought ball and claw feet as I was too busy making pens.[]

BTW, great topic Kami[]


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## GaryMGg (Jul 24, 2007)

<s>I stumbled into this place drunk and dirty one night and ....</s>
Oh, sorry that's something else.
[}]
I've always liked making things. As a kid, I tore bicycles apart and rebuilt them.
That remained a passion for years. I've built touring and racing bikes and custom wheels
for people all over the country.

At some point, thanks to my FIL, I got sawdust in my veins. I've been doing flat work since 1999.
Norm B (Bluewing92 on Woodnet) sent me a PM inviting me to join the local woodworking club a couple
of years ago and some of the guys make pens. I saw some nice pens and thought "how cool".
I knew it'd be fun but didn't try making any until Dec. 2006.
Now, I'm a pen junkie wondering when I might get my next fix. []

Gary


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## mdburn_em (Jul 24, 2007)

I have loved Pens my entire life.  I can remember sitting on my dad's lap and pulling the pens out of his pocket.  We didn't have much money but he always had parker's and papermates rather than the the free one's that everyone gave away at Christmas.
I purchased a FP in Italy on one of my cruises.  Didn't know about cleaning them, before internet, and eventually tossed it because it wouldn't write anymore.  Sigh.
When I got out of the Navy, I was looking for something to do.  I sent away for some catalogs of woodworking stuff and one of them was that router catalog that comes with the psi pen catalog.  I'm not sure I even looked at the router stuff.
I bought a couple books on pen-turning from a woodworking book club I joined.
I found AS and bought BB's video.  I then found the group on Yahoo.  One day I stumbled across this place and came home.
I've been enjoying using a different pen every day of the month.


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## TellicoTurning (Jul 24, 2007)

LOML and I were in an art gallery in Fredericksburg, TX a few years ago and I admired a mesquite bowl... I made a casual comment to LOML that I would like to learn to do that... she took me seriously and told my son that I wanted a lathe for Christmas... he bought me one along with a few pen kits... we turned our first pen that Christmas day... I'm still using it today, six year later... Turned and sold pens for the first 4 years of turning.. finally learned to do bowls last summer.. fun thing to do in retirement.


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## dalemcginnis (Jul 24, 2007)

I saw a picture of a pen and a tutorial on how he made it on a handyman forum. Fell in love with the pen but the person wouldn't make one to sell.[]  Something about keeping his hobby a hobby[?] Said he would send me some material when he got more if I was a turner.[}]
So, here I am, still waiting on that "paperstone" though[]


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## GaryMGg (Jul 24, 2007)

Wow Doc, I didn't know. That's heartbreaking. Sh*t, I can barely see to type.
Why is it always the beautiful ones that get called home early?
I pray you and Marsha are finding peace.
Gary


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## Rojo22 (Jul 25, 2007)

I had done quite a bit of scroll work, carving, and was dabbling in marquetry and  some other flat work.  I had seen a box in my Father in Laws basement for a mini lathe, that had never been opened, and purchased it from him.  It was touted as a "pen lathe" so that is what it started life out as...After a thousand pens, christmas ornaments, honey dippers, spinning tops, key chains, and a few things that should probably not have been done it (size wise), I purchased a full sized lathe and have been doing bowls, lamps, and everything else you can do on the lathe.

I have managed to sell enough of my pens to pay for my tools, the new lathe, and keep funding the "I just need a few more blanks" fund....Everyone at this site has challenged me to do more and better, and have been a hoot in the process, and that is why I continued to do it!

I am in it now to pass the skills I have learned over the last two years on.....I enjoy watching people "light up" when they see what they and a little ole red lathe can do.......


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## TBone (Jul 25, 2007)

A friend was helping my wife and I build a kitchen table.  I was using a hand plane to put beading on the legs of a trestle table when he fired up the flat belt lathe.  He was turning a 9' lamp post.  I was fascinated.  He put me on the small lathe and I made some squares round and was hooked.  It took another 10 years to get a lathe and in that time, I read an article on making pens and that was all it took.


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## mewell (Jul 25, 2007)

LOML and I went to the annual Woodworking Show in Denver a few years back. There we saw some guy named Steve Russell [:O] making pens. We sat in the front row all afternoon watching Steve turn and embellish pens. At some point I told Dawn "We have a lathe - we could do that" and it's been downhill ever since. []


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## Kami (Jul 25, 2007)

Thats very moving Doc, I lost my mother early and she would love the pens I have since made, my heart goes out to you.

Kami

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Any one else?


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## RonSchmitt (Jul 25, 2007)

Stopped in at the local Rockler store and there was a sale on the Jet pen lathe. Thought it would be a nice Christmas present for my then 11 year old son. He thought different, so 2 years, 1 bandsaw, 2 drill presses, 1 power mitre saw, and a PH vice (best money I ever spent) later. Here I am. One of these days, gonna save up and get a larger lathe.


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## edman2 (Jul 25, 2007)

Been dabling in wood work for several years. Made my first pens with a homemade rig on my drill press many years ago. A friend started turning and became a member of the Ozark Craft Guild making bowls, pen, yo-yo's and anything else he wanted. I kept asking him questions. Then a couple of years ago another friend invited me to come over and he would show me how to make a pen. I did and it's been pens ever since! I was looking for something I could do in retirement (3-4 years away) and chose pen making because it didn't seem like it would cost a lot of money.[8D][xx(][8D]


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## Milpaul (Jul 25, 2007)

Surprised nobody else said this but I would have to say instant gratification! I started out turning bowls, goblets and platters. The bowls especially can take a while and you usually had to either wait for the wood to dry out or turn them green and then turn again later. For someone who doesn't always have a lot of patience [xx(] pen turning was instant gratification. It was not only great to finish a project in a short(er) period of time but you are left with a functional work of art. It was also a chance to turn a variety of wood without a big investment.


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## angboy (Jul 25, 2007)

> _Originally posted by Paul in OKC_
> <br />I always wanted to do some kind of wood working. Being a machinist, though, proved to be too much of a mind set to get past being anal about tolerences. I would try to make something, measure, make a cut, darn it, not straight enough, etc. Went to a woodworking supply place during an open house and saw a kid of about 11 or 12 turning a pen. Made a home made lathe, bought a kit and a mandrel and a pen mill, and WOW. I can do wood work and keep an eye on tolerences at the same time! Imagine that. A few hundred pens later and.......



Paul, I didn't know you made lathes too! I claim first spot in line for one- how long do I have to wait? (Glad I got the first spot!)[][]


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## angboy (Jul 25, 2007)

I was introduced to it by my dad, who bought a lathe after being given a gift from my sister of a pen turning class. I was living 1000 miles away from my dad, but when I'd go home and visit, I just wanted to hang out in the basement and make pens. The rest of the family didn't like that too much... So when I was separating from my husband, and just happened to have a couple of hundreds of dollars in amazon gift certificates, and they sold the Jet lathe with free shipping, I decided I'd just buy my own lathe...


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## Paul in OKC (Jul 25, 2007)

[/quote]

Paul, I didn't know you made lathes too! I claim first spot in line for one- how long do I have to wait? (Glad I got the first spot!)[][]
[/quote]

You'll get the first 'Pen-o-matic 5000'[]


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## hilltopper46 (Jul 25, 2007)

I had bought a multi-purpose machine that could be set up as a lathe and turned a few boxes and a little spindle work.  Then LOML bought me two pen kits for Christmas 2005 and here I am 160 pens later. (plus two more lathes, a bandsaw, a good tablesaw and ....)


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## MarkHix (Jul 26, 2007)

I started building things first out of lack of funds, then because I enjoyed it.  I was looking at sites that had custom rocking chairs, stumbled across a bowl site and thought it looked like something I could try without a lot of money invested.  Yep, I'm a short bus graduate.  I bought myself a lathe for my birthday.  I made a lot of bowls and was looking for another challenge when I found this site.  I have been in awe ever since.  My wife thinks I have lost my mind.  My kids whisper about me to each other.  Something about picking a home.  I think standing at the lathe is like fishing....it does not count against your alloted days of life.


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## cigarman (Jul 26, 2007)

My ex-boss started making pens to give as gifts when he was Potentate of our local shrine and after seeing some ( I did not get one) I thought I can do that and better.  When I retired I took a lesson at woodcraft in KC and bought a small cheap craftsman lathe to make a few.  I now own three lathes two band saws and two drill presses along with more wood and pen parts than I can count. Can anyone say addicted  [].


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## woodwish (Jul 26, 2007)

Worked with wood all my life but never much of a turner.  Somehow I got interested in it so my daughters pooled money to buy me a Delta midi-lathe for my 50th birthday a few years ago.  I started doing some 'net searches for stuff to do with it and found a CSUSA web site, pens looked interesting and more usable than most of the stuff I was just turning to be round instead of square.  Have sold a few but mostly I make them as gifts and give them away.  Mine aren't nearly as nice as some others on here but everyone I have given one to really seems to appreciate it.


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