I was the Master of Ceremonies for the Change of Command parade at work this past week. One of the customs of the ceremony is that the outgoing Commanding Officer (CO) and the incoming CO each sign a certificate signifying the handover and then the Presiding officer signs. For these ceremonies, we always have 3 matching pens. They are usually cheap 2 dollar pens though so I decided to make three pens for the parade. This was the first “production line” type of project.
It started out last Thursday night when I went to Lee Valley to get three ebony blanks and pen kits. When I got home that evening I started to make them. Because each pen has to cure overnight I wanted to make one on Thursday, one on Friday and one on Saturday so that I could finish the last on Sunday after curing. Well… I started drilling the blanks in my centering vice and the bit kept wandering. The first one had a tiny crack at the bottom of the blank, but the second one actually split the length of the blank. I am usually very tired by the time Thursday night rolls around so I decided, in frustration, to stop for the night and start again on Friday.
So now my plan is going to take me to Monday morning and I was uncomfortable cutting it that close. I decided to turn a pen, put the CA coats on it and when mostly dry, take it off the mandrel and set it aside to cure. That way, I could use the mandrel right away to start the next pen. I ended up getting all three pens made on Friday night and Saturday. Finishing went even better than my last pen and I was very pleased with the result. The pens received very favourable comments from the COs and the General as well.
You can see a bit of grain in the bottom one, but amazingly, you can also see the silver flecks in the pens, especially the centre one. These flecks are natural and in the wood. They are not so evident outside of this type of light, but I was very pleased that you could see this.
By way of contrast, here is a picture of the rough turned blanks and the finished blank. Quite a difference isn’t it?
You can see that on this unfinished blank that I hard a substantial Tearout that couldn’t be fixed so, again, I had to start over. In total I went through 6 Ebony blanks to get three pens. Not a really good average, but I am sure I will get better?
To Everything, Turn...Turn...Turn 