Since the debacle yesterday where I caught the gouge and blew out the blank at the knot, I decided to try again right away. I did a couple of things differently. First, I set up a stop block on my mitre guage on my bladerunner and, before I made a cut, I inserted a saw blade between the stop block and the pen blank. Then I made a single cut. Then, I removed the shim (saw blade) from the stop block and recut taking off 1 more thickness of the blade. With a double kerf, I was able to use Purpleheart that was approx 1/16 inch, as opposed to the 1/64 sliver that I used in the damaged blank. On turning the blank down, the knot appeared far more in proportion to the Longwood pen, so in that regard, I was pleased that the last blank blew out.
When I finished the turning, I decided to go with the CA finish. This too turned out very well and I was very pleased with the result.
Once again, the pen is Tulipwood and the knot is made with Purpleheart.
And here is a short video of the pen.
To Everything, Turn...Turn...Turn 