Robust Lathe Review - More Woodturning

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The Penturner’s Cornerby Don WardPersonal comments: My wife,daughter and I spent the ChristmasHolidays in New York City visitingour son. He is a surgery resident atNew York University Medical Center.I tell you that to tell you this:New York City is a fun place to visitbut I would not want to live there.But, since this is the Penturner’sCorner and not the Traveler’s cornerI’ll stick to pens. I really like pensand not just the ones we make. I likeall pens, especially the commercialones that I’ll never be able to afford.I subscribe to Stylus and PenWorldmagazines so I keep up with thenewest designs from the world’sbest penmakers. I saw several examplesof those pens at a pen storein New York City. The store is Joonsand they have 4 locations in Manhattanand I made two of them. Wow!What gorgeous pens. Along with theinexpensive pens that sell for under$50 I saw pens that ranged in priceall the way to $14,000 and one intheir catalog that sells for $250,000.Of course the pens themselves aren’tworth that kind of money I supposethe gold, platinum, diamonds, rubies,and sapphires that adorn themmay be. I remembered a sign in thelocal Ben Franklin 5 & dime storethat read: Nice to look at and prettyto hold; drop and break it and markit sold! So I didn’t actually handleany of them...actually they didn’toffer to let me. So, if you like pensthen I would encourage you to visita pen store...a stationary store...onyour next visit to a larger city. Mostlarger metropolitan areas have them.Do some research and find a store toPage 12 More Woodturning February 2010visit. WOW! What beautiful pens. Ihad a great time.Pen news: Penn State Industrieshas introduced some new kits.They are once again designed byDavid Broadwell (http://www.david.broadwell.com) who makesart and collectible knives and pens.These new Broadwell designs areart deco motifs. Although Davidlives less than 2 miles from me Ihave only seen them in the catalog.I don’t thinkDavid has seen the final productas of this writing. I will have afew of the new kits to try out andreview as soon as David has them.One of these new Art Deco kitsis based on the PSI Gatsby (sierra)style pen kit. The Gatsby pen hasbecome a popular kit. Other pensclose to the Gatsby in design are thesierra sold by Berea Hardwoods, thesienna sold by Craft supplies, theWall Street II sold by Woodcraft.The PSI number is for this new artdeco Gatsby style pen is #PKART5Band has a two tone plating of titaniumgold and chrome and sells for$12.95. Another is #PKART6Band is also a two tone plated kit withgold titanium and black titanium. Itis also based on the Gatsby styleand sells for $12.95.The art deco fountain penmade by David Broadwell is the$PKART3F and is available in Rhodiumand 22kt gold and is priced at$31.95. The #PKART4F is a fountainpen with black titanium and22kt gold and sells for $31.95.The art deco rollerball #PKAR-T1R is available in Rhodium and22kt gold and sells for $27.95. Theother plating combination is blacktitanium and 22kt gold and sportsthe product number #PKART2R andalso sells for $27.95.These new art deco pens fromPenn State Industries and DavidBroadwell were not available whenthis article was written but hopefullythey will be available soon.I checked the websites of thethree major suppliers of pen kitsto see what is new that I’ve notreported on previously. These threesuppliers are Berea Hardwoods,Penn State Industries and CraftSupplies. All who sell pen kits sellthe kits provided by either BereaHardwoods or Penn State Industries.Craft Supplies has no resellers oftheir kits. There are a few retailers,who import some of the same kitsas these three suppliers, but thereare not many since the minimumorder is several thousand dollars ofthe same kit. Anyway, here is whatI found at the websites of thesethree.Berea Hardwoods: Bereaseems to have several new offerings.I’m not sure how new but I’ve notlooked in a few months. One is TheCartridge Bullet Twist Pen kit whichreplicates a 30.06 rifle cartridge.This is an extremely easy kit tomake using a single tube. This kituses a Parker style ball point refillor gel refill and uses the high gradedouble twist mechanism. This kitalso comes with the premium rifleclip. Available in 24k Upgrade goldplating and in Chrome plating.The ever popular Sierra ComputerCircuit Board Ballpoint penkit is now available in an orangecircuit board along with the original[Continued on Next Page]
Pen Turner’s Corner Continuedfrom Page 11green. The circuit board is a real nonfunctionalcircuit board. The circuitboard is incased in clear acrylic andturns and polishes nicely.Although not a pen, BereaHardwoods has a unique project.This unique kit is made using a real,non-functional circuit board. Thecircuit board is covered with a clearplastic that is easily turned. This itemhas a plug–n-play 2GB flash drivewith a USB 2.0 compatible connection.This kit also matches the SierraComputer Circuit Board Ballpointpen kit which uses the green circuitboard.Berea also has a letter openerusing the sierra kit. The blade isnicely shaped wave design. It is easyto make and a nice compliment to thesierra kit.The Cambridge rollerball andfountain pens now sport new hybridadditions to the family. These pensare a new variation to the Cambridge’s.The sculptured fittings arerepresentations of grapes and grapeleaves. These pens all have platednib sections and plated metal nibcouplers. All external parts are solidmetal using two of Berea’s finest andmost durable plating - Titanium Goldand Sterling Silver.Several new acrylic acetate(AA) blanks have been added alongwith new colors ofBerea’s gemstone blanks. Thefavorites of mine are the two cameopatterns and the dragon skin gemstone.These new Berea offeringscan be seen online at http://www.bereahardwoods.com/ and click on“what’s new”.Craft Supplies USA (akaThe Woodturner’s Catalog): Thehighly popular sierra has stuckonce again. This time the sierrahas shown up in the CSUSA penstables and sports a new name, thesienna. The sienna joins its othercousins: the sierra, the wallstreetII and the Gatsby in its popularity.Although not recently new, thesepens also sport clicker versions forthe sierra and Gatsby. The Gatsbyfrom PSI also has a pencil version.To see the CSUSA sienna go tohttp://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/ and click on the image of thesienna on the home page. Or, clickon “new products” and find thesienna page 1.Timely Tip: While checkingthese websites I looked at thespecials and closeouts. Most ofwebsites mentioned have severalpenturning items listed. But, besure to check out the closeoutsavailable on the Woodcraft website:http://www.woodcraft.comWoodcraft has several pen kits oncloseout. But, even more interestingis they have quite a few acrylicpen blanks on closeout....for $.99 to$1.49. I do hope they have some leftby the time this article is published.Go to http://www.woodcraft.com/and click on clearance on the leftside. Then click on pen kits. Checkthe sale items also. You will findseveral nice bargins...if there areany left.I wonder if anyone made thebaseball bat pen from last month?If so, I wonder if anyone changedthe two bat parts. Let me hear fromyou. Send me some pictures andcomments. I am working on anothertake on the baseball bat idea andhope to have it for the next issue.Stay tuned.As always, I appreciate anycomments from those who read thiscolumn. Your thoughts are alwayswelcome. Send your comments andquestions about what you read here.Or, send any pen making questionsyou may have to me. My email isdon@RedRiverPens.comDo a good turn daily!D-Way Tools (www.d-waytools.com)Simply the finest Lathe tools availableBowl & Spindle Gouges, Beading tools,Hollowing tools, handles and tool rests.Made from M42 cobalt high-speed steelPhone: (360) 432-9509 Fax: (360) 432-3051Page 13 More Woodturning February 2010
Page 1 and 2: Volume XV, Number 02 February 2010
Page 3 and 4: ContentsRobust Lathe Review........
Page 5 and 6: turning on it for almost 2 years no
Page 7 and 8: Introducing: by Robust ToolsStanda
Page 9 and 10: the depth to which they can be used
Page 11: Mini-O-Bar and Maxi-O-BarNewsE-mail
Page 15 and 16: was about $25.00. Figure 2 showsthe
Page 17 and 18: chuck and had to wait what seemedli
Page 19 and 20: sculpture and a Southeastern Artist
Page 21 and 22: that I would say that it would bea
Page 23 and 24: Figure 3. The pen has been complete
Page 25 and 26: MAKING A BABY RATTLE — 18th Centu
Page 27 and 28: find them more attractive if theyar
Page 29 and 30: Testing andCertification of LeadCon
Page 31 and 32: with a Forstner drill to begin thed
Page 33 and 34: Editor’s Books for SaleBooks Writ
Page 35 and 36: Tormek AnnouncesT-7 UpgradesThe thr
Page 37 and 38: as on a fulcrum, and gives to the t
Page 39 and 40: Tilt-A-Matic installs in minutes-ju

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