I got an order a few weeks back for a customer for three pen and pencil sets. It just so happened I had three pen and pencil sets.

He said just pick three interesting woods so here is what I chose and turned.

The first one is Mahogany. The board this came from is a piece of Mahogany that came from Honduras. A mission group from our church was on a mission trip. I told one of the members if he could get a small piece of Mahogany I would turn him a pen. He brought back a board about 10" wide by 1 1/2" thick and about 14" long. He was on a mission to find a piece of Mahogany for this pen. He was telling his interpreter what he needed and he told him his dad had a cabinet shop. They went up to the cabinet shop and the interpreter's dad gave my friend the board from his shop. Pretty cool how it got here. So I have made several pens from this board.

Here is the pen and pencil out of Mahogany.

 
I have a few board of Bloodwood here so this set is Bloodwood.

And the last set is from a few pieces of Bubinga left from the Bow Front Table.

These will be delivered on Tuesday. Got all of them turned and finished this afternoon. They are finished with CA/BLO and buffed on the Beall buffing system.

I have not had much luck with pencil sets either. I have given some away in sets but have never sold any. I have made 8 in the last month. 4 with .7 mm lead for my daughter and her friends. They destroyed them in short order. The lead was just too thin for 9 year old girls. I then turned the PSI power pencil with the 2 MM lead. So far they have held up better. The only issues is replacement lead. No office supply in the area carries it. I have had to order it from PSI.

Nice looking sets John. BZ.

Thanks Josh. I don't sell many of them either and to tell you the truth, I don't turn them unless I get an order. Pens sells have been okay but not great this year.

Greg, these were ordered by a repeat customer. This is the second time he has purchased pen and pencil sets from me. He is a high end salesman and I suppose he is using them for gifts to special customers.

Other than that, I just don't have many people ask for pencils.

Thanks for the complements guys, I really appreciate it.

Good Morning John,

Yesterday, I had the occasion to be in the Woodcraft store in Columbus to return the item I had that did not fit the tool I had bought it for and while I was there I bought a new 5/8" straight router bit for my jig to mortise the dado for my bottom shelves in two cabinets I am making and I also bought the mandrel so I can make pens sets as well as some other small items such as candle holders for the various occasions through out the year. So in the upcoming future I will be coming to you fellows who turn pens and pencils for information on how to make the sets as needed. I hope I can find a book at the WOODWORKING SHOW when it comes to Columbus this coming February. I will have the pleasure to be in the WOOD MAGAZINE booth with Jim Heavey again for I consider him a very good friend and I have yet to leave each year without learning something new from him.

Can you fellows recommend a book that I should be looking for?

Ralph

Ralph, I purchased this one at Woodcraft some time back. It can be ordered from Amazon through this site though or through Woodcraft.

Here is a link to the book.

http://www.amazon.com/Turning-Pens-Pencils-Kip-Christensen/dp/1861081006/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291389411&sr=1-2

It was very helpful to me when I started.

Ralph,

You can also request a FREE pen making DVD from Penn State Industries. There is a bit of advertisement on it but it is FREE after all. It also comes with a $10.00 off coupon. With your eye for detail I can see som great looking pens in your future.

http://www.pennstateind.com/store/DVD.html

That's a great suggestion Greg. I wasn't aware of that one.

John

Hi Greg,

Thanks for the information as I have ordered the DVD just now from them.

Thanks again,

Ralph

Greg Coleman said:

Ralph,
You can also request a FREE pen making DVD from Penn State Industries. There is a bit of advertisement on it but it is FREE after all. It also comes with a $10.00 off coupon. With your eye for detail I can see som great looking pens in your future.
http://www.pennstateind.com/store/DVD.html