After that ugly pencil, I took a lot of time mass producing pens. I glued all the little brass tubes into all the little pre-drilled blanks and squared all the little ends. This was a super boring process. Then, one after another, I turned about 5 pens worth of blanks, just to get the experience that I needed to feel comfortable with my tools. I finally stood at my lathe one day and decided to just wing it.
This was the result. I was so proud of myself for coming up with a design, and then being able to actually turn it! Not only that, but I somehow miraculously managed to finish the thing! (I had seen a similiar design in a pen catalogue somewhere, and just pulled it up from memory.)
I do remember having a few problems sanding the bumpy part. My micromesh had a tendency to overheat if left in one place too long. Or rather the wood itself would get hot, and then melt the micromesh. This would leave colored bands on the pen that I would have to go back over with 600 grit sandpaper, and then re-sand with micromesh before I could continue.
I would have to say that this is the first pen that I was actually proud of. I don't plan on making one like this again, but it give me a huge boost of confidence when it came to turning pens how I liked them. Before this, I was sorta resenting my slimline kits because I didn't like the narrow feel of the pens that they were designed to make. Afterwards, I felt comfortable in being able to turn a pen that was chunky and not looked pinched in the middle.
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