My first pencil

Here is my first pencil. Prior to this, I had completed 3 pen kits with ok results.



I was struggling with getting the blanks turned down even with the pen kit itself. So when I did this project I decided to make sure that that was not going to happen again. Instead, I managed to turn the blank too thin.

This is painfully obvious near the tip of the pencil. At the center band you can even see where I had problems applying my finish because the barrel had become so narrow, it couldn't just glide over the bushings like normal when I was turning it.

I have to say that I am most ashamed of this pencil. It really was a blow to my self esteem to see this thing completed. But I learned a lot. Now, I get down as close as possible to the bushing and then use sandpaper to do the rest. No more risking cutting in too deep with sharp tools.

I also learned, since doing this pen, how important the skew chisel is. The first few pens I completed I did not use the skew and struggled in getting the deep marks from the roughing gouge out of my pen while sanding. Then I watched a few more videos and realised that I was missing a crucial step. It took awhile to master using this tool, but now I feel very comfortable with it in my hands.

Thats all for now, more posts and pictures tomorrow!
-Sam

Ps. if you want to look at all the pens I've turned you may view them by selecting any one of the images in the photo stream at the top of this blog. The link will take you to my flickr page where you can browse through the first half of my collection. I am still working on labeling and entering descriptions so it might be hard to tell what is what. There are about 10 pens and pencils for viewing on flickr.