Still Turning...

I'm still obsessing over my new obsession. Been out in the shop pretty much every day since Thanksgiving making pens and trying to decide where in hell to put them all.

No, sorry, no pics of the latest creations for a couple of reasons. First off, Amy, my wife and part-time photographer has come down with some sort of funk that's had her feeling like dog squeeze since Friday. Secondly, some of the turnings may or may not become Christmas presents so I'm trying to keep them under wraps, no pun intended.

Pen turning has turned out to be a very relaxing diversion. While I like doing "larger" projects, the big power tools tend to get noisy after a while. Listening to the stereo while the planer is running tends to become difficult. But when the lathe is running, its generally fairly peaceful, if you discount the occasional expletives spewed when I screw something up. Generally that only happens when I try to be "cute" and try something new.

On a side note, I found an interesting article online about using corn cobs to turn pens (here's a link). The guy who wrote it makes it look much easier than it seems to be. The cobs themselves are fairly easy to work with, but once you turn them to the match the pen kit, well, things don't always work out as planned. I'm determined to make one that looks decent because, well, they just look cool and hell, it's cheaper than screwing up nice wood blanks. I'm sure the squirrels won't complain much either.