Bois D'Arc Cigar Pens

Dad is leading a Woodbadge course (a leadership training course for scout leaders) and wanted to present his staff with a memorable gift. He decided pens made from wood collected at the scout camp where the course will be held. After talking to the park ranger, they found some Bois D'Arc that had been cut and added to a brush pile. We were going to need 20-25 pens for the group.

We started the project with three 3.5" diameter logs 24-30" long. Our first order of business was to cut logs down to the proper size and allow them to dry. We cut the blanks using the band saw and a magnetic fence. The squared billets of bois d'arc were about 3/4"x3/4", we painted the ends with Anchor Seal and stacked them to dry in the shop.

While we waited for the billets to dry, we began trying to decide on the perfect pen kit for this project. We looked through Craft Supplies and Penn State Industries catalogs cover to cover. Pop had to make the final decision..... Cigar Pen in black titanium from Craft Supplies. He also ordered EEE polish and Shellawax to finish the pens.

Pop came down on Friday afternoon and we started working on the pens after the girls went to bed. That night we cut, drilled out and glued up enough blanks for 25 pens. The next morning we began turning pens. I had only turned one cigar pen prior to this weekend and royally fouled it up. The first few pens went slow as we tried to make sure we were getting everything right. Then we had to take a break from the shop to watch the Aggies beat baylor Whoop! That evening we started turning again and each pen offered a new surprise. As the pen count grew we began to notice that the pens went together much better if the blank was trimmed down very close to the brass tubes. By the end of the night we had close to 16 or 18 pens ( I lost count). Sunday Amy was on call and Pop, Charley, AnnMarie and I continued the pen making journey. We finished up around lunch. The EEE polish and Shellawax produces an impressive finish for how fast it can be applied.

After lunch Pop wanted to try his hand at the lathe on some key ring kits. The key rings will be given to a group of Venture Scouts that will be visiting the Woodbadge group during the week. It didn't take long and he was producing some very nice bois d'arc key chains in a variety of shapes and designs. I only got a picture on the first of the horse apple key chains, but the rest are equally impressive. I also think he might have gotten bitten by the woodturning bug. :)

I had a blast working on all these pens with Dad. That's what turning is all about, having fun.

Now for the Pictures!!

I am not sure what the shadow is in some of the pictures. Please excuse the poor photography.

Finished Baby Bed

Alright so still not much turning goin on but I did finally finish the baby bed.... almost. I am waiting on the delivery of some drawer pulls, then it will b e completely finished. However we moved it into the baby's room and replaced the old white crib.

Lessons learned from this project:
Don't buy big box store wood. It is warped.
Don't take the measurements in the plans as Gospel, make measurements from the actual projects when fitting things together. The cuts probably do not match exactly to what the plans state.
Be flexible and maintain the ability to redesign if something does not work out just right.
That being said, you also need to recognize when it would be better to start over.
Be wary of "stainable" wood filler. They lie.

Now time for some pictures.

Just moved it in.

 A picture of me and AnnMarie as she tries out her new bed for the first time.

A new angle.

For my first real honest to goodness flat woodworking/furniture project it turned out better than I expected.

Baby Bed

I am in the process of building a baby bed for the new baby that should be arriving any day now. This is the primary reason I have been neglecting the lathe and blog. Anyway the bed is made out of red oak and should be finished this coming weekend. Hopefully I can finish before the baby gets here. Ok now for the pics.

Cherry Bowl

It has been a busy month or so... I finally got around to starting a new turning project. Over the winter I visited Wood World in Dallas, TX and found a piece of 12x12x3 cherry for $8. It had a crack in it, but for the price I decided I could work around that.

This project spanned several nights. I filled the outer crack with super glue and fine saw dust, the inner crack I tried filling it with blue inlay dust. However the blue material was too coarse to fill the crack fully. I sanded a good deal of it out and replaced it with saw dust. I sanded it to 400 grit and then finished it with 2 coats of danish oil. This is a thick walled bowl that feels good to hold and at the moment is doing a fine job holding oranges on the kitchen table.

Now time for the pictures.

My next turning project will be a shallow bowl from a piece of black mesquite I have sitting on the rack.

Shift knob

Tonight I turned a shifter knob for my truck. I turned it from a piece of persimmon branch that I picked up from the farm I grew up on. I chose persimmon because of is nice grain pattern and the light color. I am hoping that with a light oil finish the wood will develop a nice patina. It was a fairly simple project, so there might be more shifter knobs to come. I hope to have pictures soon.

Clean upTo

Tonight I swept up all the shavings from the past few turning days and transfered them to the goat shed. With the freeze coming tonight, it should help those new baby goats.

Collection Plate, Cedar Pot, and a Candy Dish

I am currently working on making four collection plates to be used in a new service at Christ Episcopal Church. I am making the plates from 2"x12" Swamp Ash blanks. Swamp Ash seems to be a fairly soft wood, requiring sharp tools and sanding sealer to prevent tear out. Fortunately, being a soft wood, it sands rather easily. After sanding to 240, I applied a coat of WATCO Danish Oil and applied steel wool while on the lathe. The fine steel wool seemed to polish the wood and oil, bringing out a better finish than just oil alone. Below is a picture of the prototype collection plate. I still have 3 more to make as similar to this one as I can.

Earlier this month I turned a hollow form from cedar. The shape was inspired by southwestern pottery. As I progress the opening at the top should continue to shrink. The finish on the pot is shellac.

Last Friday night I turned a small candy dish from a piece of Argentinian Lignum Vitae. I really like working with this wood. It gives off a pleasant citrus aroma when it is cut. As dense and oily as the wood naturally is, it polishes up quite nicely. I finished this bowl with WATCO Teak Oil.

Shop Time

The past few weeks I have been re-arranging the shop. Needless to say it still needs about a days worth of spring cleaning.

I cut 4- 12"x12"x2" blanks from some Swamp Ash this evening. They will be turned into collection plates that will be used in a new service at our church. The new service debuts on the 30th, 12 days to design, turn, and finish 4 collection plates. I should be able to finish on time. We shall see.

Mini Maple Bat

I made this 12" long for my year old nephew. I wonder how long it will take him to figure out how to whack the dogs and furniture and walls with it....

Christmas Peppermills

As Christmas gifts I made peppermills for everyone this year. I made four sets of salt and pepper mills from cocobolo, katalox, guapanillo, and bocote. Plus one extra pepper mill from bloodwood. I had planned on five sets, but stuck the bit in the Indian Rosewood. Forgive me for the lack of pics, I did not want to spoil the gifts and was not finished with them until about one hour before I needed to leave for Dallas.

Lessons learned from this project include chucking, drilling and finishing. With this project I learned very quickly how valuable multiple chucks and multiple jaws for those chucks can be. I used the #2 jaws on my Oneway Stronghold and the long nose pin jaws on my SuperNova2. I also try to minimize the amount of rechucking that I do.  As far as drilling goes, I believe that a pilot hole drilled on the lathe then finished out on the drill press. I feel like the drilling is easier and results are more accurate. And yes you can really can drill a bit stuck... so stuck that you have to turn the waste wood away to recover it. I also discovered that oil finishes do not dry in a cold shop with dense woods. The finished stayed very sticky using Danish oil. Then I tried Teak oil, still sticky, Tung oil and was still sticky. I cleaned all the previous finishes with mineral spirits and alcohol. Polyurethane would not even work. Finally I used some blonde shellac to get a clean glossy finish.

I have been working on cleaning up the shop lately, with the help of my father-in-law. We got a fair bit accomplished today.

To relax this evening I turned a 12" maple baseball bat for my 13 month old nephew. I wonder how long it will take for him to learn how to whop the dog with it.... Pictures to come.

Christmas is coming.... 21 days left.

I have been busy working on Christmas gifts and other related projects. This weekend I finished a bowl/platter made of another unknown bargain bin wood, three votive candle holders, and several more tree ornaments.


This bowl/platter is another one of my bargain bin mystery woods from Woodcraft in OKC. It is a fairly hard wood that turned well. I sanded it up to 400 grit, then finished it with Watco Danish Oil. I still have a few more coats of oil and some buffing to finish it up. It is by far the best feeling and looking creation to date, in my opinion.

The first two candle holders are made from a persimmon branch and are shaped like small goblets. The persimmon wood has some unique coloring and black spots. The third candle holder is made from Arizona Cypress. It is reversible and can hold a candle on either end. All have been finished with danish oil.

The Christmas Tree ornaments are made from ebony, mesquite, zebra wood, and a mystery wood. These have been finished with polyurethane gloss.  There are four more ornaments still in the shop allowing the polyurethane to dry overnight.

I will be in OKC Sunday through Tuesday and plan on making at least one run by Woodcraft. I am going to get a SuperNova2 chuck to hold some of the larger heavier bowls and well as long, heavy spindles. I will also look in their bargain bin for some more good deals.