Frequently Asked Questions
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I hear that you must use very dry wood to make a pen. Why? |
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The wood on a pen is very thin and if it were green
(not dry) then it would crack as it dries. Our normal
moisture is 6%. |
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What is your favorite wood to work with? |
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There is not doubt in my mind that my favorite wood
is a Birds Eye Maple Burl. It is not only very beautiful,
but it turns well and you can finished to a spectacular
high shine finish. |
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How many different species of woods do
you carry in stock? |
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At last count, we had 80 different species of exotic
woods and 27 species of burls in stock. I might add
this changes from time to time as some woods do not
move and they are replaced with different species. |
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I see that you are turning pens using
antlers from deer, elk and moose. Are these antlers
from that have been shot? |
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The antlers I use are from animals that drop their
antlers in late winter or very early spring. None
of these animals were killed. I might add that moose
antler is my favorite because it is a much more solid
antler. |
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How long does it take you to make a pen? |
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This is a difficult question to answer. First of all,
I free hand all of my turnings. That is to say that
I use hand held tools when I am turning a pen. Generally,
the softer the wood, the more time is spent making
sure that there are no chips in the wood (birds eye
maple burls are famous for this). At the same time,
a very hard wood like black ebony is quite hard and
is also very brittle. You must take your time and
use small cuts on this wood to keep it from splitting.
A good rule of thumb is that it will take 30 to 45
minutes from start to finish to make a pen. |
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How is a pen finished to get that high
gloss (wet look)? |
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I use a total of 17 steps in finishing my pens. The
final 4 steps are a hand applied laquer. I do not
use a wax because I find it tends to soften with use
and age and loses its high gloss. |
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