The Pen Turning Bug:
Late one Friday evening I was watching TV probably drinking a brew and started to look on Facebook. It was the normal junk you see, but it was a great way to pass the time. Some funny, some sad, then a particular post caught my eye. My cousin posted some great looking pens. I didn’t really know at that point that people made pens so I messaged him. This is completely out of character, because I literally had spoken maybe 5 words to him in my life and didn’t really know he existed, but hey I said I was having a brew (this also leads me to think that facebook should have a breathalyzer, but I digress).
He messaged me back and said he would send me two gorgeous cigar pens of my choosing for $25 a piece. I then thought, ‘dude, you’re my cousin and who in their right mind would pay $25 for a pen.’ But I was the one who reached out and he was my cousin, and did I mention I had a brew…I did end up buying those two pens and I was hooked. I mean you can get someone to pay $25 for a pen?!?
Then I started to look into pricing for custom pens and realized what a great deal I got on these two Pens.
My First Lathe
After receiving my first two cigar pens, I couldn’t wait to start turning pens. I did months of research and realized that my first pen was going to cost me at least $400, but it was going to be a damn good pen. Knowing that I couldn’t just spend that money without consulting my wife, I started to drop hints. God love my father who heard those hints and bought me a lathe for Christmas. We went to Rockler and Woodcraft and finally settled on an Excelsior Mini Lathe from Rockler: http://www.rockler.com/excelsior-mini-lathe.
I then bought some carbide turning tools, a roughing gouge, a skew, and a parting tool. I was ready to go.
Being Present in the Moment – My First Pen
I bought my blanks, cut them down to size. I purchased a slimline pen kit from woodcraft.com. (There are some other pieces of equipment that I needed and they are in my Getting Started Blog Post link here). I was nervous at first, but quickly got the hang of my carbide tools. I cut the pen down to size and put that glorious pen together. It was then I knew that this was a hobby that I would continue throughout my life. I found a certain zen like feeling. I couldn’t focus on my day job because I might get hurt. I had to be present in the moment. Being present for that first pen lead to a life long hobby and this pen below!
