Japanese Persimmon Pen

[leehljp]

My first pen in a while. Still learning. Pen is Japanese Persimmon, an ebony wood from my Japanese friend.

[monte]

That is a great looking pen Hank.

[mater]

Beautiful pen.

[Whaler]

Very nice work Hank.

[Scottydont]

Very nice Hank. I have been meaning to try an Atlas.

[gmack5]

Hank, that is a very stunning looking Pen!
Very nice work, should last you a while.

[Ken Massingale]

A beautiful piece of wood, Hank. And you did it real proud. Excellent turning and finish.
What did you use on the Persimmon?

[DUD]

Hank
That is a beautiful pen, hope in several years to be able to do this. Bill

[Jim Ketron]

Very Nice!

[leehljp]

Thanks for the comments. It is appreciated. I used BLO/CA finish (Boiled Linseed Oil and CA glue), followed by TSW wax. I had used it a week real heavily and it had some fine scratches on it.

That is some of the most expensive wood that I have ever heard of. My Japanese friend had about 6 boards that were about 6 feet long, a foot wide and 5/4 thick. Those boards cost him about $500 to $700 each. He has about a half a million dollars in fine wood at his shop.

I have purchased that wood before but what I purchase is more brown while his is more black and denser.

[gerti]

Great pen, and interesting wood!

[dale]

Nurtz!

Hank, I like the finish on your pen. Unfortunately, I just finished an Ebony pen in that same Atlas style, also using BLO/AC, and I really dislike how mine turned out. I searched here to see if maybe I was using the wrong kind of finish for the wood, but it looks like maybe I just didn't do it right.

One thing I was happy about, though--part way through turning the thing, half of the blank popped off. I decided it was a good opportunity to try the repair methods I had read about (I'm still very much a beginner), and you can't really tell by looking at the pen that it had been two separate pieces at one point. Yay for the repair, boo for the finish. Maybe I'll disassemble the pen, put it back on the lathe and see if I can sand this finish off and try again.

[leehljp]

Nurtz,

Below is a Pen turning forum that I post to occasionally and they have helped me tremedously. Lots of information for download too.

http://www.penturners.org/forum/portal.asp

Another forum with lots of info is -

http://www.thepenshop.net/

I am a slow learner and it has taken me a year and about 50 pens to finally get fairly decent consistent results. Not as good as the Pros on the forum but still good. Only recently did I make one that was so smooth that it was difficult to grip.

I think the perfect pen finishes are as many as there are turners. Each person has to start with one or two finishes and then evolve and modify it for his own style and preferences. I do not use BLO as much as most BLO/CA finishes but more than non BLO but straight CA finishes.

Thanks for your comments.