What GORDI has been up to lately... Wooden Pens!

[gordi]

Those of you who know me, will no doubt be aware of my many weird and wonderful hobbies! From Camping and camper vanning to playing guitar/drums, helping out with Forest Schools and Hazel-Coppicing to YES... carving wooden mushrooms in the forest!

Well, I have expanded my range of hobbies even further during the recent lock-downs, and it involves...... hand-turning wooden pens!



Just over a year ago, my wife Chrissie bought me a wood-turners lathe for my Birthday.
It was my intention to set this up in my garage/workshop, but I only got around to it about 2 or 3 months ago when I cleared some bench space for it.

I didn't have any fixed plans for what to do with it, but wanted to produce something useful - rather than just turning pieces of wood for the sake of it - and the first small project that caught my eye was wooden pens.
They are nice objects in their own right, but useful too as writing instruments (for those who still remember how to write!! LOL).

I discovered that you can buy "pen kits" online, which have all of the hardware: the clips, rings, tubes, nibs, buttons, ink refills etc and that all I'd have to do was turn the wooden pen bodies and assemble the pens.

I ordered some pen-kits, watched some instructional videos on youtubby and started gingerly attempting to operate my lathe.
The pens in the above image were my very first "successes", and I found that I really enjoyed the process of making them too.
I was pleased with my work, but knew that there was some serious room for improvement, especially with fit & finish.

A bit of further research and some new purchases in the form of sanding kits, friction polish, burnishing cream, more pen-kits, bushes, drill bits and an assortment of other stuff and I was hooked.




The variety of pen-kits and finishes.... the different types of wood.... the subtle differences that can be made in shape & form, even texture... It's a lovely wee hobby and it has been very good for me too - keeping my mind focused on creating good, useful things has helped to keep my mind positive too!

I have now expanded my horizons to many different pen types; slimline, fancy slim-line, fancy Celtic slimline, Atom, Key-Ring, Sierra, Rollerball... and I feel like I'm only just scratching the surface.

I've experimented with exotic woods like Zebrano (Zebra wood), Olivewood, Walnut, Red Grandis, Sapele, Idigbo etc as well as making use of more common local stuff like a Conifer shrub discarded and washed up on the beach near our holiday home, some Beech from our favourite local tree which had to be cut down as it had become dangerously unstable, some birch and hazel from local woodland clearances and I'm now finding that many of my out-doorsy friends are saying that they have off-cuts of wood from various projects which I might find useful, so I can see it being an on-going and long-term thing for me now.



If anyone's struggling with their mental state just now, and I KNOW that a lot of people are, then I'd just suggest finding a wee hobby that allows you to take your mind off the Big Bad World for a short while. It doesn't have to be turning pens or carving wooden mushrooms!!! just whatever YOU find that you might like to try. I've found mine - at least for the moment - and I can say with firm conviction that it works for me. It is helping to take my mind off the bad stuff, it's allowing me an avenue to be positive and creative, but it's also giving me an excuse to get closer to people too. A hand-made wooden pen makes a great ice-breaker, talking point or simple gift for a friend or stranger!




If you've been feeling a bit "down"... why not make the time to try out YOUR new hobby?
What have you got to lose?

 
G