First time working cherry

A bunch of firsts with this one so I'm throwing out to the wolves, I need criticisms (lay it on thick, i can take it).

I managed to hurt myself over the holidays and couldn't work in the shed till my ribs mended so i've had this one half turned for a while. It's a bunch of firsts for me. My very first Gent Jr kit (and so far my favourite), my first time working cherrywood (also fun) and my first time with this BLO/CA finish.

I need to work on sealing before sanding i think, there's a tiny bit of darker "dust" on the edges, i got most of it out but I'd rather not have to deal with it again. It would seem like I also need to work on my camera skills cause this is glossy, and I mean f^$@ing shiny but I couldnt get that to show, i think my lightbox (my T-Shirt over a cardboard box) is too big - I'm also open to suggestions on that

Anyway, getting wordy again.. it's these meds and subsequent boredom of being indoors on a fine day, here's the photo

Looks a very nice one to me Paul and the picture is bloody much better than what I can do!

This looks a nice pen,Paul. Cherry is a nice timber to turn & looks well when finished.

nowt wrong with pen,finish or photo but i do think the pen warrants a better support

Very nice Paul, nice clean straight lines and to me it looks spot on.

Very nice good bit of turning and a nice finish try moving the pen towards the back of your tent and turn the pen towards the light till you can see the shine in your camera

First the good bits - Yup, beautifully turned and finished, it's not hard to see how smooth the finish is.

Now the 'room for improvement' - Cherry is a nice wood to turn and finish but can be featureless. I think you have a tiny bit of interesting grain on the cap at the very top as in photo, but for the rest - m'eh. Try choosing a bit with lots of interesting grain next time, or take a leaf out of the colour brigade's book and dye the timber if it looks dull. Second point - nowt wrong with a straight 'finial to centre band' shape but there's room for lots of experimentation with different styles and shapes. I know we always say we hate the 'sausage' look but in truth a bit of flaring and slightly fatter 'tummy' can also look very good.

These aren't criticisms - you've nailed that pen and she's a beauty. But you did ask for more than just a congratulatory pat on the back, so I obliged ...

Excellent, Paul - both in the pen and the photography! Well done, mate!
I didn't know you could get injured ribs in Cyprus - did you fall off the deckchair?

Bob.

i actually like the plain-ness of the wood on this one. That nice warm cherry colour and the chrome work well.

Woody said:

Very nice good bit of turning and a nice finish try moving the pen towards the back of your tent and turn the pen towards the light till you can see the shine in your camera

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I'll definitely try that, I really wanted to catch some of the shine in the photo

Jimjam66 said:

First the good bits - Yup, beautifully turned and finished, it's not hard to see how smooth the finish is.

Now the 'room for improvement' - Cherry is a nice wood to turn and finish but can be featureless. I think you have a tiny bit of interesting grain on the cap at the very top as in photo, but for the rest - m'eh. Try choosing a bit with lots of interesting grain next time, or take a leaf out of the colour brigade's book and dye the timber if it looks dull. Second point - nowt wrong with a straight 'finial to centre band' shape but there's room for lots of experimentation with different styles and shapes. I know we always say we hate the 'sausage' look but in truth a bit of flaring and slightly fatter 'tummy' can also look very good.

These aren't criticisms - you've nailed that pen and she's a beauty. But you did ask for more than just a congratulatory pat on the back, so I obliged ...

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That's exactly what I was looking for :) And you are right the lower section is a bit featureless, i'd go as far as plain, I had considered playing around with it a bit while it was turning and i still think i should have. I chickened out because it was a new wood. The shaping I'm still playing with, I had a bit of a curve in it but I managed to sand it flat.

bluntchisel said:

Excellent, Paul - both in the pen and the photography! Well done, mate!
I didn't know you could get injured ribs in Cyprus - did you fall off the deckchair?

Bob.

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Well.. bit embarrassing.. I may have had a bit too much with Christmas dinner and fallen down half a flight of stairs (THE STEP WAS LOOSE I TELL YOU!). Aaaaanyway, more embarrassing than hurtful

Jimjam66 said:

Now the 'room for improvement' - Cherry is a nice wood to turn and finish but can be featureless. I think you have a tiny bit of interesting grain on the cap at the very top as in photo, but for the rest - m'eh. Try choosing a bit with lots of interesting grain next time, or take a leaf out of the colour brigade's book and dye the timber if it looks dull.

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Actually..... cherry will darken over time when exposed to light. It will gradually go a deep rich amber colour, and gain lots of character.

Its a very fine pen! :up:

Rod

Turning B2B gives it a nice clean look.
Well done.
To help avoid the bits darker dust on the edges of the blanks, don't sand with the bushings in place.

Les

Very nice.

Ray

Alanp said:

nowt wrong with pen,finish or photo but i do think the pen warrants a better support

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I agree with Alan, the pen looks great
The quality of the photography is spot on as well
But but the lump of wood used to support the pen is awful:nonono:

Paul its a beautiful pen. If you want highlights to reflect the gloss fine but be careful they also increase the reflectance on the kit chrome etc. I made a small strip light with an 8 watt daylight fluro that will give a strip of light down the pen at the moment I am playing with a highly refective light fitting on top I move the side lights around on stands angling to prevent the refections of light to flare on the lens. I choose to use an open box literally a frame work of conduit cause as a sparky I like working with it and it fits together easily and well with a double cross over the top with a space between to support the top light.

I doubt we will see a clearer or better pic of a pen than yours right now the semantics of how you raise your pen and what with have a look at others pics think about that. How you frame or present is dead easy using Picassa 3 the library come most useful tool I use free from the net allows easy framing and make ready for this forum.

Break out mate scout around and leap into the boundless beauty of Olive Wood you guys probably burn it even. Believe me its exciting.

Sympathy with the ribs mate.

Keep up the great work.

Kind regards Peter.

It is a good looking pen though a plain Jane, maybe round off the edge at the base bottom .. All in all a good first Cherry Pen Paul ..

Nothing wrong with it from where I stand and personally I like straight simple shape as well.

fallen down half a flight of stairs (THE STEP WAS LOOSE I TELL YOU!).

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Were they the steps down into the pool? Hope you didn't spill any booze on the way down

Very nice looking pen Paul, well turned & finished

That is a great looking pen,Paul.