* Pen making

As you can see by the video above, I am back to the pen making. I had another commission to do a pen using the [Kirinite pearl blanks](https://www.beaufortink.co.uk/pen-blanks/kirinite-pearl-series-pen-blanks/) these blanks are amazing. This is my third pen using them and it looks like this one isn’t going to be any different. The material is so easy to work with too, it is perfect for beginners. When I write my how to guide I am going to recommend some blanks to start with and these ones are going to be near the top of the list. To those of you that have read my other posts will be familiar with the other pens I have made using them, [my sisters 40^th birthday pen](https://i.imgur.com/yKKWVwh.jpg) , [the teal pen for my wife](https://i.imgur.com/JrGMYDI.jpg) and I have picked the blank I am going to use for a pen for

[myself]

(https://i.imgur.com/YOz0tbO.jpg) .

With the pen above I started by turning the square blanks [down to cylinders](https://i.imgur.com/48l6OWk.jpg) , that is the messy part, chips fly everywhere, I probably still have some chips in my hair. Once this is done I looked at the pattern in the blanks and decided what would look good as the cap and what would look good as the barrel. With this set of blanks it was easy enough to decide, one blank had a lot of pretty swirls and waves, the other had large areas of black with big [swirls](https://i.imgur.com/JmYQVia.jpg) in it. I drilled out and threaded the cap cutting it down then turned it around in the lathe and used a bastard file to round off [the end](https://i.imgur.com/AiY5UC6.jpg) . Using the other blank I did the same for the barrel although I didn’t round off the end as much and I put them [together](https://i.imgur.com/wuTxt5P.jpg?1) . What do you think?

One last thing on the pen making front. I think I have a naming convention for the designs. I am thinking about going with beings from mythology. Any thoughts?

* Workshop and lathe

Well the workshop is coming along. The door is in, that is being finished up tomorrow. I got the desk in so tomorrow morning I can shift things around and decide on the final positioning. So that is getting there, which in my mind is great. If people are making their own workshops I would recommend getting some grid paper and drawing a scale drawing of the space then cutting out blocks representing the machinery going into it and moving them around to ensure everything fits. In the

[image]

(https://i.imgur.com/1rDvvur.jpg) of the workshop so far you can see the big bag of insulation. That is for when I put a new ceiling up, which will happen at a later date, this workshop is probably going to be a work in progress for about 6 months or so at a guess.

There is some great news though. I bought myself a

[lathe!]

(https://www.warco.co.uk/metal-lathes-metalworking-lathe-machine/17-wm-250-variable-speed-lathe.html) It is arriving Monday! Woo hoo! If you hadn’t guessed by the number of exclamation marks I am a tad excited. I have to admit though I rushed buying it and it did put me in debt, luckily my family has been very generous giving me money towards it. The pen I mentioned using the kirinite pearl blanks for myself, well that is going to be the first pen I make on the new lathe. Gotta test these things out, you see?

* Personal

Work is getting to me so much I applied for another job. Hence rushing in getting the lathe. I had a lot of time to evaluate things while I was off looking after my eldest for the school holidays. If I get the job then I will be getting a pay raise, if I don’t I will just have to wait and see what happens elsewhere. Hopefully the pen making will take off now I can concentrate more time to them and build up more of a stock. I have a bunch of plans, the next thing on the list is a light box so I can up my photography game, anyone know where I can get one on the cheap or how to make one? If you do please let me know.