Making a pen

Figured I would make this post to show you guys my hobby.

I forgot to take a picture of the stock wood but I cut these pieces out of Holly and ebony and will glue them into a herringbone pattern.

Gluing pieces together

One blank glued up

Both blanks done and the ends trimmed.

Both blanks with edges trimmed.

I next marked the center of each blank to drill a hole down the center.

7mm holes drilled, the next step is to glue the tubes next to the blanks into the holes.

Tubes are glued in and I trimmed the ends of the wood flush with the ends of the tubes.

This is where the fun begins, I mounted the blanks to my lath to begin turning (shaping) the blanks.

By the way they are mounted on metal rod with metal bushings on the rod next to the blanks

Here are the blanks turned round

This is the final shape.

For a normal pen I would sand next but because this is made out of black and white woods I can not sand at all because it smears the black wood's oils all over the white wood.

Next step is to put on the finish. I changed the bushings to plastic so that the finish will not stick to them.

Finish is applied. I am using CA glue as a finish (similar to Super glue). After this I will sand the finish itself from 1, 200grit to 12,000 grit

Here is the finished blanks, look at that shine.

The next step is to press the pen parts into the ends of the blanks. This is the end cap and clip being pressed in

The pen tip

The twist mechanism

Final product.

Cat Tax. This is my boy Orlando

I'm really happy with how it "turned" out-(turning pun - get it?).

If anyone has any questions just ask I will do my best to respond quickly.

Edit: Wow you guys are great, the response was greater than i thought it would be
To answer a few questions, yes i do sell these but not on etsy - yet. This is just a hobby, i don't make my living off of it, im in my senior year of high school.

As requested, the link to this pen, the prices are high, but a lot of hard work goes into thesehttp://www.ebay.com/itm/wood-turned-pens-/262978730094?hash=item3d3ac0f86e:g:8U0AAOSw-3FZE4wD

Another one that is more feniminhttp://www.ebay.com/itm/wood-turned-pens-/262978728145?hash=item3d3ac0f0d1:g:LwsAAOSw42JZE4tK

Celtic Knot patternhttp://www.ebay.com/itm/wood-turned-pens-/262978730094?hash=item3d3ac0f86e:g:8U0AAOSw-3FZE4wD

First come first serve, these three are all i have at the moment

Am i still supposed to ask for nudes? I forgot