Customer Reviews

The Pen Turner's Workbook: Making Pens from Simple to Stunning

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a rule I turn pens when I want a break from more ambitious turning projects. I find the small-scale lathe work relaxing rather than intense, and assembly a lot of fun. And pens are a wonderful way to show of the qualities of a special bit of wood. Barry Gross's book captures a lot of this spirit and opens up doors to new possibilities as well.

I have to admit that I bought this book for the gallery of pens that starts it. This shows a small collection of pens from some of the most remarkable pen makers in the world. These people put as much effort into a pen as I do into a vessel and it's finials. In some cases more. Definitely a notch or two better than my work, and inspiring to say the least.

The opening sections provide information subjects like different plating, basic lathe techniques, and even coloring the planks. Following this are seventeen projects using both wood and alternative materials. None of these projects are particularly difficult and the discussions and photos are easy to follow. There are final sections on troubleshooting, marketing, and resources.

If you've been looking for a good book on pen making, this is probably the one to buy. And for people like me, who think their work is already pretty good, this is a great reminder that you can always do better. Given the moderate price, The Pen Turners Workbook gets highest marks.

I recently bought a Jet mini lathe. This was recommended to me by an experienced pen turner. Barry does an excellent job of providing the basics for turning, sharpening, and making a pen from start to finish. I not only learned how to make a pen, but learned a lot about turning. An excellent book for the beginner as well as the intermediate turner. All steps are described with very understandable language and with excellent pictures demonstrating the activity. A well written book.

Good basic book, but does not spend much time on any advanced techniques. It has more pictures of completed pens than of turning techniques.

I've been turning now for two years and recently decided to try making some pens. I looked at several pen turning articles online and bought a different book on pen turning. I was able to get a general feel for what to do and managed to make a few nice pens. Then I bought this book by Barry Gross. What an eye-opener! This is the book I wish I had purchased first. It is very well written with an easy-going style that is fun to read. The accompanying pictures are also great and nicely illustrate the points he is trying to make. This book answers all those little questions about making pens that you didn't know enough to ask. One example is his suggestion that you coat the inside of your wood blanks with thin CA glue before gluing the brass tubes in with medium CA glue. There are lots of little pearls like this scattered throughout the book. He then goes through several pen making projects using wood and non-wood blanks (17 projects all together).

I've found that it's pretty easy to make a basic pen and it doesn't take long for the novelty to wear off. The big question is, what do I do next? This book gives me the ideas and stimulus needed to take my pens to the next level. It brings excitement back to my pen making, and that's exactly the kind of book I want. I highly recommend this book to both beginning and intermediate pen turners.

Although I think he could have written more on the advance techniques, it's the best one I've seen out there so far. The section on advance turning covers segmented pens, closed end pens, single cross pens and laser kits. I wish he had gone into making wood caps and clips. If you like pen turning this book has some good tips that I haven't found anywhere else.

I recently bought this book. I has good examples that cover from the easiest pens to more complex ones (segmented for example). It's really good in showing step by step pictures on how to turn and finish pens. I covers all of the materials available in the market and it provides instructions for one finishing technique that seems to be reliable. It does not cover CA finishing, which is a common practice as well. It has a nice chapter about FAQ's and troubleshooting. It also has a few pages on how to market your products. It is not complete but it has more information than other books. If you are going to buy just one book, this is the one of choice!

I Have just bought a Rikon mini lathe and am very much a beginner. This book is perfect to help the beginner set up shop, select the correct tools, explains how to use them, and the basic steps to making pens. Several specific projects are also given at the end, some basic, and a few that are very advanced. Very good illustrations, and easy to read. This book was extremely helpful to me.

I've turned a couple of hundred pens - I would say thi s book is great for the beginner, in getting you up to speed on technique, form, styles, etc. However, if you have turned a few pens and know how to get along with the basics it would be a good idea to skip this book, and try to find a local turning club to increase your skill.

Great book for the beginner, would have liked to have more detail on some of the subjects, and about techniques and common mistakes that are made from a beginner to expert skill level. However, that being said this is easy for me to find fault. This is a very good book compared to others that I have read.

Can't beat the advice and instructions, step by step with a world of expert suggestions and photos. Shows how to make many pens I never thought I could, {not that I have yet}, but I've been at a few and can see the HOW at least now..! Thanks. G-G