The Abele's
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The Abele's |
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Don's Woodworking Pages - Freedom Pen Turn-a-Thon |
| On 13 March 2004, I got
my first chance ever to work on a lathe. To make this event even more memorable, I was doing it for a fantastic
cause. It was a Turn-a-Thon in support of a project called the Freedom
Pens Project.
"The Freedom Pens Project is an all volunteer effort spearheaded by the members of SawMill Creek Woodworkers Forum to provide custom hand-crafted pens to American servicemen and women overseas. They welcome anyone who is interested in their project and willing to donate their time, talent or services to assist them in their goal of providing beautiful writing instruments for our military stationed in foreign countries who are in harms way. Every Freedom Pen that is delivered will serve as a constant reminder to our troops that they are not alone and will have our continued support until every one of them returns home." From 9am until 5pm dozens of people stopped by the Woodcraft Store in Norfolk, VA to donate time, labor, money, and enthusiasm to the cause. The local wood turners group, The Tidewater Turners, did just that. They "turned" out en masse and spun out quite a few pens. By days end we had fully completed 70 pens to send to forward deployed troops. It was a long day, but well worth the sore feet and aching back. All totaled, I completed 16 pens, of which, only 14 made it. I had one "blow out" while turning and another crack while pressing it together. My first lathe turning experience was fun and very memorable. So will I become a turner??? Maybe after I get all my flat-work done. ;-) For more information on the Freedom Pen Project or SawMill Creek please click the banners to the left. |
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| Bud Duffy whipping out pens (he made 6 in the time it took me to make 1). |
Ted Carver making a pen from Corian (the plastic counter material). | Ted's been booted from his lathe, but is still making pens. Now who booted him (and took all his stuff)??? |
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| A close-up of Ted turning the Corian. | A member of the Tidewater Turners Association turns out her donation to the cause. | Another Tidewater Turner joins in the efforts for the troops. |
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| And yet another Tidewater Turner. | This guy decided he was going to be here a while, so got himself a stool. | This guy just wouldn't look up, he was too busy concentrating on whipping out those pens. |
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| A proud smile after turning yet another Freedom Pen. | Keith Outten and Aaron Koehl watch as Keith's daughter, Katherine, spins her contribution to the cause. | Aaron takes over at the lathe. That's Ted Shrader with his grandson in the background over Aaron's shoulder. |
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| Keith shows us all how it's done, while his wife Jackie watches on. | That lathe (and those tools) look familiar...hmmm, wonder who got booted. | Being plastic, Corian peels off as it's turned. |
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| Forming the top part of the pen. | Really concentrating on making Corian snow...or a pen. :-P | Shaping out the bottom part of the pen. |
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| Turning wood this time. | Sizing the blank down. | My contribution to the Freedom Pen Project. |
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