ike many turners, a pen was one of the first items off my lathe. My first effort was ugly to put it nicely: the plainest wood, bulbous in shape, sanded badly and finished worse. But somewhere, my mother still has it though my ego hopes she doesn’t use it. Since then, my pen turning skills have improved, as have the quality and availability of pen kits, blanks, and finishes. While that first pen doesn’t merit a second look, its more recent brethren deserve a display case befitting
