Turning Cigar Pens

I bought ten Woodcraft #147158 cigar pen kits to make for Christmas presents. I have completed seven and have three to go. Each pen is from a different type of wood so the pens take on a very different look even though they are all the same shape.

I had one failure due to attaching the pen pieces in the wrong order. The first six successful pens are pictured at the left. The woods from left to right are walnut, yellowheart, purpleheart, koa, rosewood, and sugi.

The kits appear to be quality pieces with a gold finish. The instructions leave a little to be desired. Woodcraft encloses generic instructions for pen turning and then a sheet specifically for the cigar pen with instructions for mounting the bushings on the mandrel and then for assembling the various components. Some specific diagrams would be helpful since some of the generic diagrams are confusing.

I'll finish the last three pens and then return to bowl turning. My inventory of bowl blanks has mushroomed with the addition of the recent cherry green wood.