Demonstrator Showcase

Jim Hinze

Hinze Pen Company

Jim has been making pens for more than 15 years as he started out as a self-taught woodworker, learning as much as he could and then sharing that knowledge with others. Like many of us Jim started out with kit pens making slim lines and similar. Inspired from Japanese master pen makers, he decided to commit a considerable number of resources to learning how to make fully custom pens. Once he proved he could make them, Jim began refining his techniques, experimenting with various materials, and learning all he could about nibs. Today, Jim has a line of standard pens he makes with Hinze Pen Company. They are all pens that I enjoy writing with and are a good representation of my overall style, and ALL of them are handmade.

Planned demonstration includes:

Bespoke Pen Turning - a from start to finish look at the creation of a pen made without a kit or kit components. The only pre manufactured components are the fountain pen nib and feed. This demonstration will cover the creation of the threaded section, cap, and post components of the fountain pen.

Bob Blanford

RJB Woodturner

Bob began turning in 2011. Early on he turned to YouTube in hopes of gaining an education but quickly became frustrated when every video he watched left him with more unanswered questions. In 2013 he decided to try his hand at making videos of his own.

The RJBWoodturner channel was born. Through his videos he continues to learn, teach, and encourage others to start turning and to improve their turning skills. With an emphasis on family friendly video content and an approachable demeanor, he has grown his channel to over 41,000 subscribers. He prides himself on making the type of videos he needed when he started turning.

Through it all, pens have remained his passion and he has developed his own personal style sharing tips, tricks, and techniques throughout his videos. Most recently he has begun making custom blanks, and turning Bespoke pens.

Through his YouTube channel he met many turners, made many new friends, and has been invited to turn at some of the top turning events: Southwest Association of Turners (SWAT), Music City Pen Turners Gathering (MCPTG), Mid-Ohio Valley Pen Turners Gathering (MOVPTG), and most recently Mid-Atlantic Turners Expo (MATE), as well his local turning club and several remote clubs via video chat.

Bob hopes to continue to improve upon his skills as a custom pen maker. He always welcomes and encourages other to join him in his shop through his videos. More than anything, he just wants to chase that next pen turning adventure.

Planned demonstration includes:

Tips, Tricks, & Techniques for better pen turning. “Tips, Tricks, and Techniques for better Pen Turning” is a culmination of useful information learned and gathered over the last 23 years of turning pens.

The idea behind the demo is to offer new ideas and encourage other pen turners to always look for a better way in an effort to improve how they turn pens and the results they get while avoiding some of the issues many turners face along the way.

The hope is that every person will come away with at least one new idea they can take back to their shop to improve their turning experience. There is no One Way to turn pens, question everything and always look for better that better way.

Michelle Bagley

Drop Anchor Creations

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Planned demonstration includes:

Michelle will cover the basics of most the popular resins used in our turning community. She will cover the pros and cons of different resin types and when to use each resin type for different purposes.

Dan Seeuwen

Stainless Steel Bottle Stoppers

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Planned demonstration includes:

The basis of the demo is to give tips in tricks in various project kits. Dan will be focusing on kits with a 3/8"-16 thread, same as our kits. But I will touch into Rockler and Woodcraft kits. Dan will cover the pros and cons of brass inserts vs tapping threads in wood or resin.

Don Haycraft

Boiler Room Pens

Donald Haycraft is the owner of Boiler Room Pens working alongside his to make amazing pens and projects. They all work together to make our business run smoothly. Don has loved woodworking since he was young; since his father got him interested in it. He makes pens, pencils, bottle openers, crafting knives, ornaments, and anything you could think of.

Planned demonstration includes:

Don will cover tool sharpening techniques for your high speed steel tools using easily available sharpening stones and slow speed grinding wheels.

Steve Wohlgemuth

WoogWorks

Having had a 40 year career as a general surgeon Steve has always enjoyed working with my hands. About 10 years ago he started working with the lathe and once he retired 5 years ago he started a small business, Woog Works. Steve has always enjoyed creating one of a kind custom pens, bottle stoppers and openers, and baby rattles.

Planned demonstration includes:

The Best Finish for Your Pens: Subjective Observations (Fake News) vs. Objective Data (Real Science). If you ask 100 pen turners how to finish a pen you will get 250 answers. It’s time to apply real science to answer the question. Using proven scientific methodology along with photo microscopy, I will hopefully be able to prove what really gives us that magical finish we are all striving for.

Curtis Seebeck

TurnTex, LLC

Curtis Seebeck, a.k.a. Mesquite Man, has become synonymous with the term stabilizes wood. TurnTex, LLC has become not only the supplier of stabilizing resins but also a peerless source of information on the production of the hybrid blanks; turning blanks made from small pieces of "worthless" wood, as Curtis called it, and casting resins. Before stabilization, Curtis was an outstanding woodturner especially in the area of pen turning. Stabilization and hybrid resin blanks have extended his expertise into this new and exciting area of woodturning. His demonstrations will cover not only stabilization casting but aspects of pen turning unique to these materials. One of the most important aspects of dealing with Curtis, in whatever capacity, is his readiness to answer a question. Make sure you bring your questions with you.

Planned demonstrations includes:

What is Stabilization? - Curtis will discuss the details of stabilization methods and tools needed to properly stabilize wood. Being a natural material, wood is sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity and can expand or contract, and while beautiful in color and figure, woods that are soft and punky are not typically usable unless they are stabilized.

Markus Howell

Markus Howell volunteers at the Falcon Children’s Home Woodshop in North Carolina teaching woodturning and general woodworking in addition to doing turning demonstrations and teaching woodturning in different forums. Woodturning is Markus’ getaway and he enjoys working with natural wood, resins and mixing mediums for creating unique pieces. Markus enjoys the opportunity to teach and demonstrate woodturning to individuals and groups in hopes that others will embrace the craft.

Planned demonstrations includes:

Tool Handle Turning - follow along with Markus as he turns a tool handle from a solid block to a slick new handle for your favorite tool. This process will work for hand chisels, lathe chisels, screw drivers, and similar tools.

Jason Rose

Speakeasy Pen Emporium & Supply Co.

Jason started turning pens about 14 years ago because his wife thought they were neat, but he quickly got bored with it due to the lack of options. About 8 years ago he picked the hobby up again when I saw the potential in label casting. This led to casting and eventually developing new types of blanks and processes. Everything I do in the shop and every product I use I think to myself there has to be a better way. This helps me to improve everything from my craft to the items that I use and offer at Speakeasypen.com. here

Planned demonstration include:

Real Shell Casing Pens - Jason will show two of his techniques to complete a pen made with real once fired shell casings.

Michael Dzien

Bear Dog Pens

Michael Dzien founded Bear Dog Pens from his love of his pens and Black lab, Bear, his mascot and company namesake. Zane to most, he is always looking to add to his resume of turned offerings. Herring bone, traditional segmenting, basket weave illusion, resin, acetate, hybrids and historically significant pieces, he done most everything. Zane has also tried most finishes and finishing techniques in his pursuit of high-end utensils. A jack of all trades and a master of some.

Planned demonstrations include:

Segmenting 101 - Looking to get into segmenting? This is the demo for you! We’ll talk about tools, software, formulas, and some best practices to consider when attempting your first segmented project.

Basket Weave Illusion Design - Arguably one of the most creative ways to spice up a plain grain piece, we’ll talk about the planning, design and ultimate creation of a basket weave illusion that you can apply to anything that has surface area and is round. We’ll be diving into tools and design tips!

Kate Harrow

Bullseye Turning Supply

Kate is a storyteller, a maker and the founder of Bow & Harrow Workshop, Bullseye Turning Supply, and the SoCal Turners Expo. She has a background in theatre & design - as well as being a former Imagineer - which led her woodworking to have an emphasis on using materials that have their own story to tell. She focuses on using woods reclaimed from filming locations, urban lumber, and HempWood.

Planned demonstrations include:

What can you make with your small off cuts from your cool looking blanks? Kate will show off her ideas for small bits left over from pen making. From cufflinks to refrigerator magnets, there are lots of possibilities.