Making bowls and pens

As I was looking through my photos trying to think of something to blog about today, I came across these photos.  My son in law is a master of many things from scuba diving to mountain climbing.  He always likes a new challenge.  This past winter when we stopped over to see them, he was out in the garage working on something.  He had purchased a lot of different types of wood, but we had no idea what he was going to do with them.  This is what he was doing.  He was turning the wood on a lathe and making wooden bowls and beautiful pens.

 Bowl of apples they have on their dining room table.

He gave me a couple small bowls to put on my mantle.

Here are several pens that he and Dylan have made.

My grandson Dylan thought it was pretty cool to see how a plain piece of wood or acrylic could be made into these useful items.  So he learned how to do it also.

These small pieces of wood can become a beautiful pen.

Dylan concentrating, trying to get it just right.

He made several pens for Christmas gifts last year.

Pens don't have to be made of wood.  Acrylic blocks can be purchased and turned on the lathe also.  Then the pen parts can be purchased at Woodcraft or other stores of that type.  I have no idea how to do it myself so it is more than amazing to see the process and the final product.  I am hoping that some of the unusual types of wood that we have on our property can be turned into a pen or bowl someday.

Here is one of the pens Dylan made.  He turned it, sanded it and polished it all by himself.