Making A Celtic Knot Pen Blank

Inspired by comments made by Richard Morley from Woodcraft BPW This video shows how I make the blanks to make the Celtic Knot pens. It might not be the best or easiest way to do this but it's the way I do them with the limited equipment at my disposal.

I am not a regular video maker so the production might not be particularly good but it should give a flavour of what's involved in making the Celtic Knot blank.

Music

"Hotrock" "Riptide" "Pilot Error"
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

[oaksho]

As a pen turner myself I would like to say you have done the hobby justice and shown what can be achieved with a little patience.  I make a lot of my own blanks and really enjoy seeing other people making the effort, Great tutorial.
All the best
Tony  

[steveschoenecker]

I always use the band saw to trim the extra wood off after gluing. I usually make 3 or 4 blanks at a time. doesn't take much longer once set up... then after waiting all the time for glue to dry etc.. .you have multiple blanks ready. Yep.. blank must be square, and drill the center... Nice Job!! I am still carrying the first one I made about 4 or 5 years ago... I really enjoy giving them as gifts to people I like :-)

[deanthomas]

Nice video, music was a good volume for me. Concise instructions always help. This is the first Celtic knot pen I've seen with a single knot on the lower portion of the pen. What a very nice look.

[stevem]

you got me started doing the celtic knots 2 years ago!! now im doing 6 loop knots in pen blanks

[RJBWoodTurner]

Incredible job Bob!
  This was a great tutorial for anyone wanting to make a Celtic knot. Celtic knots also look great for dressing up tool handles. I hope you make many more videos because you have a knack for it.

Regards,
Bob

[hhscatinfo]

Bob just watched this again along with a few more on the "tube"  This is one of the best.   

[BrainFizz]

Music: AWSOME!
Technique: AWSOME!
Finished result:AWSOME!

Thanks for doing this Bob! Been waiting for this, like a kid a Christmas, I know there are already some of these celtic knot videos about, but yours is one of the best! Enjoyable and instructive.
Particularly like the tip :cut a few of these
Splines once the fence is set (sounds obvious, and it IS, but I never think to do something like that. ..that's why I hate making spline for mitres! ;-)
Also the sled you use for the bandsaw is really interesting. Same theory as for a table saw, again obvious, but only once you see one in use! Top Video!
Oh and nicely put, 'for giving you the idea', should have put. "Fine! Here it is! Now stop nagging me like a old housewife and watch it!" ;-) Thanks Bob! 😊

[alexpettigrew]

Excellent! The best video I have seen describing this. Thank you for sharing!

[SteveCarmichael]

Nice!  I gotta try this.  Thanks for doing the video!

[passionwoodworking]

Very cool! I like your process to insert the wood.

[icespeckledhens]

Lovely pen, thanks for the tips
James

[chaitanyavedak]

Awesome Methodology.. and a Great Product too..

[notwhereyouthink]

Magnificent finish. Just wondering would CA glue be quicker?

[jimcoogan]

Great video.  I have made a few of those pens but used my table saw.  Think I will switch over to my band saw.  I have used CA glue on mine and they come out great.  I will have to give wood glue a shot and see if there is a difference, besides drying time.  Thanks for sharing.

[TreesPens]

Very good instruction.  Thanks for sharing.

[marioolivotto]

Really impressive symmetry.  I have found that my two biggest problems are making sure my blank is square and that I drill dead center. How do you square your blanks?

[BeastOfSoda]

Cool. Did you make a video showing the lathing process as well?

[ConorMakes]

I might be stupid and may have missed the info, what angle did you cut? 45 deg? thats one of the best knots I'v seen cheers for sharing

[woodturningjohn]

Nice pen, I have only a 50/50 success rate when I make these, something is always a little off and the knots do not always come out right. Great video. 

[terryambrose]

do you have a video of the finished pen from this blank????