Okay, our Ironwood is cut, drilled, and glued. Remember how I cut the blank a little proud (i.e. longer than the tube)? That gave us a little leeway during the glue up, but now we need to trim the blank to the exact size of the brass tube. You can use a fancy pen barrel trimmer (again, you can easily find this online) to do this quickly, or you can take a little more time and just cut and sand it down (carefully!)

Now you want to affix this on the spindle of your lathe. Make sure you use all the proper bushings, and tightly screw the brass fastener at the end of the spindle. Also make sure you have secured the live center of your lathe, and have the tool rest at the correct height. At this point, make sure any loose hair is tied back, roll up long sleeves, and tuck in those little strings if you're wearing a hoodie. And definitely don't wear gloves. Lathes can be dangerous machines, and you don't want to take the risk!

Now, it's time to turn your pen! Start by carefully taking off the corners with the a spindle gouge. You don't even want to look at the skew until your blank is completely round. Once your corners are completely rounded, you can get a little more aggressive with the material, if you're comfortable with it. Some turners can make a pen in like 5 minutes, but that doesn't mean you're doing it wrong if takes you well over an hour. Move at your own pace!

Once you have the rough shape you like, you can refine and shape the pen with the skew. You want to use a pretty light touch with the skew, to avoid a blowout. Now that you have your pen shaped, it's time to start sanding.