Annual Russ Fairfield memorial pen contest

RussIn a modest effort to remember our friend, Russ Fairfied (who passed away in early 2011), and the contributions he made to the craft and art of pen turning, Principally Pens will sponsor a contest to find the pen that best exemplifies the character, ingenuity and design flair that was Russ's' hallmark.

This contest will be a annual event, and all are welcome to participate.

For the 2011 competition Winner:

Scott Krause of Hager City Wisconsin pictured with Dick Sing.

And Scott's winning pen

Basically the pen is a Sierra kit.  The main body is made of buffalo horn, and the knot is whitetail antler.  When I would show the local Rockler employees my “newest pens” I was always shown one of their own that had the celtic knot, that pen was made with two different types of wood.  I was told that doing a knot was quite a challenge, but also a great learning project.  I did some research on the internet and made several attempts using wood until I was able to repeat the knot successfully.  I like to work with antler because it’s a little more of a challenge and also because each project turns out a little different.  I wanted to do something that I hadn’t seen in the magazines or on the internet and thought the black and white of the horn and antler would look good together.  It took several attempts to get this one done, as it’s just harder to get accurate cuts with the antler.  I used wax only for finish as I wanted to be able to feel the openness of the antler.   I’m working on another variation of this pen with an antler base and horn knot, without turning the antler all the way down to white.   This is proving even more challenging.      I’ve only been turning a year and I’m honored to have won the Russ Fairfield Pen Contest.   I can honestly say I’m hooked on turning.  This is also a great family hobby, my 17 year old son Sean has gone to every show and demo with me and has turned some very nice pens also.  He is actually the one who persuaded me to show our pens at the symposium.  We were both in shock when Dick Sing announced this pen as the winner.  I know I’ve only scratched the surface when it comes to turning and I look forward to learning other areas also, such as bowls or ?

Scott Krause

Trophy

If you have any questions about this competition, send Kurt Hertzog an email