Reflections on some Failures

      As I mentioned in my Welcome post, the number of pens I've tried to make is a larger figure than the number of pens that have been successful. 
      A couple of times I have had a pen splinter apart while it was being turned on the lathe.  I'm not completely sure what causes this.  It has happened while using both the gouge and the skew.  I'm not sure if it was a defection within the wood, applying too much pressure while turning, some combination of both, or another factor I haven't considered yet.  Regardless, whenever one of the blanks splinters on the lath you are left with a choice.  Do you leave the tube in the other blank and try to use it later in another pen, or do you turn the other blank all the way down until you see the tube and then pull the tube out?  It can be a tough decision. 
     Early on I tried to make a pen by cutting a piece of poplar and cherry that were both half inch wide by half inch thick by six or seven inches long, into eighth inch long pieces.  I did that by clamping down a stop block on the band saw table and eighth of an inch away from the blade. I took these pieces and glued them together alternately, so it went cherry, maple, cherry, maple, cherry and so on, until I reached two blanks that were two and a quarter inches long.  This was a long process. While I was turning the blanks on the lathe, one of them splintered apart.  I decided to move to the other blank and see if I could a least get it turned down to size, but it too splintered apart.  I'm not sure what the exact reason was for them breaking.  I initially thought that because poplar was a softer wood that perhaps it wasn't good for turning on the lathe.  Then I thought maybe I didn't glue it well enough.  Since each blank had around twenty pieces of wood glued together, it's possible my mind wandered and a few of the joints didn't get the maximum amount of glue it needed.  I have though of using super glue to hold the pieces together instead of wood glue and see if that helps, but I haven't tried it as of yet.  Another thought I had was that perhaps at only an eighth of an inch long, the individual pieces of wood didn't have the strength to resist the forces of being turned on the lathe.  Maybe one day I will examine this further.