Ralph,
For your veneer pen projects you may want to try stabilizing the blanks before you turn them.
Not that I have tried this but, I hear it works well.
Dissolve some 1"x1" squares of plexiglass (acrylic sheet) in a sealed jar of Acetone.
This takes several days.
It is good to agitate it every 4-5 hours.
You want to end up with a syrupy solution of dissolved acrylic.
In a open vessel place your blank(s)
Cover blanks with acrylic solution
Set this into a paint pressure pot
Apply pressure at ~80PSI overnight.
Remove from pressure and allow to dry.
Then turn.
I hear if you can rough the blanks to size and pre-drill it works even faster as there is more available surface area.
Other methods involve
Pentacryl
Minwax wood hardener
thinned down solution of Oil based poly and mineral spirits
Thinned laquer
50/50 mixture of TightBond II and water
The IAP website can probably provide way more info
http://www.penturners.org/
Good luck,
---Nailer---
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