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What’s one thing many people lose frequently, but is also one of the most needed items on the ship? Pens!
Truman Sailors need pens to sign log books, write watch bills, sign qualifications, fill out administrative paperwork, etc. While many may never have stopped to consider just how necessary pens are for all of this, one of Truman’s Sailors actually happens to craft them in his free time, ABH2 Christopher Pietrowski.
Pietrowski is self-described as one of the guys waving his hands around, safely moving aircraft, and he said that he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. He says while it’s dangerous and can be chaotic, it’s also a lot of fun.
“I’m an aircraft director, and even though it’s long hours, I have a good team and it makes the time fly by,” Pietrowski said.
ABH1 Robert DePalma, an air department V-1, fly 1 Sailor, said he first met Piotrowski upon reporting to Truman three years ago. He said that working on the flight deck, Sailors must pay attention to detail, and that Piotrowski practices this on the flight deck, as well as with craftsmanship in his personal hobby, pen-making.
“He can make whatever you want to order, De Palma said, “and if he doesn’t know how to make it, he researches it until he understands exactly what he needs to do.”
Piotrowski said he became interested in crafting at a young age.
“I would go to my grandparents’ house in Mesa, Arizona,” Piotrowski commented. “I would always try to build random things with the left over wood and some paint that my grandfather left in the garage.”
In 2015, while he was stationed at Naval Station Rota, Spain as a firefighter for the base, he decided he wanted to expand his hobby.
“I started off by making corn hole boards,” Piotrowski stated. “Once we got back to the states, my wife signed me up for a class on how to make pens.”
Today, Piotrowski is at a point where he orders supplies for his pens from different companies that make specific, custom parts.
“I order parts called blanks that are made of wood, stone, acrylic or a custom make, and once you get those, you have different sized tubes to make pens in,” said Piotrowski. “I drill a hole through the tube for the size, and then I glue the parts together so they harden.”
He then adds parts called bushings, which are custom made for each pen. The diameters of the pens are crafted specifically so they don’t get “overhang” on the front or end part of the blank. Then Pietrowski puts the pens on a turner and chisels the blanks down for the shape he wants.
“If you work straight through, the process can take 3-4 hours, but I normally like to spend 2-3 days making them,” said Piotrowski. “It’s a good hobby to have on the side, and it’s relaxing, until you chip something. I’ve had blanks where I’m two minutes away from finishing, and with one pass of my chisel, the whole thing chips, and I have to start all over.”
Piotrowski said, in addition to making pens, he also works on other types of wood-based crafts.
“When I was in Rota, Spain, I had the honor of making a set of corn hole boards for the CMC of the base at that time,” said Piotrowski. “When my family and I moved into our very first house in Suffolk, Virginia, we needed a bigger table for our family. I decided to go ahead and build the table and benches to go with it. Still to this day, we love our table.”
Piotrowski says that hobbies like woodworking and pen-making can help relieve stress, and that he takes pride in the work he does and the things he makes.
“It makes me feel good to know that people are satisfied with the products I make.”
| Date Taken: | 11.29.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 12.29.2019 12:42 |
| Story ID: | 357483 |
| Location: | ATLANTIC OCEAN |
| Web Views: | 21 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, A Crafty Aircraft Director, by PO3 Kaysee D Lohmann, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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