My first Pens

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Apr 02, 2014 9:25 pm

A question for pen turners. Is there any reason for the blanks being so large other than to make boring the tube hole easier?

benush26 · Post by **benush26** » Wed Apr 02, 2014 10:02 pm

JPG40504 wrote:A question for pen turners. Is there any reason for the blanks being so large other than to make boring the tube hole easier?

Sort of... if you have a dull bit that follows the grain the extra material or a significant warp in the wood, you can salvage a blank, however most of the pens I turn now are larger girth and use 10mm rather than 7mm tubes. Once I cut the blanks into hexagonal, rather than shave off the edges and spent LOTS of time gluing left over pieces together to try and make a multipiece blank. Wasted glue, time and many of the spare hair follicles I have left.

For pens based on a 7mm tube it does seem to waste material, however I would guess that the suppliers would rather produce just a couple sizes rather than a size for each style of pen.

For some of the pricier woods I imported, I bought larger pieces, then cut the blanks on the bandsaw about 2mm wider than finished pen to save material and hoped i wouldn't get chip out.

Does the provide a semblance of an answer??

I guess as I think about this, when i was beginning to turn pens I felt more comfortable with lots of wood that i could screw up before I got to the finished size...

benush26 · Post by **benush26** » Wed Apr 02, 2014 10:08 pm

charlese wrote:This is a picture of my first pens. A small project given to me by my Son. He bought the kits and the mandrel from PSI and asked me to make him some pens and a pencil. This was a several day project (after reading instructions) using 2 hours per day.
https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D2476956_99445947_68514

Does anyone know of a better, or easier way to post pix to this forum using windows 8?

Changed the photo to display from google's system to one from Lenovo, called Sugar synk. Still would like to find a method to post just a photo instead of a link with personal information. I tried the link JPG gave but guess I messed up following instructions.

Very nice! Those are SOOOO much nicer than what I remember my first attempts. Actually they look significantly better than some of my latest attempts!!:o

Chuck has tasted the sweet berry of turning pens and will, from this time forward, spurn the ordinary and crave the wonderful!!

Be well,
Ben

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Apr 02, 2014 10:13 pm

benush26 wrote:Very nice! Those are SOOOO much nicer than what I remember my first attempts. Actually they look significantly better than some of my latest attempts!!:o

Chuck has tasted the sweet berry of turning pens and will, from this time forward, spurn the ordinary and crave the wonderful!!

Be well,
Ben

Ordinary? This man turns stuff that decorates the shop with seeds as it is turned. I do not recall what the seed pods were called.

benush26 · Post by **benush26** » Wed Apr 02, 2014 10:37 pm

JPG40504 wrote:Ordinary? This man turns stuff that decorates the shop with seeds as it is turned. I do not recall what the seed pods were called.

I don't know but will presume you are talking about Banksia. VERY cool looking when turned!

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Apr 02, 2014 11:01 pm

benush26 wrote:I don't know but will presume you are talking about Banksia. VERY cool looking when turned!

The one on the left as I recall.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Banksia_integrifolia_and_marginata_cones.jpg/220px-Banksia_integrifolia_and_marginata_cones.jpg

reible · Post by **reible** » Wed Apr 02, 2014 11:34 pm

All of the pens I have done use brass inserts but I guess copper would work just as well.

I normally drill my blanks but have gotten a few drilled ones. The drilled ones I've seen are not as nice as the ones I do. In some cases they were quite off center but still useable.

I have yet to do a plastic body but I've heard you are better off getting them pre-drilled???

The first dozen or so pens I did I used the sanding method. It works but I've sense gone to a trimmer. Much faster and pretty much right on for squareness. I touch up the cutting edges every half dozen blanks or so with a diamond file. Should have invested in a better set with carbide but at the time I wasn't sure how many pens I would ever do.

I also quickly learned that the instructions are more like guide lines for beginners. The less you have to trim the better especially at the matching center.

Glue wise I didn't like epoxy for a couple of reasons, the polyurethane that might get in the barrel cleans away with the trimmer, the epoxy was more difficult.... So far no failures of the glue.

Still learning even with all the pens I've made, the last group I used miniwax sealer on, didn't like the results with that. Maybe it didn't dry enough??

I use the 1/4" router chuck and a mandrel from Craft Supplies, if you already have the chuck the mandrel is like $10. I also added the precision machine pen center from them, not cheap but nicely made and quality piece.

I do believe I am close to the end of my pen making days, got other things I want to do in life. I'd say another 6 or so left in parts then unless something comes up I'm done.

Anyway that was a few of my thoughts on my adventure into pen turning.

Ed

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Thu Apr 03, 2014 1:53 am

Sorry folks, I'm certainly not metallurgist! Have trouble even spelling it. Copper, brass look the same to me. Guess these kits come with brass tubes.

wa2crk · Post by **wa2crk** » Thu Apr 03, 2014 11:05 am

A recommendation that I got from some other pen turners is use Play-Do to fill the ends of the tubes when gluing them into the blanks and then push the Play-Do out after the glue dries.
Also when turning Banksia or other friable materials use a face mask. Better yet use a face mask whenever you turn anything.
Bill V

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Thu Apr 03, 2014 11:15 am

This is how I square the end to the tube. super easy on a shopsmith
https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?p=131959&postcount=2

My process is documented here.
https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=11705
Blanks can typically be purchased in 5/8" stock great for the smaller 7mm tube pens

As to the size of purchased blanks:
The Wedding Pens I just did required a 9/16" hole for the cap tube. Use of a 3/4" or 7/8" blank is strongly advised and even then you better have accurate drilling pretty much in hand. The parents pens required a 25/64" hole, so a 3/4" blank was fine.

I have used as narrow as 1/2" for 7mm tube pens. But the drilling has to be spot on and any chips or blowouts during turning means a do over on the blank.