Fine! I'll try turning pens!

[CommGuy107]

Bowls, spindles, goblets - I've even turned several obligatory baseball bats, but never a pen.
I ordered supplies, got a few necessary and/or helpful tools, and I just cut some blanks to make the first wave.
These are Walnut, Persimmon, Maccassar Ebony, and Purple Heart.

Once I get the bushings I didn't know I needed, I'll be ready to go!

 

[Gotcha6]

Looks like you're on the way to the making of many a birthday and Christmas gift. Enjoy. And don't expect perfection on the first, or the tenth, but you'll eventually get there.

 

[red]

Pens are also on my short list to learn how to turn. Seems I learn something every time I turn. Have fun with them.

Red

 

[CommGuy107]

Looks like you're on the way to the making of many a birthday and Christmas gift. Enjoy. And don't expect perfection on the first, or the tenth, but you'll eventually get there.

Yeah...I figured there was a good reason they sell a DISassembly kit.

 

[CommGuy107]

Pens are also on my short list to learn how to turn. Seems I learn something every time I turn. Have fun with them.

Red

I've always admired wood-bodied pens, just never tried making one. Blanks are easy enough to make, so why not?!

 

[KenOfCary]

Just a tip - don't start with the purpleheart. It is probably the most difficult wood to work with making pens. It is super hard and brittle. Better to learn with something like Walnut or Maple.

BTDT - Purpleheart makes nice pens but is hard to deal with first time round.

 

[CommGuy107]

Just a tip - don't start with the purpleheart. It is probably the most difficult wood to work with making pens. It is super hard and brittle. Better to learn with something like Walnut or Maple.

BTDT - Purpleheart makes nice pens but is hard to deal with first time round.

Funny enough Ken, I DID start with Purple Heart, because I had plenty of it. And even though I've turned it before, I blew out one of the two blanks I was turning. Thanks for the tip...wish I'd seen it beforehand.

 

[aplpickr]

Many pen instruction sheets print the pics on one side, the steps on the other side. Make a copy if this is so. This will eliminate some of the confusion. Before you saw the blank to length mark a curvy line down one side. This will help your orientation. Once you cut it in half make a line up mark on the inside end of each half after it is end milled. If you are making a set of pens, like my avatar, especially with a deadline, have extra kits and blanks available. That set was for all the living relatives at a funeral, we messed up a pen, disassembly wasn't possible. We were finishing a replacement only 2 hours before the service after ordering more kits. Sentimental wood can be very meaningful. Maple flooring from Dad's old bowling alley, or flooring from the old gym, the tree that Mom planted, let your imagination run. Several years ago some replaced decking from "OLD Ironsides" was used for pens for wounded sailors at Bethesda Naval Hospital.

Pen tubes can be glued with 5 minute epoxy, Gorilla glue, or thick CA. Each method has pros and cons. Find the method that fits your style. If you use CA, always use accelerator. CA on the inside should be allowed to cure overnight if possible. Be sure that you sand the tubes with coarse sand paper before gluing. When end milling, stop when you see the bright brass circle. Some kits are length critical. When you press the clip into the upper section, line up the clip to cover slight mistakes or plain grain. Many experienced turners will "poo-poo" your pens. "Bowls are better and show much more skill." A beautiful, well turned pen can bring much satisfaction! Everyone uses and looses pens. Be sure you keep your bushing sets together and labeled. They all look the same. Be careful, you do not want to chisel or sand your bushings. If you try CA as a finish, lightly wax each bushing and your mandrel rod as you stack the blanks on the mandrel. It is hard to separate bushings from your finished pen parts! If you haven't purchased your mandrel yet, get one with the collet that allows adjustment of length. This is very worth the little extra cost! The most expensive wood, even $120/bd ft African blackwood nets out to only about $5/blank. Have fun.

 

[CommGuy107]

...Sentimental wood can be very meaningful. Maple flooring from Dad's old bowling alley, or flooring from the old gym, the tree that Mom planted, let your imagination run. Several years ago some replaced decking from "OLD Ironsides" was used for pens for wounded sailors at Bethesda Naval Hospital... Have fun.

Thanks for the thoughtful insight and helpful advice, Bill.

 

[red]

There is some great advice right there! I'll have to bookmark this page for when I'm ready to give it a try. Thanks.

Red

 

[aplpickr]

We drill many of our pen blanks on the lathe. We hold the blank in the square center of a chuck and use a Jacob's chuck to hold the bit in the tailstock. Oily or wet wood can make steam that pressurizes and cracks the blank. We use a pistol grip extended nose air gun aimed right where the bit enters the wood. This cools the bit, the wood, and helps to clean the bit. We blow air constantly while drilling. If you purchase a cheap drill press for drilling blanks, be sure that the quill travel exceeds tube length by about a 1/2". The best, most prettiest, and expensive blanks are the most likely to crack. Olivewood, African blackwood, snakewood are prime examples.

Since finished pens are so small, a single scratch can be devastating. Between each grit of sandpaper, stop the lathe, sand along the length of the piece, then CLEAN your hands, the piece, and the next grit of sandpaper. A single grain of stray larger grit can ruin your piece. A display of pens should shine from ten feet. Prices, finishes, shine or no-shine, woods, kits, colors all vary by location and shows. Always keep a few finished pens around. They make a cheap instant unexpected gift, prize, award, etc. If you use "friction polish," burn the finish on with the highest speed your lathe will produce. Smoke and almost burnt fingers are appropriate!

 

[JGregJ]

Can you elaborate on the pros/cons of the different glues? I've used CA glue without the accelerant, seems to work, but had some trouble getting the tube into position where I liked it before it froze.

 

[aplpickr]

JGregJ: I usually use thick CA glue. I apply the accelerant to both ends after the tube is inside. I usually glue tubes in batches of five to ten pens. I usually use aerosol accelerate. BE SURE THAT STRAY SPRAY DOES NOT CONTAMINATE THINGS ON YOUR WORK TABLE! I use the accelerant to speed curing inside the blank. Some woods act as their own accelerant. I use disposable gloves and I always have a sharpened pencil handy to help to push a curing tube inside. I check every blank and its tubes for a slip fall-thru fit. Drilled holes can become tapered or angled. Tubes can become bent or dented.

CA has a definite shelf life. Its curing time can change up or down. Once you find a CA brand you like, stick with it. Different brands have different personalities. Always have some DEBONDER handy. I apply CA in a spiral around the tube and a full circle around the part that is first inserted. I always pull the tube back a 1/4" and reinsert. I do this after tube is about half way in.

Accurate positioning is important. If glue cures too slowly, the tubes can shift. I allow my tubes to cure vertically. This helps to prevent glue globs inside the tube. Vertical position allows tubes to slide by gravity.

Gorilla glue requires some moisture in the wood to cure. The expanding foam can push the tube out of the glue. Epoxy requires accurate mixing. Do you get tired of holding the tube in place until it cures. I hate the Gorilla stains until they wear off!

In difficult situations were CA doesn't seem to spread correctly, I will use a thinner CA to get the gaps on the ends. Gluing blanks is not fun, it is full of tension. I would turn twice as many pens as I do if it wasn't for all the problems that still pop up!

 

[Halfghan]

Maybe i'm in the minority here, but I havent had any problems gluing them up. I just started making pens about 2 weeks ago, and havent had any issue on the ~10 pens i've made so far. I use thick CA glue. Drill my hole. Scratch up the brass with 120 grit. Apply CA to brass. Quickly insert into the blank, spinning back and forth with fingertips...bring it back out about 1/4" and then slide it completely into the tube. Let it sit for a few minutes and it's ready to roll.

Even if you have a tiny gap at the top for some reason, you're never going to see it in your pen because of the pen bushings once it's all assembled. However I havent noticed any in mine.

 

[aplpickr]

Halfghan:
Consider yourself as lucky. Let that same bottle of CA degrade for a couple of months or use one of the difficult woods and you may experience some of the problems that I have seen during the last ten years. I am just trying to help some beginners. Most problems can be prevented, if known about ahead of time. Friction polish gets old and will not cure without smearing. Some turners use potato plugs or kids modeling clay to keep glue out of the tubes. The moisture in the potato can accelerate CA curing and cause more problems than it fixes. Try a click pen the first time, if you get it put together correctly without a double sided instruction kit you are an "Einstein!" Discover the dented tube as the glue cures, and it can't get thru, BOO! Most of what I have attempted to pass on, I learned the HARD way. Last fall I took a weekend class on penturning at JC Campbell. I thought I was a competent penturner. I learned lots of stuff. My wife sells a pen that is half zebrawood and half black walnut. She has a repeat customer (7 years) that gives at least three of them at Christmas as gifts. Each end is a different wood. CA gets old sitting in the supply house. Does your supplier date their CA when they receive it? If you make ten different kits, do you have all the bushings separated? Do you have an accurate micrometer to measure them? Use the wrong bushing, press the pen together, have a three millimeter jump, throw $20 in the trash. Oh, I promised the pen to him at 10 o'clock! Have fun, keep spinning. Pen turning quickly becomes a lifetime passion!

 

[Raymond]

I have been turning pens for about 12 years, maybe 200-250 pens in that time span; not a great amount but a lot of pens and pencils. The tips Bill (aplpickr) are telling you are great tips. I am never in a hurry to do pens, I use them as a way to relax and think about the person I am making it for. (No, I don't make pens for the heck of it.) Everything that I put on the lathe has an intended recipient. Personally, I use Gorilla glue and allow the glue to expand over night (again, no hurry). I like making different types of pens and really do not have a favorite design. Slim pens for the ladies, unless they have big hands for a woman, medium diameters pens for most people and the large diameter pens for people with big hands -here, again, the targeted recipient is in mind when I make that selection.

I will add the following: Use a lidded fishing tackle box for your bushings and label the small boxes so you know which pen kits goes with the bushings. Use a binder to keep printed copies of the instructions and mark the instructions with the tackle box location of the bushings.

I use one inch wide strips of sand paper from 150 up to 1000 grit bundled in an orderly stack held together with a binder clip; after stepping through the sand paper, I go onto Micromesh starting at 1500 and ending with 12000 (bundled in the same manner with a binder clip). I wipe the pen with a DNA-soaked paper towel in between grits to remove lose particles; plus the wet pen gives you an idea of what the pen will look like when it is finished.

Experiment with grain orientation to see how it will look (this may waste some wood but not that much when you are talking about a 1 inch square by 5-6 inch long piece of wood). Try laminating different woods on a diagonal to get a different visual impact. It is, after all, about having a fun and relaxing time while making something for someone special.

 

[Gotcha6]

.....and when you think you've gotten REALLY GOOD at this, search the Gallery for a deceased member named Eaglesc. I think he carried pen making to another level.

 

[JGregJ]

Thanks for the tips!

 

[aplpickr]

Turning purpleheart pens has been mentioned. Some PH turns brown while turning, some turns purple with heat or sun exposure, some turns purple when cooled. All PH slowly turns brown with exposure to oxygen in air. Why? There are approximately fifteen different species of trees that yield purpleheart. Which one did you buy? PH is so common in some places that I have seen PH pallets. What a waste!

I treat my PH pens with purple Tran-Tint powdered dye. I turn, sand to 220, treat with water based dye, re-sand the raised grain, sand to Micro Mesh. And then finish. This method will keep the wood purple for years! Try this method on junk wood before risking that $10 kit. Most of our advertisers stock this dye, a small container will last for years. A multiple application of a lavender (weak) mix is more useful than a hard purple.

Other tropical woods may have this multiple species problem of PH. This may explain successful pens for years and sudden failure of tubes freezing half way in. Woods that are too soft like red cedar and paduak wear quickly when used daily.

 

[aplpickr]

Give a purpleheart pen to a wounded veteran. Thank them for their service. You can't escape without tears in your eyes! Especially a Viet Nam vet that came home without any real thank yous!

A former pastor of mine got a small shrapnel wound on his last day of active duty in 'Nam. He was discharged for a week before it was discovered. He never was awarded a PH medal. He still carries his PH pen fifteen years later!