Introduction and blank selection - Installment No 1

INTRODUCTION:
In the following series of Pen Making Instructions, you will find the way I make pens...Mike "The Moke" Haeder. 
This blog is NOT here to teach you the basics of penturning...there are a lot of youtubes out there that will do a far better job of that.
Rather it is my way of pen turning and specifically acrylics.  I hope to help with some problems you may already have and eliminate some that may crop up in the future.
It is involved, and I do not take many short cuts.  In fact, I probably do way more than I need.  This is certainly not the only way, it is just the Moke way.  I really do only acrylic pens.  I do some segmented pens with wood, but usually only one per batch, and many times none at all.  The wooden pens have some different procedures and will not be included in this blog. 
This is my first attempt at a blog, so please bear with me...

I have sold a quite a few pens, though I am not selling any more.  These days, in retirement, I still make 125 to 175 per year.  I just give them away...but still have few requests to sell them, but not many.  As many of you well know, selling pens requires an outlet...whether it be Etsy, a vendor somewhere, or a farmers market....after being in business for 43 years, none of those appeal to me anymore, and most that try to sell them, have found it is not all that profitable.  I will not fray into this realm, as there are certainly those much more qualified at that.

BATCH PENS:
I make my pens in batches of around 20 pens per batch.  I have small tubs....7x10 purchased at HD...they have lids, but I find them in the way.  I suppose when I drop them and parts scatter, I may change my mind...but they stack better this way and are more compact.
This is the current batch and subject for this blog.

Each bin contains the pen kit, instructions for that kit, the blank...in this case.. already cut, and the bushings.
You may want to include the drill bit .  But I do a lot of the same kits so the bits are shared.  I do have many sets of bushings, so some bins contain bushings some do not.  Additions will be made to the bins as we progress.  Oh and these are new bins..they are still clean...that too will progress.

I would like to talk just a little about blanks and blank/kit selection.   The blanks should be matched to the kit.  I follow just a few thoughts when I do that.   
Kits come in a huge variety of colors and styles.  First I am, not a huge fan of the classic starter kit, the Slimline.  It is by far on of the hardest to turn correctly.  I do not like the fat or wasp style where it is flared from the bushings out...they are difficult to write with....and excuse me for interjecting opinion here, but amateurish.  I will not go into design....as stated earlier, this blog is not here to teach you the basics of pen turning.  If you are concerned with pen shape, look no further than high end pens, like Mont Blanc, and attempt to mimic their shape.  To summarize my style of pens shape, they are SLIGHTLY fatter in the middle....to give it some shape and style.  Straight blanks are rather boring....rather that slightly thicker middle...like me! 
Slimlines are cheaper, but have lessor quality transmissions, and plating's...but the blank is cut to a very thin thickness it is easy to break in production.  Many others are easier to make.  I like the "Patrizio",  It has thicker body...a decent transmission, and as it is meater...it handles being dropped by the user better.  The Patrizio, is alas, on its way out though.  It is still readily available, but is not pictured in the Penn State cataloge any more.  Which means it is more than likely doomed. 
I am going to insert a commercial in here now, only because it is because of the better pricing and service I get...I buy all my pen supplies from Exotic Blanks in WI.  They are close to me for one and I get a two day service from the USPS...but the pricing is cheaper by the kit and in total....all kits count...not just one you ordering at the time....they call it M&M...mix and match.  AND, you get a small bag of peanut M&M's. 
This is pertinent to bigger people, like myself.  It is run by Ed and Dawn, and their CS is second to none.  Ed is master turner and Dawn a master at pouring blanks, and they are willing to share their knowledge.   
They also have two guys that join them monthly on a youtube podcast, John Underhill and Mark Dreyer.  Both friends, both through the IAP website,  I have met in person,  at a symposium they put on In Chicago.  Both are Youtubers themselves and a wealth of information...I highly recommend looking them up on Youtube.  Marks' youtubes are called "Ten minutes to better penturning" and John is a blank caster and glu boost expert.

The matching of kit and blank can be complicated by the many plating's available in many kits now.  For simplicity, lets assume there are the good old three standbys.  Silver, Gold, and Gun Metal.  When I am matching a blanks with primarily cool colors...I use silver.  Warm colors, gold, and Gun metal is anyone's game, but usually cooler colors. 
Blank matching to kits is kind of a personal preference and I am going to leave it to you....I don't do a bunch of gold...I do not think there is a gold in this batch.  I do not do a lot of gold, because lets face it, these kits are not high end plating, and they do wear!  And they can show it and there is silver under the gold....and secondly...gold is kind of out right now.

But I only personally do gold kits, when there is gold in the blank.  AND, gold and silver look good together too.  so I can get away with a gold mica powdered blank on a silver kit too.

BLANKS:
As you all are aware there are a million different blanks out there....
I am going to show you three different catagories... 
Wood Blanks
Some available Acrylic Blanks
Moke poured blanks....cause I can..
Wooden blanks

Yes for those of you that know me...I have wooden blanks on hand....they are just old. 
The blanks shown are a variety of wood...and exotics...I do not like a plain red oak or walnut blank....they are boring.
These are a variety of dyed, spaulted, and exotic....all would make a fine pen.  The oilier woods will not retain a CA finish over time, unles you use a Denatured Alcohol thorough cleaning before the CA is applied.  It will spider web chip in  a year or two.  I personally do not know all the characteristics of exotic woods and so I DNA all blanks before applying the CA finish.
I will at this time interject a commercial again....I use only glu boost products....CA is a glue...not meant for a finish....glu boost had products similar made for finishing.  They were born in the luthier industries.They also have lacquer shot...which is a spray on lacquer made to finish pens on the lathe...cover everything with towels, however.... but it is awesome.  When I do my segmented wood pens I use that.  Not a cheap product...but well worth it...it buffs to a gorgeous shine.

A few available types of Acrylic Blanks;

This is just a small smattering of my blank, back stock.  I do some acrylic segmenting and black is a basic  backdrop for most of them, so you will see Dawns black knight blank...I also have many other solid colors to mix with it.  The long blank is a alternate product...of which for the life of me I can not recall its name...it has those striations built into it, it is actually acyrlic and milk mixed together and it just does that.  It is not without it's problems.  It is very rare to find any any more, so I won't elaborate on it.  There are a many kinds of the thin line blanks, anymore.  Being a former cop I have used a lot of the thin blue line version...in fact I could not find a whole blank.  The blueish blank, fourth from the bottom is a simulated stone blank...difficult to turn....very chippy. 
There are just bunchs different kinds...colors...and materials.  Exoticblanks.com is great example of the availability

Moke Blanks

These are Moke Blanks, poured with a two part Acrylic called Alumilte.  It turns like butter, but really should have a few layers of glu boost to bring out the shine and deepen the colors.  The resin itself is clear, infused with various mica powder and different types of dyes and allowed to dry in a pressure pot at 40psi to eliminate air bubbles.  I really do not intend to cover that in this series.  However about half of the blanks used in this batch are from these types of blanks...however, I still use a lot of purchased blanks too.  They are available at very reasonable prices these days.  

I have, over 20 years of pen turning, chosen to do really only acrylic....when I owned my business I had a few pens all the time available in a small display.  I did wood back then and found that the acrylic sold about 5 to 1 over wooden.  In my mind acrylic just has more impact.  Now this is not to say that there are some awesome wooden pens out there...because there certainly are, this is just my humble opinion...well, maybe not all the humble....

This is the end of the first installment of Moke Pens.  Next will be bandsawing the blanks, then drilling on the lathe. 
It is my hope that I can help with some of the issues you may have, and interject some better ways of doing things.  Lord only knows the amount of mistakes I have made over the past 20 years...
Feel free to ask questions or helpful suggestions.