I’ve turned a number of pens over the past couple months (starting in mid-February, 2023), and haven’t posted any of them until now. I guess it’s time to catch up with them.
These pens are all based on the Anvil EDC Pen Kit from Penn State Industries, which takes a Parker style refill, which means I can use my favorite refill, which is the Uniball Jetstream, a gel refill available in black, blue, or red in various widths.
First pen was a piece of greenheart? with the aluminum hardware.
And an elm pen with gunmetal hardware.
Next was a piece of maroon and white resin with brass hardware.
A friend sent me a pen blank of some dark green wood which turned almost black when finished. I chose the gunmetal hardware for this one.
I had a scrap of ash, and filled the pores on it with some black grain-filler. The black anodized aluminum hardware seemed like a good match.
I had some ipe left over from other projects. The photo is taken just after it was turned, and I suspect the wood will darken up considerably after exposure to air and light. Gunmetal hardware again.
Birdseye maple got blue stripes (need more practice on that so I get nice crisp edges) and black anodized aluminum hardware.
A piece of mimosa got gunmetal hardware.
Some more Birdseye maple with brass hardware.
I paired another piece of mimosa with stainless steel hardware
And a pen of cholla cactus with green and red resin and brass hardware.
A white oak pen with black grain-fill and gunmetal hardware.
I’ve given five of them away to friends, and folks seem to like them, so I’ll probably make more.
Here’s one made on 8. May, 2023. An ash body with blue grain-fill and gunmetal hardware.
At the moment, this is the only pen I still possess. All the rest of them have been given away to friends.
A DuraClick EDC pen in burnt bronze with juniper wood
A DuraClick EDC pen kit in black anodized aluminum with a piece of juniper showing both the redder heartwood as well as the pale sapwood.
I like the assembly of the DuraClick EDC, but the fact that the click doesn’t match the other metal parts isn’t great. Also, an 8mm drill leaves the wood very tight around the mechanism. Both of these pens have a microscopic crack in the wood due to the hole being just a hair too small.
Thanks, guys. Yeah, I like the kit, and I like the gunmetal and brass most, but also the black anodized aluminum. The stainless steel and aluminum… not so much.
They are a fine group of pens Dave, much better than our collection of pic and who knows what else. I don’t know which one I like best. Maybe all of them. I found this pen at Area 51. They may have left it behind. I think that’s in your neck of the woods.
Gotta love the cholla! The problem I see with the maple and other coarse grain woods is the scale, just not enough material to show the woods qualities. Some fine featured burls would be cool if it can be turned without turning into parts. Either way, your "eye" for matching up the hardware with the blank is spot on 👍
The problem I have with pens in general is the way they quit working after a few weeks, are those Parker cartridges the good stuff?
i try and always use burl woods just for that reason, to pack as much punch as possible. the pens ive made have held up quite well. the quality of the kits has gotten pretty good. i do avoid click pens though, so ill see how well these hold up.
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Pottz, I’m pretty happy with them. Have another 20 kits in my wishlist at Penn State for when I’m ready for the next batch.
James, Area 51 is in Nevada. There’s pretty much all of Arizona and half of New Mexico between here and there. Roswell is pretty close to here, though.
YRTi, I don’t need a display box, as they’re going out the door about as quick as I make them. The birdseye and brass was one of the first to get picked.
Mike, the dark green and gunmetal was either the second or third to go.
Splint, I’m going to be setting up my stabilizing (and dyeing) rig soon to deal with some punky woods and burls. Probably have some results around Memorial Day, as once again, I’m getting pointed looks when I mention I’m making pens rather than the projects I’m supposed to be working on. As for the cartridges, the ones with the kits seem ok, but the Jetstream Uniball cartridge is the best. I don’t use anything else for my own use, since I’m left-handed and hate ink that doesn’t dry fast so I smear it with my hand. I stick to the normal widths, though I’ve got one in super-fine for writing tiny stuff. The click mechanism in these feels pretty good, but time will tell…
Meanwhile, a bradford pear pen with brass hardware. I expect this will look better after it gets a sunshine bath to darken up the wood a bit.
