Seems we have a lot of pen makers here so i thought maybe we should have a place where we can post pic's of what we make and share tips and any info you have about making pens, or where to buy supplies and what you tried good or bad. here's my setup for pens and anything i turn.
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Glad you started this Pottzy! I will show my set up as soon as I get back into my shop. I think this great! I'll start.... I make about 200 pens a year.....about 4 of those segmented....I am now pouring most of my acrylic and 196 of those are acrylic...I have three lathes one of which is a metal lathe.....in case you are unaware metal lathes are awesome to do a bunch of things for pens on. I have a 18/36 Lagaua for shaping the body, and I have a Rikon midi with a Beall buff permanently on it. The pressure pot is a California Air. I just got into casting just this year. I built my own TS sled for segmenting. My segmenting is mostly wood and then finished with glu boost. I get most of my supplies from Exotic Blanks....they are awesome. What about others what do you use and make?
i was hoping with a formal pen forum you would come out of the shadows buddy. im counting on you to support this. ive got more blanks than ill ever use mike. way back i got crazy with buying up blanks ! im 99% wood mike, ill make a plastic once in awhile. i think if someone is watching our forum and is into pen making and they see we have a place just for it they might join us. the way it was pens were scattered all over.
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
This will help me as I viewed your last post and it inspired me to try pen making. Never even looked into this prior, will need any and all info available. 👍
The great part about pen making is it doesn’t take up a whole lot of space, and the projects are fast for the most part. Moke is a wealth of knowledge for tips and tricks to get you a better outcome from minute one. Here are some of my more recent pens, including a flip top storage box I made for a pen/pencil set (top) for a buddy who is getting promoted soon…
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
glad to hear im encouraging you guys to try this out. lots of fun. and if you dont wanna get into a big project a pen canbe done in less than a day. for pen kits and supplies i use WoodTurningz, cheaper than penn state and it's a small company with great service. i actually have some stuff coming from them right now.
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Ben turning pens for a long time. Mainly wood,,,98%. Give them away to friends, Drs., Car Service directors, mechanics, etc. Always makes the next visit a bit more welcoming. .
One of the items in pen making is pressing the parts together after turning. I saw on Pottz intro he has a horizontal press, these work great. Years ago never saw one of the presses so I used my Drill Press to do the same. See attached. This is simply a 3/4" square x 2 inch long piece of plastic. Has a 5/16" rod in it. The rod is mounted in the drill chuck. The base is another piece of plastic. 2" x 5 1/2" x 1/2" thick. None of these measurements are critical. The base is mounted on a larger piece of 1/2" ply with two boards with V grooves in it to hold the parts. By lowering the chuck the drill press is used to press the parts together. A great deal of pressure is there if needed or can be controlled by how hard one pulls the chuck down. The plastic keeps the parts from being marked. The distance needed for the press is adjusted by simply lowering or raising the drill press table. The room provided by the drill press table allows room for assembly instructions if needed or the next pens to be assembled.
My way of pressing parts together. Not any better or worse than commercial presses. All the parts to make this were just scraps in the shop. The drill press is next to my old Delta Mini Lathe so it is convenient to use. Happy to answer any questions.
Great post Pottz. I haven't made a ton of pens but I've probably turned a couple of dozen over the last few years. It's very enjoyable. I have about a dozen I'm trying to do before Christmas but I doubt I'll hit the mark. But they're all for coworkers so I'll see them soon enough and doubt they'll mind it being a week or two late ;-) We have a huge old Southern Magnolia tree right outside of our department here at work. It got a heavy pruning last summer (24) so I got a few hunks from the tree guys and sealed them up to dry. I have them cut into blanks now and about half of them drilled and the tubes glued in. Gotta finish drilling and gluing and I can finally start turning!
here are a couple tools if you get serious about pen making i highly recommend. first is the woodpeckers mandrel, well made and very precise. the duck did a review on this. next is the woodpeckers pen reamer trimmers. i have the complete 13 piece set because ive done many different pen kits. they also have a 5 piece set or you can buy the reamers seperately. as with all woodpeckers tools, not cheap. but a good pen mill is worth every penny. ive destroyed many blanks with crappy trimmers. the mill has replaceable 4 sided carbide inserts. the duck did a review on this set. here is what i started with years ago. not the best way to trim a pen. if any of you want em just ask.
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Now that's a decent slimline! R'Gi for the next Trump... no big textas (Sharpies) in his hand.
Very basic, but some newbies may get a few ideas from this Chrysalis of a Pen presentation I made up when I started... is dated with obsolete mandrels and mills, but it gives an overall picture.
I use 20 layers of CA blended with a drop of BLO... a big tad overkill, but it turns the pen into an "acrylic wood". This Cigar in Black Palm with 20 layers of CA looks a tad tatty... however, so it should, it was made in Melbourne (before my move to downtown Churchill),over 15 years ago and is my go to writing implement... yeah, I use a keyboard a lot, but over 15 years that pen has also been abused.
If you get serious into pen making, get a set of disassembling rods, they're ideal if you don't use 20 layers of CA, and after a few months, a user returns the pen for you to re-polish it. You can either use this assembly jig to press out the inserted pen part, or manually hold the blank with a dedicated grip available from pen suppliers, or make your own using this Plasti Dip, on the jaws of your "gripper"... this of course if you don't CA your parts into the tube.
I made this jig for my BS for cutting the blanks to size, then use a Rockler self centering Jig for drilling the blank, Once centered, the jaws move in/out in unison. The jig has an allowance for a ZCI, for the exit point of the drill bit at the bottom of the blank, to prevent chipping... different sized ZCIs for different tubes, are stored in the shop made drawer. I suggest you avoid these types of blank holders, They are not auto centering and the blank will need to be re-aligned, unless it is exactly the same as the previous... and they seldom are.
Also if your a messy bastard (ok, you can be legitimate and not a bastard) like me and hate CA on my fingers, these insertion tools are handy for positioning the tube inside the blank, There are at least 2 sizes available... suggest you buy the bigger one in case you graduate to the large pens like Majestics and Emperors.
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
I've made a video I'd recommend... however, it's further down the alphabet than "G" rated and nothing to do with pens... but it does show all the ins and outs!
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
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