First effort with the lathe

[tonysa]

Finally got some bits and pieces together to see what sort of mess I could make. I read lots of stuff from these forums and the web and came up with the following routine to make some pens. I took some piccys along the way so if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them.

I'll be sorting out a woodies club shortly, I found one just got to get there between other commitments.

Anyway here we go, i'll do this in stages.

First 3 of 12 photos:
Jarrah blanks cut to size with freehand drilled holes
test fit of brass tube
roughened tubes ready for glue up

[tonysa]

4 more piccy's

I read on this web site spud was good to keep the glue from the inner tube.
I tried blutack first but the epoxy resin stuck to it.
This is how they ended up after being speared through the spud - works well.
I had to clean the tubes with metho to ensure contact with the glue
Messy business with the epoxy resin, but set pretty quickly
And on mandrel ready to start turning

I used 5 minute epoxy which set enough for me to assemble in 1 hour.

[tonysa]

After a couple of attempts with gouge and skew I remember someone suggesting scraper as being quick and easy, but not improving turning skills. I used a round nosed scraper out of a set of 6 for $115 which was very successful.

First pen - i didn't go thin enough and somehow the diameter was oval ??? I tried less pressure from the tailstock centre in later attempts which fixed the problem.

With the other pens I got bolder and went closer to the sleeve (can't think of its name). The ridge between wood and pen fitup got less and less.

I used 80 grit to reduce the diameter then 180, 240, 320 and finally 600.

Judicious application of Shellawax and they came out beautiful !!!
I would have liked to see more shine, tried 2 and 3 applications but couldn't get the deep shine I've seen possible. I'm doing something wrong but even so VERY pleased with the result - may even be the wood.

The lad made a pen for himself, and then we did one in tassy oak which came out better than we expected.

Our stock wood was very rough recycled jarrah flooring that i rough sanded and cut into strips using hand jigsaw. Still trying figure out the order to purchase to needed tools - bandsaw, tablesaw, drill press. The tassy oak was a cheap strip from bunnies that was to be a spatula but turned out to be too thin.

The tassy oak stock was 12 mm , we lost a lot of blanks due me being unable to drill vertically, even with the lad checking one axis with a square and me on the other LOL.


I all we made 4 pens in quick succession. Once the glue's dry its very quick.
I ended up using small hammer with head covered to bang the pen parts together. Not ideal way but worked with no detrimental effects. I doubt a drill press would have worked. I think I might get a pen mandrel to clear any glue in the tube. As it was I used stanley knife to cut away what I could.

So that's it.
Very pleased with our Sat arvo and Sunday arvo sessions. Everyone has a pen ! Used carbatec pen 1 from MIK. The biro inserts are nice and smooth, nice writing implements. Guess what the rellies are getting for xmas.

Thanks for reading, suggestions welcome (not on camera technique, thats worse than my turning)

Cheers

Tony

[RETIRED]

Well done.

[arose62]

Question re: potato technique.

Do you have to fill the entire tube with potato??

I'd have thought that just a plug in each end would have been sufficient to keep the glue out.

I've been tempted to buy all the pen-making bits at a few shows, but now I'll have to factor in the cost of potatoes also ;)

Can you use the lathe to help with drilling along the axis of your blanks?

The end result looks good. I may even succumb to some temptation at the Newcastle show, as a result of your posting.

Cheers,
Andrew

[tonysa]

Glad my post helped !!!

Here's a couple of thoughts I had since the first post.

The tube isn't filled with potato. I just pushed the tube through one side of the spud to the other, tried to plug each end but wasn't successful, had gaps. (There's an untidy bit to pare off when its done, you could push through spud onto wooded base to make neat cut around tube) It was RSSER that put me onto the potato idea, send him a PM.

Cleaning glue off the unplugged end is messy but it could be i was over generous with the glue.

I was thinking along lines of getting Jacob chuck and pin jaws to drill along axis of blank but thought I'd try freehand first. I could put the money to a cheap drill press.


I purchased a 1/4 inch mandrel with bushes for pen 1 set, 7mm brad point drill and a pen 1 kit. The kit says to drill 7.1mm hole for brass tube and shape wood to required size. Real easy. Different sets may need additional bushes.

Dont make my first mistake, I turned the wood before glueing the tubes.
I'd also suggest you make the wood 1mm longer each end to sand back in case of glue lines, ragged ends etc. There's room in the set to take up the extra 2mm length you don't need to sand back.

It'll take a couple of attempts to get the pen mechanism the right depth as it governs the amount of biro extending from end of pen. I found it best to sneak up on the correct length of biro point extending out the tube. Easy to do, just do it bit by bit. The kit comes with full instructions.

Cheers
Tony

[routermaniac]

very nice work, well done

[Tool Man]

you made those pens after only 2 weeks with the lathe. nice work
i can't wait to see what master pieces you'll be turning out after you've had it for 2 years.

[smidsy]

Hei Tony,
Some real nice work for a first effort.
Andrew, a jacobs chuck is a must have tool for the lathe anyway and can be used for driling blanks - I know of one system for drilling where you use a jacobs chuck, a table set on the lathe for the blank to sit on and feed the wood on to the bit by hand
That said tho, the blanks are dead simple to drill without too much fuss and I usually bang a dozen or so out on the drill press - I don't use a jig, I just hold the blanks and drill by eye.
I usually use wood that would otherwise be considered scrap and start with the blank around 20mm square - any smaller gets fiddly on the cutting. By the time the pen is finished the wood ends up around 2mm thick so it doesn't really matter if the hole is a little out.

Cheers
Paul

[tonysa]

thanks for the encouragement fellas, appreciated

good idea how to drill the holes on the lathe smidsy, looks like another purchase coming up lol

cheers

tony

[La truciolara]

Question re: potato technique.

Do you have to fill the entire tube with potato??

I'd have thought that just a plug in each end would have been sufficient to keep the glue out.

Andrew
Andrew you are right, you do not need to fill the entire tube., then to take the potato plug, if you wait... it'll dry and a blow in it will be enough for removing them