Thread: First pen, and advice needed

Nice work well done

G'day Simon. Great work mate on your 1st pens. Rather than type a long winded 'How To' on here, click on the link and learn and copy everything David does in his video's. Lessons 1 to 9. All you need to know to become proficient !
Videos - Pen Kits, Pen blanks, Clock Kits and wood turning accessories.

Thanks Pariss. That means a lot coming from you. I always admire your turning, especially the natural edge bowls.
Thanks for posting that link.

Nice first pens. There are some good youtube videos that show you all about pen turning,
thought they might help with pen mill questions.
Cheers Skewturn

What Pariss said is good too.

2. I just use my fingers And, I try to get one end almost flush with the blank - saves having to cut/mill that part of the blank off.

3. 5 minute Araldite for me. CA goes off pretty quickly, and thus is unforgiving of mistakes. The Araldite lets you slide the tube into the blank, and twist it around to spread the glue.

4. A pen mill has a central shaft which fits inside the pen tube, (theoretically) aligning the cutter head with the axis of the tube, and cutting the blank flush with the tube. I found that the interchangeable cutter heads always ended up slightly tilted on their shaft. I usually get pretty close with a small tool on the lathe, then spin the blank by hand against a piece of wet-n-dry. Or, I just turn the pen mill by hand to take off the last smidgen.

And, a bonus tip
When you start to drill acrylic blanks, the correct way to avoid splitting and blowouts is to use a drill bit sharpened (actually blunted) for that material - don't bother with cutting long, drilling part way, then cutting again to expose the hole, or clamping another piece to the blank.
Dedicate a drill bit for acrylic, file off the sharp cutting edges on the tip, and squirt water into the hole as you drill.

---- Drilling Acrylic ---- (and most other hard plastics)
Drilling and Proper Handling and Maintenance of Acrylic Sheet: Plastic Distributor & Fabricator

Cheers,
Andrew

Wish my first pens had of looked that good, I'd be a master by now. Well done mate.

If I may ask, what is the benefit of a pen mill for trimming the blanks over a disc sander?
Is it just a bit more accurate?

Nice pen!!

You will find some timbers are more inclined to absorb a finishing medium than others, so don't be surprised if the superglue doesn't perform the same way every time.

Superglues also vary in quality. Get one GOOD type and stick with it (). You will get toknow what to expect.

I find pen mills a PITA. A good jig with a sanding disc does a better job.

Originally Posted by bassmansimon

If I may ask, what is the benefit of a pen mill for trimming the blanks over a disc sander?
Is it just a bit more accurate?

I've always used a disc sander to prepare the ends. As long as you rotate the blank eg, push into disc, back out, TURN, push into disc, back out, turn. Never had a problem.

Well done on the first two pens and I do the same as Pariss and recommend you go that way. I have several mills and they sit in the cupboard

What devices do you use to assemble the pens?
At the woodturning demo, the instructor had 2 x custom turned pieces of timber shaped to a morse taper, with a plastic block attached (superglue?) to the ends, so that he simply sticks in the wood blocks with the plastic ends, and uses the lathe to assemble the pens.

My Marfin pen was assembled at home, hitting it lightly with a rubber mallet into a scrap piece of hardwood. Not ideal...

Just use a vice or what I do is similar to this:

TimberBits Blog

I use the sash clamp method, mine are Jet but you can use any brand

Originally Posted by bassmansimon

At the Timber and Working With Wood Show yesterday in Sydney, I volunteered to have a go at one of the pen turning tutorials.

Under instruction, I turned out this WA Sheoak pen (pic 1).

Then immediately went off and purchased a few pen kits, blanks, and a mandrel. I had a go this morning and knoced out one from Marfin (pic 2), from a Trend Timbers Brazillian wood combo pack.

I am wondering if you good ladies and gents can help me with a few q's I have as a beginner.

1. Yesterday at the show, the Sheoak pen was sealed after sanding with "superglue". It only took about 1 drop per blank and that was plenty. Today using the Marfin blank, I was using the 30-60 second CA glue from Trend Timbers, and had to use more than 5 times that to get it covered. Am I doing something wrong, or could it just be the properties of the timber? I buy the Gap Filling super glue off Gary Pye for gluing tubes in doesn't go off as quick so gives time to do things. The thin I have used for finishing or stabalising repairing cracks etc. The accelarator comes in handy. I am going to start using Gorilla glue and epoxy for the tubes as I find the fumes a bit much doing a few pens at a time and yes I work well ventilated.

2. All instructions i have seen say to insert the tubes about 1mm or 2mm into the blank past the end. What do you use to do this? All I can think of is a centre punch and a hammer. The tubes should slide in easy enough if you use a bit of stick if you don't want glue all over your fingers.

3. What do you use to glue the tubes? Today I used the same 30-60 second CA glue that I was using to seal the timber. See above

4. Finally, where can I purchase the tool to cut down the timber to the exact length of the inner tube? Sorry I'm not sure what it's called. I have tried Timberbits, but can only see a Pen Mill Set, but don't understand how that would work. I started using the pen mill but found it can tear the wood and destroy a nice kit. so now I just use the disc sander.

Thanks in advance. Simon.

Simon I read this post quickly the other day and ignored your calls for help in doing so

What devices do you use to assemble the pens?
At the woodturning demo, the instructor had 2 x custom turned pieces of timber shaped to a morse taper, with a plastic block attached (superglue?) to the ends, so that he simply sticks in the wood blocks with the plastic ends, and uses the lathe to assemble the pens.

Simon I use my vice with a cloth, I use a quick release clamp with soft protective ends, I have also used my drill press always take it nice and steady watch the allignment listen and feel the kit come together.

My Marfin pen was assembled at home, hitting it lightly with a rubber mallet into a scrap piece of hardwood. Not ideal...

Simon your not far away you can always pop round if you wish.

Ray