Thread: pens???please help

Pens would have to be one of the easiest things to turn. One advantage is that they are held on a mandrel so they cant fly off the lathe when you do something wrong.
Most suppliers will put instructions in with the pens but here is a basic guide.

Prepared the blanks by drilling a 7mm hole down the middle.
Glue in the brass tubes. Give the brass a rub with some sand paper first to give the glue something to grab onto.
Use a disc sander of pen mill to ensure that the end of the timber is square at the brass tubes.
Insert the blanks onto the mandrel with the appropriate brushes.
Go wild just making sure that the thickness of the pen is the same as the brushes on all four ends.
Turn and sand.
Take it off the mandrel and insert the pen parts.
All done.

Here is an example of some of the pens I completed last week:
Stinkies Pens

I would suggest that you have a look at a few sites to find your basic materials .... such as Carroll's Woodcraft Supplies or GPW .
The basics would include:
7mm drill bit.
Pen mandrel to suit your lathe.
A pack of pen parts.
Timber or acrylic blanks. (easier and cheaper to start with timber)

I wouldn't worry too much about the pen mill. I have one but find a quick touch on the disc sander works just as well. The pen disassembler is handy if you are doing many pens but not essential. People will recommend that you get a book but it really isn't rocket science, as I said the instructions that come with the pens will be all you need.

Oh and ask questions as I am sure everybody with a lathe has made at least 20 pens before.

Stinky

Some instructional pages:
Robert - Sorby
and
Woodcraft

The best book on the subject "Pens From The Wood Lathe" by Dick Sing.
Probably obtainable from Carbatec. Definitely from Amazon.

thanks for advice guys,,that was really helpful sir stinky

with all due respect to Sir Stinkalot I have turn my share of pens and had one the wood fly off the brass barrel due to an unknown defect in the wood other than picking a few splinters out my hand no damage was done to me. I would in addtion to what Sir Skinkalot suggested I would add a face shield , you can't be to careful. I agree pen turning is easy and good practice




River Rat

A question for Sir S. (or whoever else reads this first). In your picture you show a pen with red and blue colour. I've seen the multi coloured balnks advertised. What are they made of and how are they to turn?

Jackson:

The plastic look material is available in a few different types now; there is acrylic, Crushed Velvet, Celluliod Chip Blanks and Celluliod Blanks amongst others. It is turned basically the same way as a timber pen just making sure not to overheat as it can melt which tends to ruin the finish. The advantage is the looks can be striking and the finished shine doesn't dull like it does on timber pens due to the natural oils in the hand. Care must be taken in drilling to ensure that they don’t overheat also.

GPW has a good range of these materials including some blanks that are pre-drilled, which is always handy if you are not confident. I find that the colours of these pre-drilled sets have gone down hill in the last few years. The last set that I ordered had the most horrid colour selection. As for finishing you could use U Beauts "EEE" or I find that sanding up to high grit and then applying car polish works well. Car polish will be fronded upon by others as it has silicone, which can ruin other finishes down the track, but the choice is yours. I would suggest starting out turing the timber as the acrylic doesn't give you that warm fuzzy feeling. Although the turning process for the two is basically the same it would be best to try out on the timber as any blown blanks will only cost 40c (the price of the tubes) where as the acrylic is generally $5.00 a pop.

river rat:

Yes it goes without saying that even though it is relatively safe it is still more dangerous then watching TV. All kiddies out there make sure that you are protected up to the teeth as accidents can still happen. It is safer than turning a huge out of balance bowl, but you still have the issue of dust and thinks flying into your eyes. The chances of something major going wrong are still reduced by having the wood secured on the mandrel but I would still recommend the full safety gear.


Stinky.

I am not sure if the southern area of Sydney is convenient but if you contact Wood-eze in Sans Souci, Leigh there is usually happy to offer a demo....maybe purchasing a few pen blanks is a reasonable "thankyou" if you do head down for a lesson. He has a website www.wood-eze.com.au.
If you are not a member of the Woodturners Guild, you can turn up to a maxi day and for a few dollars spend the day, see turners in action and ask questions. There are groups spread around Sydney. Their website is www.sydneywoodturners.com.au.
I hope this is of some use.
Alan