Engraving on a pen

Hi All

At christmas time I didnt even know how to make a pen. Then I bought that cheap 12 inch lathe I showed on here, and now can even engrave on a pen. Pretty happy with the results on this pen. Maybe I should have did the engraving on the cap end, but this was all an experiment.

The timber is Huon Pine

Paul

Paul,
That looks fantastic,especially if you have only been doing pens since Christmas.
Agree I think the Engraving would be better on the cap opposite the clip.

How and what did you use for the engraving?

Cheers Matt.

Hi and thanks Matt, You probably looked at the tiny lathe I also bought from China for 89 bucks. I think I have a thread on here with pics of the lathe, not sure if its still on this site or not. Anyway, about 3 years ago I bought a "also cheap" lazer engraver, this is similar to the one I bought

https://www.cn-deals.com/product/meterk-dk-bl-1500mw-mini-diy-laser-engraving-machine-wireless-bt-print-engraver-bt-4-0-for-ios-android-usb-connection-for-pc-rapid-speed/

I think I paid around $130 for it. But it only engraved on areas 40mm x 40mm. Then I found another cheap Chinese lazer engraver, similar price and it engraved on areas 80mm x 80mm. With a different setup for the X and Y axis. This suited me much better as it allowed me to engrave on box lids etc.

So my first lazer got put away in the cupboard and I didn't use it for the best part of 3 years or so. THEN I come across a bloke on Facebook, very clever chap who had designed/invented a jig suited for the NEJE type lazer engravers which allows a pen blank to revolve equal to the distance that the engraving would be done on a flat surface.

Hence the pen blank is turning as its being lazer engraved. There are a lot of these NEJE type lazers, all cloned from the original. I had to modify his jig a bit to fit onto the side of my NEJE, but without too much mucking about it worked perfectly. Actually later today I am going to remake the part of it I modified.

I'll do some pics of it in the next couple of days.

Paul

Good stuff Paul.
I have been paying around $32 per pen for engraving, would love to be able to do it myself.

Hi Brad, You mean $32 just for the engraving, after you have made the pen yourself,..? And thats for a name only?

I'll get some pics in the next day or two. I been working on 7 boxes I am making at present, having a break from sanding now before lunch.

Paul

Yeah, $32 to engrave each pen. Typically like the ones in this thread
https://www.woodworkforums.com/f69/w...hlight=Wedding

Is there any limits to your talents Paul? You are always coming up with something to solve a problem and with minimal costs. Sounds like you could be on to a new business venture. Be good to see your setup when you get around to it.

Hey there Dallas,...oh I cant claim the credit for this engraving jig. It's the brains of the bloke who invented it. He was clever enough to utilise that NEJE lazer. I guess you looked up the link for it. There are a lot on the market, all clones of the original one. I paid him $55 for the jig, of which he would have cut it out on a CNC router. The quality would be nothing like that link that Brad put up. That's obviously been engraved on a very expense router/engraver, I would imagine. I dont really expect to make any money from my pens, they are nothing compared to some I have seen on here and on facebook. I'm happy just to stick with broadline pens and the odd sierra maybe. I might end up giving a pen to everyone who buys a box from me.

I will do some pics as soon as I turn another pen.

Paul

Hi gang, sorry for the slowness, its been a very hectic week. Here are some pics of the NEJE lazer engraver and the pen jig which I purchased. The pen mandrel does NOT turn. The pen blank turns on the mandrel. The pen blank is driven by yes,.....a rubber band. So hence the movement of the base works the holder for the rubber band which turns the pen blank the equivalent distance that the engraving would have done on a flat surface.

I took a video of this also, but I am hopeless with mobile phones, and had no idea how to get it to a file. I wont put this pen together, not happy at all with the prickly ash, when turning it, the timber tore, just soo soft. The prickly ash was lovely on the box I recently put in the box section, but hopeless for a turned pen. And I have no idea why that (red) line appeared under my name logo. Never happened before, I musta pressed something wrong when I was fiddling about with it this arvo.

At least this gives you an idea of the working of this jig.

Paul

Good to see you are still busy while being locked down Paul. I find it a good excuse to spend more time in the shed.
So the 2 panels on the end move back and forward to move the rubber band front to rear, is that right?
Are those panels moved by a cam type arrangement in that hole you can see on the inner panel?
Is the laser source a fair distance from the actual pen when burning or does it move down closer?
I know nothing about lasers so that's the reason for all the questions

Thanks,
Dallas

Great work, Paul, and a very interesting setup. I see you can print in an area up to 80 x 80mm but can you tell me the maximum size object you can work on? The box lids would be a good example, as I am wondering if the centre section on the bottom of bowls could be engraved, but expect that the bowls would be too big for this kind of unit (unless I won Lotto!). Thanks for your posts and the information.

Cheers, Gary

Hi Dallas and Gary, Ok, I'll answer Dallas first. I should have taken a pic of the engraver without the jig. It's only the little red plastic base that actually moves. It moves by a motor underneath it. But it only moves back and forth. Lets call that axis X. The lazer up the top moves sideways, lets call that axis Y. The lazer is about 200mm above that red plastic. Seeing as I raised the point of engraving higher, there is a little wheel on the lazer that you turn in order to get the burning point as fine as possible (and not blurry). The 2 MDF (fixed) jigs on the left hand side hold a short length of brass tubing (same as a brass tubing from a 7mm pen blank), in order that the pen mandrel can slip into it. The section of MDF you see attached to the red plastic houses the rubber band and as the red table moves forward and back (Y) it revolves the pen blank. Sorry this is hard to describe. Being a cheap lazer its not really a sophisticated outfit but it does a purpose.

I have some Hornbeam timber, blonde in colour and one of the hardest timbers you will find with a lovely true grain (used to use it on fretboards). I might try that in a pen blank engraved, should come up very slick.

Gary, yes this lazer only does an area 40mm x 40mm. I was doing some cuff links and key rings etc on it, but it doesnt really do much. Was not suited for my boxes then I found another cheap lazer which did 80mm x 80mm. The lazer on it moved both X and Y directions. And it had legs on it also. I could sit it on top of a box, did one recently 300 x 180, with initials on the top, come out nice.

Let me find a pic of a similar lazer for you.

K3 1500mw mini laser engraving machine printer diy logo marking usb engraver 8x8cm Sale - Banggood.com sold out-arrival notice

Thats it, I paid around the $130 mark for that also. So any box if you can find a way to balance that on top, it works. The software was a pain installing but,... So for your bottoms of bowls, if you made something to sit the lazer on, that would work.

I've thought about buying a better type engraver or CNC, but at my age, and then having to learn the programs to run it. I just cant see big advantages in them for myself.

Paul

Those type lazers only take JPG images also. So whatever you design in Word, has to be converted to JPG. And you cant save a Word document to JPG. I use a trick there. I design in WORD, save in WORD, then copy and paste to PAINT, and from PAINT, you can save to jpg IMAGE.

Then I do any required cropping in Photoshop Elements, like cutting out not required white space around the word or image and cropping just neatly around the letters

Paul

Now I understand, thanks.