Having too much fun making pens

Gary Byrum said:

OK. Thanks for the links. But it doesn't address my question. WHAT GRIT? I'm sure I can find a polishing compound. Here's my project. I have scratches in my cheap sunglasses that I wanna get rid of. I saw a video on YouTube, but it lacked pertinent information. I know that tinted prescription sunglasses are tinted on the surface. Most all sunglasses made of plastic, are of tinted all the way through. I want to remove those scratches. Name brands you have used with success would be valuable information to me.

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Gary,

I turn pens also, and MicroMesh pads are simply amazing. They could probably be used for your sunglasses. The problem is, if you use the small pads and do it by hand, you'll definitely burn some calories! When a pen is turning several thousand RPM, that polishing gets done pretty fast. There may be some that could be mounted on a rotary buffing tool, I just haven't looked.

Like qquake2, I don't really see the need to use polishing liquid for the final buffing. The pads wet with water put on an amazing shine.

I have even coated wooden pens with multiple coats of CA, and then polished them like they were acrylic. Sometimes somebody wants a pen whose coating is tough as nails and impervious to oils in your skin that will eventually smudge some finishes.

bill2654 -- I sometimes do antler pens. They can turn out to be incredibly beautiful, and often look so much different once they are turned down to the size of a pen. But the smell is almost unbearable for me. Imagine burning hair ....... that smells wonderful compared to turning antler! I now wear a heavy-duty mask if I'm going to turn antler.

qquake2k said:

[...]

I've never turned antler. The closest (and it's not very close) was oosik, which is fossilized walrus penis bone.

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Well, I can imagine the first person to hold up one of these walrus penis bones, when told what it was, said "Oooohhh ... SICK!"

Gary Byrum said:

I did a little reading, and I'm getting the impression that you get your end result (nice & shiny) using only the micro mesh?

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Correct. If you watch this video closely, you can see the progression from dull to shiny. The first photo is after wet sanding, and the second is after Micromesh.

[YOUTUBE]yLnkIFoiaNk[/YOUTUBE]

Zeus-cat said:

I live about a mile from a hardwood store with a lot of exotic woods. I know they sell blanks for pens. If there is something you are looking for I can pop over there and see what they have. I have been doing a few woodworking projects pairing zebrawood and padauk as an accent.

Living a mile from a hardwood store and going to a hobby shop once a week to build rockets, all I need is to get a job in a candy factory to complete the bad behavior trifecta!

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I used to use a lot of exotic woods for pens, like padauk and Brazilian rosewood. Until I developed an allergy, that is. Any exotic woods that are naturally oily make me break out like poison oak. In fact, I used Tecnu poison oak and ivy cleanser afterwards, and it really helped. Amazing stuff, and apparently not just for poison plants.

In fact, Micromesh is so good, that it can cause an unforseen problem. If the acrylic blank is too translucent, it will polish it enough that the brass tube and epoxy can show through. There are two things you can do if you know or suspect a blank will be translucent. You can either paint the brass tube, or paint the inside of the blank after drilling it. Or both, I suppose. The problem I've found with painting the tubes is that the epoxy can still show through. I've had better results with painting the inside of the blanks.

You can clearly see the tube and epoxy through this blank. Some people may not notice, but it bothers the OCD side of me enough to start over.

I suspected that this blank would be more opaque, and I was right. Much better!

Trident said:

I have even coated wooden pens with multiple coats of CA, and then polished them like they were acrylic. Sometimes somebody wants a pen whose coating is tough as nails and impervious to oils in your skin that will eventually smudge some finishes.

bill2654 -- I sometimes do antler pens. They can turn out to be incredibly beautiful, and often look so much different once they are turned down to the size of a pen. But the smell is almost unbearable for me. Imagine burning hair ....... that smells wonderful compared to turning antler! I now wear a heavy-duty mask if I'm going to turn antler.

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I know a lot of penturners use a CA finish, but it takes certain skills I never acquired. Since I never sell my pens, the spray on clear glaze is fine with me. I have heard that turning antler is horrendously smelly. The closest I ever encountered was the oosik. Turning it wasn't too bad, but drilling it made me gag.

Here's one I painted. I also paint white pearl "wedding pens".

Trident said:

Gary,

I turn pens also, and MicroMesh pads are simply amazing. They could probably be used for your sunglasses. The problem is, if you use the small pads and do it by hand, you'll definitely burn some calories! When a pen is turning several thousand RPM, that polishing gets done pretty fast.

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I have a lathe also Lee. But I never turned pens on it. Just nose cones, and I did my first tranny last month. Got it right the 2nd time. Anyhoo, I have also turned honey dippers sanded smooth and got a bees wax finish. After applying the bees wax, I hit it with one of those "Rag In A Box" towels and got em all to tint nicely. The high speed turning melts the wax into the wood (cherry at the time) and darkened it a bit. Sorry, No great pics to show for that effort.

I've wanted to turn things for quite a while now... Pens are most certainly on that list. Yours look great! I just need to get myself a mini lathe...

What I want to know though, is what I need to get started. I can buy the kits but I want to be able to buy the blanks. What else do I need? Are mandrels only necessary on certain pens or for all pens?

Do I need to buy the pen kit AND the blank??? That makes sense now that I'm reading it but what about the mandrel?

codysmith said:

What I want to know though, is what I need to get started. I can buy the kits but I want to be able to buy the blanks. What else do I need? Are mandrels only necessary on certain pens or for all pens?

Do I need to buy the pen kit AND the blank??? That makes sense now that I'm reading it but what about the mandrel?

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Pen kits are the internals only, unless they specify the wood as being included, too. You can buy the blanks, or use "found" wood, but you're going to need a drill bit (and probably a jig) to drill the correct size center hole. The mandrel is so you can chuck the pen blank in a lathe. You might also want to look at buying a pen press (allows you to easily assemble the pen) and some sort of disassembly jig (allows you to press the internals out of a pen blank).

Oh, ok. That makes sense. I'm going to try pen turning at school this year and if I like it, I'll get myself a lathe and start myself.

Thanks!

qquake2k said:

I don't think it was me. I've never turned antler. The closest (and it's not very close) was oosik, which is fossilized walrus penis bone. I made it for my urologist several years ago. I thought it was perfect for a urologist, but he wasn't impressed.

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If I made pens I'd totally have a line of them made of Oosik that I would call "Pen Fifteen".

Mushtang said:

If I made pens I'd totally have a line of them made of Oosik that I would call "Pen Fifteen".

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"Penis Mightier"

codysmith said:

What I want to know though, is what I need to get started. I can buy the kits but I want to be able to buy the blanks. What else do I need? Are mandrels only necessary on certain pens or for all pens?

Do I need to buy the pen kit AND the blank??? That makes sense now that I'm reading it but what about the mandrel?

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Here's what I use, but other penturners do some things differently.

1. Drill press, for drilling and trimming blanks, and pressing pen parts together.

2. Bandsaw, for cutting and trimming blanks.

3. Piloted end mill (or barrel trimmer) for trimming the ends of the blanks (with the tubes glued in) square.

4. Lathe, for obvious reasons. You can drill blanks with a lathe and the proper accessories, but I never have.

5. Pen mandrel, for holding the blanks and bushings on the lathe.

6. Lathe chisels, for turning (cutting) the blanks.

7. Sandpaper and Micromesh.

8. Two-part epoxy for gluing the tubes into the blanks.

9. Apron and eye/face protection.

Obviously, there are many different options for all of these. Some do it with more hand tools, such as a hand drill and hand saw. You can also purchase pre-cut and pre-drilled blanks. Some might find it easier to buy an all-inclusive kit, with or without the lathe. You'll also need the bushings that are specific to the kit(s) you're turning. The bushings help you turn the pen bodies to the proper diameter.

https://www.pennstateind.com/store/TCLC10-B.html

https://www.pennstateind.com/store/PKSTART1.html

https://www.rockler.com/how-to/getting-started-pen-turning/

https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-turn-a-wooden-pen-on-a-lathe/

https://www.newwoodworker.com/turning/trnpens.html

[video=youtube;Oq4VhV5YEjU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq4VhV5YEjU[/video]

Zeroignite said:

"Penis Mightier"

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:lol:

dave carver said:

If you're going to turn some for others I'd like to get in line for one If you can do it I'd like a real cheapie, straight wood or whatever you prefer. The first of whatever month you'd get one done 'cause that's when I have money (on SSI) If you have no plans to do something like that that's ok.

I got a little rocket kit I could send as part payment. It's one of my designs, might be worth a little in exchange

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...oh. well. guess I go buy a pen from someone else...anyone know a good internet site where I can get one?...

Take a look at this video...
Really cool...

[video=youtube;2xyp8seo-vg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xyp8seo-vg[/video]

I guess you have to have turned a lot of pen blanks before you'd think of doing this....lol....

Super interesting...

Teddy

I got started turning pens, and branched out to other "spindles". Here are a couple segmented turnings I've done -- reversible screwdrivers, peppermills, and tool handles for my lathe chisels. Pictured is a bowl gouge so I can try something different than spindles.

Oh, other spindles I've turned -- nose cones!

That's crazy Lee,,
You can't use that as a screwdriver,,
It's way to beautiful,,, lol...

Teddy

qquake2k said:

Here's what I use, but other penturners do some things differently.

1. Drill press, for drilling and trimming blanks, and pressing pen parts together.

2. Bandsaw, for cutting and trimming blanks.

3. Piloted end mill (or barrel trimmer) for trimming the ends of the blanks (with the tubes glued in) square.

4. Lathe, for obvious reasons. You can drill blanks with a lathe and the proper accessories, but I never have.

5. Pen mandrel, for holding the blanks and bushings on the lathe.

6. Lathe chisels, for turning (cutting) the blanks.

7. Sandpaper and Micromesh.

8. Two-part epoxy for gluing the tubes into the blanks.

9. Apron and eye/face protection.

Obviously, there are many different options for all of these. Some do it with more hand tools, such as a hand drill and hand saw. You can also purchase pre-cut and pre-drilled blanks. Some might find it easier to buy an all-inclusive kit, with or without the lathe. You'll also need the bushings that are specific to the kit(s) you're turning. The bushings help you turn the pen bodies to the proper diameter.

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I also am a pen turner. Yes bushings are essential. Also essential are good drill bits that are the exact size for the pen barrels. I use Turner's Select Brad Point bits. I also use a pen drilling vise which makes it much easier to drill the blanks perfectly on the drill press. Another useful tool is a pen center for the lathe, which puts all the pressure directly on the bushings instead of on the mandrel. That way you can crank it down nice and tight without worrying about bending the mandrel, which is easy to do. You will also need some method of pressing the pen parts together when you assemble the pen. You can buy a pen press but I use some inexpensive plastic things that attach to the lathe centers so that you can use the lathe to press the pen parts together.

I tried putting a CA finish on a wood pen once. It came out nice and glossy but didn't come out perfectly, because the CA finish also gets on the bushings. So when I removed the bushings the CA finish had a slightly ragged edge.

onebadhawk said:

That's crazy Lee,,
You can't use that as a screwdriver,,
It's way to beautiful,,, lol...

Teddy

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That's right! I gave those away to several of the guys in the family for Christmas. I told them they better not be dropping them on the floor! :y:

Trident said:

That's right! I gave those away to several of the guys in the family for Christmas. I told them they better not be dropping them on the floor! :y:

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Hey,,
That's not a bad thing...
I have screwdrivers with my tools in the garage...
But I also keep a multi screwdriver in the office in my desk drawer....

Very cool,,, perfect for that....

Teddy

Man that is some nice handiwork. I had no idea! Of course with seeing your other creations, I am not surprised.

My son was the best shot in his squad at the corrections academy. So I made him a bolt action bullet pen.

After reading this thread yesterday I made a point of roaming down the pen turning supplies aisle at Woodcraft today. I saw some really sweet pen blanks that reminded me of what I saw you had made.

I can see where this particular facet of turning could easily become an obsession!

o1d_dude said:

After reading this thread yesterday I made a point of roaming down the pen turning supplies aisle at Woodcraft today. I saw some really sweet pen blanks that reminded me of what I saw you had made.

I can see where this particular facet of turning could easily become an obsession!

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The cool thing about pens is that a beginning turner can get the hang of making a pen really quickly. And you can have a completed pen in a couple hours, or less.

I've only had one really bad (disappointing) pen turning experience. I was new to turning, and tried to turn an acrylic blank known to be pretty brittle (unknown to me ...). I got a little aggressive with the lathe chisel and it cracked. No big deal really. I had a spare tube, found another blank, and completed the pen, so certainly not a total loss. All the guts of the pen go in after the blank is turned, so you rarely have to toss an entire pen.

I will say that I do not buy the really cheap kits any longer. I've had issues with transmissions (the part that advances and retracts the catridge), and a few kits with cheap platings that wear off pretty quickly. But, the cheap kits can also be considered learning kits, and some are better than others. Besides Woodcraft and Rockler, good deals can be found online, and I've even bought kits from Australia (Timberbits). Shipping was $5, and I had them in a little over a week. Haven't checked exchange rates lately, but the Aussie dollar was close to the USD.

That is some nice work. I once worked with a guy that turned a pen from a large dry pine cone. It was really nice looking. I tried to buy it off him but he wouldn't sell. I'm in the market for a pen for my father's birthday.

Nathan said:

[...]

I tried putting a CA finish on a wood pen once. It came out nice and glossy but didn't come out perfectly, because the CA finish also gets on the bushings. So when I removed the bushings the CA finish had a slightly ragged edge.

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Nathan,

For CA finishing, get yourself some cone-shaped Delrin bushings. These have a standard bore for 7mm mandrels, and being cone-shaped, are smaller in diameter than your turned blank at the entry point of the tube. So no CA accumulation. And with Delrin, any CA that might seem to build up comes off easily. I do all my finish applications using the Delrin bushings, whether CA or friction polish, or other. Finally, the ends of your blanks are mostly exposed, so you can buff off any buildup on the ends.