Having too much fun making pens

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I just finished a different kind of pen. It's a little more complex than your average pen kit. One thing I like is that you have to turn the plunger for it too.

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I must say, it certainly is a unique and striking pen. The wood is, I believe, Thailand rosewood. The kit is called the "Apex". I enjoyed the challenge. I may not be so happy if I'd had problems. :lol:

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Man is that gorgeous
and man are you guy's in cahoots tryin to get me in trouble....lol....

That little Jet is right up my alley...lol...

Teddy
 
Teddy
All you have to do is make the wife some of these she'll allow the new craft.


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Put a shop vac behind the work and it will remove a great deal of the dust. I know there are dust collector vacuums made from 5 gallon buckets that work real good. These can be made homemade to keep the price down to the cost of a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. For pen making it should be ideal. Of course you have to have a shop vacuum to start with ;)
 
Wow,, that bowl came out gorgeous. .
I saw a show about a factory that made wood bowls ...
They got a half dozen or so from a block,,
One smaller then the next..
And they'd all nest together..
Very little waste,, it was pretty cool. ...

Teddy
 
onebadhawk said:
Man is that gorgeous
and man are you guy's in cahoots tryin to get me in trouble....lol....

That little Jet is right up my alley...lol...

Teddy
Click to expand...

All you have to do is get rid of your bed, and you could be turning pens like this!
 
Ronh said:
Teddy
All you have to do is make the wife some of these she'll allow the new craft.

View attachment 271757
Click to expand...

Beautiful bowl, Ron! What kind of wood is that?

onebadhawk said:
Wow,, that bowl came out gorgeous. .
I saw a show about a factory that made wood bowls ...
They got a half dozen or so from a block,,
One smaller then the next..
And they'd all nest together..
Very little waste,, it was pretty cool. ...

Teddy
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's a very cool system to get multiple bowls out of one blank. But it's very expensive.

https://www.kelton.co.nz/McNaughton Center Saver.html
 
qquake2k said:
Beautiful bowl, Ron! What kind of wood is that?



Yeah, it's a very cool system to get multiple bowls out of one blank. But it's very expensive.

https://www.kelton.co.nz/McNaughton Center Saver.html
Click to expand...


Spalted Apple wood if I remember correctly. My son found a few pieces laying in a yard he was cleaning up. One never knows what's inside the wood. Nice pens by the way, I never turned an Apex kit but I like the looks of it very much.

Ron
 
Ronh said:
Spalted Apple wood if I remember correctly. My son found a few pieces laying in a yard he was cleaning up. One never knows what's inside the wood. Nice pens by the way, I never turned an Apex kit but I like the looks of it very much.

Ron
Click to expand...

I wish I could find some wood like that laying around. It would make some beautiful pens!
 
Awwww Mannnnnnn...

Don't ya just hate it when that happens...lol...

No big deal,, is it Jim ??
Just start with another wood blank....

Teddy
 
onebadhawk said:
Awwww Mannnnnnn...

Don't ya just hate it when that happens...lol...

No big deal,, is it Jim ??
Just start with another wood blank....

Teddy
Click to expand...

Yeah, it was just a piece of oak. Now if it had been an expensive piece of burl, it would have been a bigger deal.
 
Yes,,
I was think that...
There are some exotic woods that can be pricey..
Even some domestics can be a little much....

Teddy
 
Hey,,,
I really like your signature...
I had a beautiful day at the field today...
As we got done packing up it started to drizzle...
On the way home it was coming down really hard at times....
We really needed it too...
I was thinking the same thing...

Teddy
 
onebadhawk said:
Hey,,,
I really like your signature...
I had a beautiful day at the field today...
As we got done packing up it started to drizzle...
On the way home it was coming down really hard at times....
We really needed it too...
I was thinking the same thing...

Teddy
Click to expand...

Actually, I meant taking showers, since I recently was able to take my first in 85 days. But rain showers are nice, too.
 
I decided to try again. I got some what I hope is better/stronger epoxy. The blank is another piece of oak. I made sure to put plenty of epoxy both inside the blank, and on the tube.

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qquake2k said:
I decided to try again. I got some what I hope is better/stronger epoxy. The blank is another piece of oak. I made sure to put plenty of epoxy both inside the blank, and on the tube.
Click to expand...


Do you think something like Gorilla Glue would work better than epoxy? Applied to the barrel of the pen then wet down the inside of the blank. The glue swells and then hardens filling in all the space, making full contact. Another product I've found is two part gun barrel bedding material. It also swells to fill all the gaps by creating microscopic bubbles that expand to fill then sets up harder than the Gorilla Polyurethane glue. For pen turning I believe they would both work better than epoxy.
 
dave carver said:
Do you think something like Gorilla Glue would work better than epoxy? Applied to the barrel of the pen then wet down the inside of the blank. The glue swells and then hardens filling in all the space, making full contact. Another product I've found is two part gun barrel bedding material. It also swells to fill all the gaps by creating microscopic bubbles that expand to fill then sets up harder than the Gorilla Polyurethane glue. For pen turning I believe they would both work better than epoxy.
Click to expand...

I've tried Gorilla polyurethane glue in the past, and didn't like it. I also tried CA in the beginning, but promptly got a tube stuck halfway inside a blank. I've used epoxy ever since, and it has rarely let me down.
 
qquake2k said:
I've tried Gorilla polyurethane glue in the past, and didn't like it. I also tried CA in the beginning, but promptly got a tube stuck halfway inside a blank. I've used epoxy ever since, and it has rarely let me down.
Click to expand...

The gun barrel bedding material mixes and sets up like epoxy but it forms those micro-bubbles that fill the entire space then sets up hard. My friend and I bedded the barrel on a custom 6mm Remington chambered rifle his grandfather built before his eyes went. '03 Springfield action with a Douglas 5 Star barrel (not made anymore), hand carved Locust stock from a tree in their backyard that died, many other custom things. When bench rest shooting it just wasn't as accurate as it should have been so we tried the stock bedding. We had to wax the barrel heavily but when it was done it had vastly improved in accuracy. When we lifted the barrel out you could see the tiny bubbles where it had filled in.

I'll have to do a search and try to find the stuff :)



edit: Ahhhh, found it :) https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...ock-bedding-adhesives/acraglas--prod1033.aspx $25...a bit spendy but I think it would do an excellent job of gluing the parts together totally from end to end plus the kit will do many, many pens :)

re:edit; This is not the bedding material I was looking for...I can't seem to find it. I'll keep looking, I'm a stubborn man and don't give up easily ;)
 
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Something like this could be made and adapted to turn pens...

[video=youtube;yCaGW9z4blM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCaGW9z4blM&list=WL[/video]

Just a thought...
 
dave carver said:
Something like this could be made and adapted to turn pens...

Just a thought...
Click to expand...

I've actually seen that before. Someone used to make a drill powered lathe. I've also seen a vertical lathe on a drill press.
 
I'm really happy with this one. It's a rollerball pen I made for my mom for her birthday. The wood is Bethlehem olivewood, and the cap is magnetic. Very cool, and an incredible piece of wood.

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qquake2k said:
I'm really happy with this one. It's a rollerball pen I made for my mom for her birthday. The wood is Bethlehem olivewood, and the cap is magnetic. Very cool, and an incredible piece of wood.
Click to expand...
That's really nice, Jim. I'm sure your mom just loves it.

Isn't it funny how we never really stop making things for our parents?
 
Wow,,
That guy in the vid really does beautiful work...
The drill made me think it wouldn't be worth watching,,
but he did some really meticulous machining to make the lathe...

Jim,,
You just do some gorgeous work man...
Good for you... ( or for your mom,, lol.. )

Teddy
 

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