Pen Turning?

The blanks have to be slightly longer than the brass tubes. If they are longer, it takes more time to use an end mill before you get to the brass tube.

most drill bits are not long enough to drill the pen blank without cutting the blank to length for the tubes.

1) Mark the length of the brass tubes on your blank leaving some extra at the ends. Not all brass tubes are the same length. It depends on the kit and style your using. 2) before you cut the pen blank mark the wood so you can tell what ends go together. The challenge is to have any grain pattern match at the center of the pen. I draw 2 or 3 lines one a couple different sides near the cut before I make the cut.

I use my bandsaw to cut the blanks in "half". If you don't have a bandsaw then a miter box with a thin fine toothed saw would work. I think using a tablesaw without a properly constructed jig would be asking for the loss of some fingers and the blade would take too much wood...remember that the challange is to have any grain pattern match at the center of thepen. The more wood you take from the center the more it will seem to be off.

3) Drill from the center out. You sometimes get breakout when the bit punches through the other side. Any punch out is hopefully less than the extra wood you gave your self for each half 4) Check that your brass tube fits all the way in before you try to apply glue. If it gets stuck a pencil or your trimmer will get it out. 5) Apply glue and push the tube in from the center (I use a sharpened pencil). You want the tube to be just inside the center end. Do not make it flush because if your cut is not square you can correct it with your trimer without taking off too much brass.

harryc wrote:

but generally the blanks get cut to about 2 and 1/8" long....that's why you measure the tube length before cutting. blanks do not have to be made from one type of wood only. you can glue together different colors and types of wood. some species work for pens better than others. if you are making thinner pens, then the type of wood used is more critical because you can end up peeling the wood off the brass tubes or the wood can end up cracking. I like to make fatter pens to show off the wood grain and colors. this is especially true with a wood species that varies in color, but in wider bands. find the tightest figure/burl/colors in a piece of wood and use it for blanks. you will be amazed at the difference. Example; aromatic cedar (tennessee red) varies in color (whites and reds). it has plenty of knots and flaws usually. but these variations occur quite a distance apart usually and a pen turned from a sample will turn out white or red, or with the dividing line along it. throw in a knot and the difference helps. throw in a lot of figure and the pen really takes on character. the same is true of almost every wood species. birdseye maple is great if the birdseyes are really close together....but if only one or two show up, then what is the use of using it? slimline pen kits are the cheapest kit, but you can't easily make a fatter pen with it and I can't find the parts to change it to a fatter style pen separately. I am resorting to making my own bands and bending the clips to fit and scavenging pen clips from other pens. keep your eyes open for places that sell kit parts for your own use later on...eventually you will tire of making thin pens. have fun, rich

And even if they were (I own some that have 18" of flute), they would tend to follow the grain and emerge somewhere other than centered ... possibly far enough off center to ruin the blank. DAMHIKT. Clamp and drill the individual pieces separately. Although you can make a fetish or second religion of getting the drill started right in the center of the blank, why bother? Except on undersized stock, "eyeball" centering is usually plenty close enough. The solution is not to bother with undersized stock unless you actually enjoy disappointments.

Spend the extra buck or three and get a good quality brad-point drill bit. The design of this bit dramatically reduces the amount of force needed to advance it through the wood and pretty much eliminates breakout for me.

Then too, drilling technique matters. Only advance the drill bit a short distance before retracting it to eject the sawdust (drill dust?). This is a quick flick of the wrist motion. As you get to the bottom of the blank, use less pressure to advance the bit. You want to break through the far end gently.

Use a measuring tape to measure the brass tubes. Cut the stock 1/8" or

1/4" longer than that, get it drilled, get it faced (several methods work, I use a purchased pen mill) and go over to the lathe and start having some REAL fun. ;-)

Bill

Ahhh, the questions... I remember starting with pens not all that long ago and the problems I had then. I think I tried just about everything that I could get to work.

What really worked for me was a black magic marker drawn in the middle of the blank on one side lengthwise starting from 1" from the end and ending 1" from the end. That way, when you cut it, you know the orientation to it and are able to follow the grain and you know where the middle is. However, after you glue your tubes in, I put a marker mark in the "outside" end on the inside of the brass tubes (for about 1/2 inch) to indicate the grain orientation (after turning) and when you finish turnign them, you can then realign the grain easier. Also, because you are on the "outside" ends, when you press the ends in place, they go over (and obscure) the marker marks on the ends of the pen. That way, you can easily keep orientation correct for the grain and not have a mark on the outside of the pen.

Also, when you put the half of the blank in the clamp you are using, rotate the other half 180 degrees clockwise. this will compensate for any misalignment of the drill press. by this, I mean if your bottom blank has your marker mark on the side of the drill press table facing the vertical of the drill press (away from you), the other half will have the marker line facing you. to test your alignment, insert the brass tube halfway into the bottom and top blanks and push them together (without glue) and see how it lines up. it will be pretty obvious to you after you do it. Also, if you dont have a pen clamp, you can use a wood clamp to hold the blanks. if you attach your clamp to the drill table, you will get a consistent orientation with regard to your holes.

if you have questions, you can email me by removing hte "nozpam" from my address.

hope this helps.

Rob

p.s. Dick Sing has a really nice book that helped me out when i was getting started.