Just turned my first pen tonight. 8) 8) 8) The mandrel is a piece of junk and was bent ever so slightly so it isnt perfect, but it looks cool and I like it. It is Bethlehem olive wood with satin gold hardware. It'll be my aunts birthday gift. The olive wood looks nice but I hate the smell of olive oil. I cant believe how quick it took to make a pen from blank to finished. Maybe a half hour. As if I wasn't addicted to turning and woodworking, now I have another money pit to spend my time on ;D
I've said this before, but it deserves to be repeated: Woodturning is the closest thing to instant gratification in the realm of woodworking ;D
I just have one question: Where are the PICS??? ???
Aunts already got it, no pics. Ill make another tommorow. :D Maybe two or three. 8)
Deeredude'
Penturning mandrels can be very touchy. Take it out of the holder and roll it on the table saw or a piece of glass to check if it is really bent. If the ends of your blanks are not dead square to the tube and you tighten the nut on the mandrel too tight, it will bend the mandrel. Loosen the nut, and rotate the blank(or blanks) a little, then just snug up the nut. The runout may be reduced. You can straighten the mandrel if it is bent. Just put the mandrel in the lathe, no blanks, and bring up the tailstock. Start up the lathe and put a pencil on the tool rest. Advance the pencil till it just touches the spinning mandrel, about in the middle of the length of the mandrel. This will mark the high point of the bend. Rotate the mandrel so the mark is up, (lathe off of course) then TAP it with a hammer. Keep repeating till the pencil will mark basically all around the mandrel. No more runout!! Another hickup for penturners is really poor quality bushings. There is a really good site called Penturners.org if you need more help or want to read for days how to make pens. They are almost as friendly as this forum, ALMOST ;)
8)
Pen turning can be quite addictive. Your scrap bin will begin to fill even faster because the "Hey, I can turn a pen from that," thought will run through your head each time you try and throw any little bit of junk out.
And yes, we need pics of the pen. :)
I have a big pile of spaulted wood waiting for a friend that turns pens, mostly shorts and EXTREMELY cool wood. He does a great job.
Ironwood
Ok heres a picture. It was my dad's birthday present. Holy Land Olive wood and satin gold fittings.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12494/Toolpics-GruberWagon0027.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12494/Toolpics-GruberWagon0030.JPG)
Have you tried acetate pen blanks yet? ok..it's not wood, but it's stable as all getout, and makes some really cool looking pens..
are you stabilizing your wood blanks? I know a few bladesmiths, who have a simple little vaccum chamber, half fill with thompsons water seal or propylene glycol..put the blank in and pull a vaccum on it...makes em feel and act like plastic, but with the warmth of wood..
no zopi, I havent tried either of those yet. Are the plasticized blanks easy to work with? I want to try a corn cob blank, I might have to pick one up at the store. That would be unique.
I haven't worked with stabilized wood on a lathe, but i've been told it works like plastic..
The acetate is stupid easy to work with..turn it like usual, finish with 0000 steel wool,
then polish with automotive polishing compound and final paste wax...I got many brownie points with the wife for making her a fountain pen set for christmas a couple years ago..
You have to keep your tools sharp when working with plastic. If the tool catches, the plastic WILL chip. :o
I sand from 220 through 1000 grit when I finish plastic. Followed by a coat of paraffin wax for the final buff out with 0000 steel wool.
The trickiest part of working with plastic parts is drilling the through hole without overheating and cracking. Those of you that are successful with this, what kind of bit do you use and at what RPM?
I use a split point at 560 rpm. I'll drop it in the blank about a quarter inch and back it out, repeat process until the blank is drilled.
Alright, I made 4 pens today. 2 fountain pens and 2 rollerball pens. the rollerball pens are twist and one is a gift and one is an order 8) The other two are classic American fountain pens, one for the girlfriend and one for me. Mine is spalted beech and hers is walnut.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12494/Bethlehem_and_Pens_003.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12494/Bethlehem_and_Pens_004.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12494/Bethlehem_and_Pens_005.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12494/Bethlehem_and_Pens_006.JPG)
Very nice! Especially like that walnut fouintain pen. :)
I was wondering about a way to do the fountain pens different than just straight. Thanks for the idea. The pens look great.
I'm a southpaw and it hurts my hands to have just a straight grip. Southpaws rule 8) Thanks for looking!
Southpaw here too... 8) I posted this over on another thread on DonK's First Pens.
Spalted Water Oak
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12911/TDSPEN1.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12911/TDSPEN2.jpg)
Nice job radar! Is that the woodcraft classic American too? Theres a woodcraft about an hour from here and I always find an excuse to make a trip up there :D I have a problem though, I have trouble walking away without the nova 1624 lathe :)
It is the classic American. I'm about 125 miles from the closest store. I have vowed to make the trip 4 times a year with my step dad.
Of course, on future trips, I either have to take the wife, or leave the check book at home. >:( :D ::)
How about take the checkbook and leave the wife at home :o :D
That was not one of the options she gave me after the last trip. I went a tad bit over budget. ;D
Radar, you don't look too bad for a guy who's 142. Here's a photo of a pen I did a while back.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12519/spalted%20evergreen%20oak%20pen.jpg)
Warning................pen turning is severely addicting. I really like experimenting with different shapes.
Jim
Jim, for that pen to look so odd, it looks good.
That's a neat pen Jim. Is that an oak of some sort?
I would name that pen "The Singing Pen", after the fat lady. :D
Quote from: thedeeredude on July 20, 2008, 08:19:01 PM
That's a neat pen Jim. Is that an oak of some sort?
It is made from spalted Japanese Evergreen Oak. I know that is a contradiction in terms. It is an evergreen, but is as hard as oak and looks like oak when it is being worked. If you hold a piece of red oak in one hand and a piece of Japanese Evergreen Oak in the other, you cannot tell which is which by grain alone.
I do like a fat pen. The skinny ones just slip right through my fingertips.
Jim
It is listed as a red oak, Quercus Acuta and is apparently a small ornamental here.
You just never know what you'll find googling late at night :)
Several species of oak have traditionally been
used as barrels for liquor maturation, particularly
for brandy and whiskey. During the
maturation process, the liquors are said to
undergo some desirable chemical changes as
they withdraw flavor and tanning substances
from the oak. This process help to enrich the
liquor quality. As a consequence of drinking
such liquors, quantities of oak extracts are
continuously being consumed, and these
extracts could seriously interfere with the
ecology of the intestinal micro flora, since there
have been some reports on the antibacterial
and antifungal activities of several species of
Quercus. The trunk of Q. acuta Thunb. (Japanese
name: Akagashi) was chipped into small pieces,
and the chips were extracted with ethanol. The
extract was then assayed against several species
of microorganisms. Our first findings confirmed
that the extract had wide antibacterial
activities.