Making pen blanks, What Size?

[Derek Gilmer]

I'm not a turner... yet. But I know building a good stock of material can make beginning turning a lot better as I've seen how fast people go through pratice lumber. Toward that end I find myself with quite a bit of extra cherry cut offs. Most of it is too narrow over all to be used as flat stock of a decent length. But I hate the idea of throwing away possibly good lumber if it can serve a better purpose.

So I have two questions. What are the ideal size(s) for pen blanks to be cut to? Most of the pieces are 4/4 now. And between 1" and 2" wide no longer than 1 foot. I'm planning on ripping it down and letting it air dry til I can pick up a lathe and some classes to get sucked into the vortex.

Second, do any of you all want some cherry pen blanks? I suspect I will have quite a bit extra I can send out. Or if you are local to the Central AR area you are welcome to pick it up.

[dave harris]

i'd like some cherry blanks. how much you asking for them? typical blanks i have seen are 3/4 x 3/4 x 5 or 6"

[John Terefenko]

Pen blanks are based on the size of the kit you are putting them on. Obviously the larger the kit the larger the blank. Most blanks in a square form are 5/8" to 3/4" square and 5" long. Some kits require a 7/8" blank. These are good for most all kits. You have 2 piece kits and one piece kits and if using a one piece kit you get one pen from a blank. If using a one piece kit it is possible to get 2 pens from but not always the case because some one piece pen kits require longer blanks. Go to any pen turning catalog such as PennState industries, Crafts Supply usa and so forth and look at all the blanks and kits available and draw your own conclusion as to how to cut your blanks.

[Chris Stolicky]

If the wood is wet, cutting them 7/8"-1" and about 6" long would be the safe bet. There is no telling how much the ends will check or how much the blanks will bow when drying.

You could make them smaller, but the risk increases.

I would also seal the ends if they are pretty wet.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree with Chris. If it is wet wood I would definitely go at least a 1". I cut some wet walnut blanks and if I had went smaller a lot of them would not have been useable. If dry 5/8" to 3/4" square and at least 5" long would be good.

[Thomas Canfield]

Derek,

Ripping the stock to square 3/4 or 1" size works well (even 5/8" for slimline). I prefer on my rough blank stock to leave it long until I decide the pen it will be used for and then cut to lenght for the blank. That way you often end up with additional segments or drops that can be used for other items such as key chain pieces or even the small purse pens, or just practice pieces. Most of the cherry have a real grain pattern that will need matching.

I have a marking stick (cardboard) marked with the different lengths of tubes plus allowance for the pens and mark the diffent segment at the match line to keep the pairs together, such as A1 & A2, B1 & B2,.................. I can also use the marks when drilling to make sure and orient the blanks in same position for drilling to make the hole same center in blank if blanks are not drilled exactly in the center.

[Derek Gilmer]

Thanks for all the help guys. There should be quite a few pen blanks made then. I've got a nice pile of cutoffs from cherry I had cut up. It was quarter sawn and had a few bad spots in the tree. Alot of good lumber came out of it. But there were quite a few pieces with bad spots that left 6" wide boards but only about 8 or 9" long and quite a bit that had 2" strips cut off 6" boards to make whole 6ft pieces. I'm very happy to find out the extra lumber should make good pen blanks. The last thing I wanted was to see anything wasted.
139744

Now if only I had a use for the 1" size triangles edges left from the quarter sawing.. Maybe I can glue them together to form something :)

[Tim Browne]

Now if only I had a use for the 1" size triangles edges left from the quarter sawing.. Maybe I can glue them together to form something
Search the word "segmented" on the forum and you'll see uses for those triangles.
Quartersawn is always nice, glad you're not throwing away all that nice turning stock. Let us know if you decide to let go of some of those pen blanks.

[Thomas Canfield]

Derek,

I use a lot of 2" and larger scraps to make small bowls. Using cardboard circle templates, I locate centers, drill a pivot hole, and then use my cirlce cutting jig on bandsaw. I then use a screw chuck to turn the outside, a bedan tool to turn a recess for the PSI expanding collet chuck (PSI better than Woodcraft in my opinion due to serration profile), and then turn the inside. The small 2" to 4" dia x 3/4" to 1"+ high make good pill, jewelry, button, etc holders and my wife likes them for herself and for friends. Mine are priceless, but I expect they would sell also. Don't overlook the use of some larger sections of the wood.