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View Full Version : How I make those pens.



Alan Ryalls
10-26-2004, 9:40 AM
Materials= A 4m/m dia long series drill (capable of drilling a hole 5" long in a blank)
A blank 6" long of the desired wood to make a pen.Roughing gouge,skew chistle,or equivalent.A supply of inards from Bic pens
This is how I make the pens, fit the drill in the drill chuck with about 5" sticking out,fit this into the headstock of the lathe.Adjust the tool rest so when the blank is resting on it, the drill will be in the centre of the blank. Start the lathe and push the blank so it starts to drill, pulling back frequently to clear the shavings,it may take a little practice first on scrap wood and you keep your fingers on the end of the blank(the end farthest away from the drill,never on the part of the blank where the drill end is,just in case it breaks thro the side)To lubricate the drill if it starts to bind a bit of wax rubbed on should stop this.when the blank meets the drill chuck face the correct depth should have been acheived,stop the lathe and slide the blank all the way back onto the drill.On a slow speed start the lathe to check the concentricity of the blank,if your resonable accurate the blank should be running fairly true,carefully with a pencil whilst the lathe is running find thecentre and put a dot.Stop the lathe remove the blank and drill chuck from the headstock.I always centre pop the dot and with a saw put 2 sawcuts at 90 degrees to one another for the drive centre to locate.Put drive centre in lathe and fit blank wih a lve centre at the tailstock end and take corners off with roughing gouge.Now the dreaded Skew,its the best tool for taking planing cuts and rubbing the bevel to leave a good finish straight off the tool. All I can say is,practice makes perfect,its how I learned and even now I get "dig ins" so I must still need practice!
I like to make my pens big and chunky wih a few grooves on the front end for grip,the back end you can make as plain or fancy as you want to,some of mine look like Pawns in Chess.When your happy with the design and shape a little sanding if needed your now ready for a finish.Ive used Sanding Sealer and friction stick waxs,I now use a liquid friction polish.Once all is done Ijus part of the little scap bit where the drive centre fitted and hey preso,,,a pen.
For those of you who are a bit apprehensive about drillng on the lathe although it is a recognised way of drilling(a friend of mine does all his drilling on the lathe he doesn"t own a bench drill,) I have used a different method, I use a 4 jaw independant chuck,any gripping type chuck will do,cut the blanks slightly longer, centre the blank so its running true and drill as you would from the tail stock end.Once drilled,support with live centre,and away you go,,,hey presto,another pen.
regards alan..............

Richard Allen
10-26-2004, 10:50 AM
That sounds like fun. I will have to try a few.

Thanks