More Bolt Action Pens

[Rich Aldrich]

This was the final Christmas order sent out yesterday.

Photo #1 - The 4 Pens
Photo #2 - Cherry Burl - Gun Metal. This wood was from bowl scraps that I dried with DNA and bagged with the bowl.
Photo #3 - Buckeye Burl - Gun Metal
Photo #4 - Olive Wood - Gold Olive wood is becoming one of my favorites for pens and stoppers.
Photo #5 - Birdseye Maple - Gold. This peice of Birdseye is the best one I have found.

[Dennis Ford]

All very nice, someone will be very happy.

[Paul Williams]

Good looking pens. The bolt action pens with deer antler continue to be best sellers for me.

[Rich Aldrich]

Thanks guys. I havent tried antler yet, but it is on my list now.

[Rob Price]

Very nice. I like the olive wood as well. Turns very nicely.

A buddy gave me a few of these bullet kits. Trying to round up some antler to go with them. Any tips for turning antler?

[Paul Williams]

Same advice you always get, sharp tools and light cuts. Actually the biggest problem is finding straight sections thick enough to handle the 3/8 hole. Also holding a curved section and drilling through the "average center" can be interesting. Some antler comes off in chips. Best to leave a little proud and sand the last bit. It sands and polishes easy.

[Dan Masshardt]

Same advice you always get, sharp tools and light cuts. Actually the biggest problem is finding straight sections thick enough to handle the 3/8 hole. Also holding a curved section and drilling through the "average center" can be interesting. Some antler comes off in chips. Best to leave a little proud and sand the last bit. It sands and polishes easy.

I've done a bunch of these in antler.

Drilling is the challenge for sure. I've found turning pretty easy with many different tools.

Please use good breathing protection. And smell protection for that matter.

And, nice looking pens here!!!

[Jerry Toschlog]

I am glad I found this thread, I have made 5 with PSI Kits and all 5 the tip of the pen needs to come out a tad bit farther. I was wondering if anyone else is having this issue?
I see in Riches picture his one that shows the tip out looks fine. In the 5 that I have made I dropped a BB in before the ink cartridge and that works great.

[Justin Hemphill]

I've made 4 of these with kits from PSI as well, but have had no issues with the tips not coming out far enough.

[Rich Aldrich]

Jerry,

It seems like maybe your pen body is longer than it needs to be - maybe longer the tube? I have had a couple where I had to trim off due to blow out from drillling the blank and ended up trimming the tube a bit. This made the pen stick out further than I like, but it was ok.

One other issue I had was one pen pressed together very hard. The tip mushroomed slightly - enough so the tip of the pen would not protrude and the bolt would not lock. I took a tip from another kit and it worked fine. Now I use that mushroomed tip for pressing all of my pens together so that I wont mushroom a tip again. I think the real issue was the tube probably had glue left in it, making it press together harder.

[Jerry Toschlog]

If it keep happening I could ever so slightly trim the tube making the overall all pen slightly shorter.

[Rich Aldrich]

Measure the body with a caliper after assembled. It should be 1.97" long. (the dimension is on the drawing in the instructions)

[Paul Williams]

I suspect that as has been mentioned your blank is a little too long. I have done 90 to 100 of this pen and not had a problem with length. I do trim until I see brass savings from the tube.

[Jerry Toschlog]

ok, I eyeball it and get what I feel is right at the end of the tube as felt if I see shavings I maybe in trouble.... I also will check the 1.97 thanks