name in pen?

[Dawn Sunkle]

I want/need to put a name in a pen. Like an engraving and then fill it with some inlay or malachite dust.
I know it can be done.. I know some folks can send off and have it done.. but how can I easily do it myself? :confused:

All idea's and suggestions are welcome.
Thanks in advance :)
Dawn

[Kurt Forbes]

a steady hand and a dremel would do it pretty easy.

My hand is not that steady.

if you could make some tiny letter templates it would make the task easier.

Most people send them off to someone with a laser setup

[Gary Max]

You can use a sharp knife or a Dermal tool to remover the wood. Them you can fill with paint or glitter and CA. Overcoming the grain in the wood is the fun part. Hope it is a short name.

[Carole Valentine]

I think you pretty well limited your options when you used the word "easily"!:D I don't think carving letters in something as round and as small as a pen can be done "easily" by most folks. Your best bet would probably be some sort of soft metal template that you could mould around the barrel, then use a Dremel. I'd sure practice a lot before trying it on a good pen though!:eek:

[Bill Stevener]

Hi Dawn,

Don't do pens. But how about considering something like a gold, or what ever stencil. You can buy material like wright and apply stuff. Would probably look just about the same.

Only a guess, but thats all I can think of that would be easy :confused:

Bill>>>>>>>>:)

[Ken Salisbury]

Have it laser engraved ! ! !

[Blake McCully]

Dawn,
I agree with Ken Salisbury. Have it laser engraved. If you want to fill it with something like turqouse dust or malachite or whatever and the re-turn it that can probably be done. However a good laser engraver will be able to do a fill with a number of different colors. Take a look at Ken Nelson's site, Kallanshaan woods, he is my primary engraver. He does a great job at a very reasonable cost and he is very prompt.

I would highly recommend at least looking at his site and writing him or even give him a call. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

[Ed Davidson]

As an alternative, and I think equally attractive approach to laser engraving, you might consider casting and turning polyester resin. There are several tutorials on this process at http://Penturners.org

Best regards,
Ed D.

[Dawn Sunkle]

Thanks for all the great suggestions.
I'm toying with the idea of using a cnc machine to do the engraving too.. but we'll see how that goes. Although the poly idea is very interesting and deffinately one I'll be checking out, along with a few of the other ideas. We'll see what works best for me. :)

Dawn

[John Hart]

I started another thread in the Laser forum about this very subject and then found out that you had already done it Dawn. Dopey me!!

I'm interested too. Blake, do you have a site address for Ken Nelson. I really need to get a feel for pricing and time and what kind of artwork is necessary.

[Blake McCully]

do you have a site address for Ken Nelson. I really need to get a feel for pricing and time and what kind of artwork is necessary.

John,
You can find him at kallenshaanwoods.com. Ken has a special section just for pen turners. At last look, he was charging $5.00 for the engraving and $3.00 for color fill. Unlike many laser engravers, there is no set-up charge. If you have multiple items to be engraved with the same text, he has a great discount. Even better, Ken does not charge for handeling and return shipping. Since many of the items I have him engrave are shipped to a different address, not back to me, I usually include a priority one pre-paid label. He doesn't ask for that, but I figured why not?

Ken is very quick with the return. I usually get it back, if it comes to me, within 3-4 days after he receives it. Real fast service. As far as graphic format, I'm not sure exactly what Ken needs. I have very limited experience with laser engraving, however I suspect that a vector file rather than a raster file would be best. I have a buddy who is planning to launch his own engraving business and we are going to try working with an .EPS file, encapsulated postscript, which is by nature a vector file. I would suppose that the more complicated the graphic, the more it would need to be converted to vector. I'm sure our new member, Ed, can expand this discussion. By the way, Ed, welcome to the "Creek", best on the net.

[Ed Davidson]

Many of laser engraver manufacturers use Corel Draw (.cdr) as their primary design platform. All of the design work I've done and had laser'd was made with Corel.