Shop Made Pen Press

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

I'm gearing up to make about a dozen or so pens, I think I've advanced far enough to make them to sell, and there even seems to be some interest :o

Up until now, I've been using my wood vice to press together my pens, but a week or so ago, while ordering some bearings for my Hitachi M12 router, I need to get my order over the 3000 yen mark ($25) to get the free shipping, Monotaro, had the toggle clamps on sale, I got one good for the pen press for about $15.

I looked at the ones for sale online and came up with this......
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I turned a round knob for the outside end of the shaft to adjust the distance that the stop block went to, and I turned the stop block as well. The stop block has a very slight indentation turned in it, to make it easier to put everything in line.

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Some size shots
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Sorry, it is in cm, just divide the cm by 2.54 to get inches :cool:

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Pressing in the cap and clip

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Pressing in the tip

.............cont.....

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

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And the results...

The wood is Curly Koa, a blank I got from Barry Stratton, I just wanted to make sure that Barry saw what a nice pen that blank gave me! :cool:

Thanks Barry!! :D

Sure like the look of this wood, not quite as much chatoyance as the Keyaki I've been doing, but pretty, just the same!

BOY did the press work slick, man, I should have built one of these a lone time ago! Took less than an hour to build it, including some head scratching. The block of wood is some Akagashi that I had, hard, hard, and free :o

I put a threaded insert in the block of wood to hold the tighten down clamp on the shaft of the stop block.

Cheers!

[Rich Stewart]

Well I'll be danged. I was just thinking about you Stu. Where ya been? Pretty slick looking press you got there. I'm still using my drill press. I gave a pen to my nephew made out of the wood you sent to me. He really liked the story behind it. Nice pen press. Nice pen. Good to see you again. I made a few things out of koa. It makes a nice bowl but I've found it does not like detail work much. Splits and cracks.

[Chuck Saunders]

Good to hear from you Stu, look forward to hearing more.

[Nancy Laird]

Welcome back, Stu. I'm glad to see you're back here. The pen press is neat--looks a lot like the commercial one I paid big $$$ for.

Also, beautiful pen!!! Curly eucalyptus looks very similar with some gorgeous grain patterns. I have some curly koa that I'm itching to turn.

[Jonathon Spafford]

Having seen ya 'round here much lately... good to see ya back! Great little press there and awesome pen... looks great! Thanks for posting!

[Jim Becker]

Stu, great job on that press!!! It's a good thing for anyone doing more than a few pens on occasion to have, too. The fact that it's buildable as you prove with yours is a good thing for many folks to know.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Well documented and executed pen press production Stu! Thanks for sharing!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Stu what a job. The pen press is a beauty as well as the pen. Nice job.

[Barry Stratton]

Great looking press and that koa pen - :eek: :eek: :eek: WOW! If I'd known that was hiding in it........:p

Glad to hear from you Stu!

[Tom Sherman]

Nice job on the pen press Stu good to hear from you

[Lars Thomas]

Did someone dig up an old thread or is Stu REALLY back?? Anyway, welcome back! Lars

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Great looking press and that koa pen - :eek: :eek: :eek: WOW! If I'd known that was hiding in it........:p

Glad to hear from you Stu!

Yeah Barry, some of those blanks you gave me, have shown real promise!!

I got some more pens done......

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From the top.

Steve Ash Ash

Bernie W Osage Orange

Barry S Bubinga

Barry S Tigerwood

Steve Ash Birds Eye Maple

Steve Ash Honey Maple

I've got a few more in the pipe too.

Lars, I'm around, just real busy is all.

Cheers!

[Don Orr]

Great pen press Stu ! You're one of those guys I can't stand;) . You can make ANYTHING or fix ANYTHING.:eek: :D . I hack and butcher most everything:( . Very nice pens as well.

Good to see you back at the creek. Hope you and yours are all OK.

[David Cramer]

Don, I feel the same as you. Those smart guys kill me! I buy something and then they post on how they made one for less than 1/2 the price of a store bought version. Thanks Stu!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, nice job and those are some great looking pens!!! I gotta ask, how do you finish them? Wax, oil, etc........ what's the secret for a silky smooth finish that won't wear away quickly?

Thanks, Dave

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Hey Thanks Don, you know what they say, "Necessity is the Mother of Invention", and boy, when you see the shipping rates.......:eek: I get inventive :rolleyes: :D

My finishing on the technique....OK here we go......

My technique for finishing is to make as smooth a final cut as possible, with a sharp skew, the lathe running at max speed, 3500 RPM. I find that this leaves a finish on the wood that is shinny and needs little work, but depending on the wood, sometimes I'll have to slow the lathe a bit.

Start sanding at #320, lathe at about 250 rpm, heat is the enemy :D

I lightly sand with the lathe running for just a few seconds, then turn off the lathe and sand with the grain, left to right, on the lengthwise.

I then flood the blank with Cellulose Sanding Sealer, I make sure the blank gets really soaked, this usually will POP the grain and add great depth to the wood. The Cellulose sanding sealer dries fast. I turn the lathe on again, and I rub the blank with a clean piece of white cloth, avoid COLORED cloth at all costs!! :rolleyes: DAMHIKT :o

I then lightly sand again with #320, lathe on and off, then blow off the sanding dust, the reapply the Cellulose sanding sealer, let dry and sand at #400, I find that this part makes or breaks the finish, if you do not spend enough time getting the scratches out of the wood by sanding lengthwise, you are sunk, DAMHIKT!!

**Important note, until I get a nice base of CA glued up, while I'm sanding wood, I use the brown garnet paper, once the CA base is on, using the black or gray colored wet and dry paper is fine, but if I use it before the wood is sealed up, I find that on some lighter colored wood, little black spots of grit can get into the wood.

I then turn the lathe back on, at about 250 RPM, I have the fast drying thin CA glue, I hold the glue in my right hand and I put one of the small ziplock bags that the pen parts come in on my left index finger, I old the edge of the bag with my left thumb, so it stays on my finger.

I drop one drop or two of CA glue on the slowly rotating blank, with the left ziplock enclosed finger, I rub it under the blank, fairly quickly from left to right to spread a thin, smooth coat of CA glue, I then take my finger off the blank, before the glue starts to get tacky. I then let it cook off like that. I have a bright spot light in my desk lamp over the lathe that I will lower near the blank if it is cold in the Dungeon.

Usually in a couple of minutes, the CA will cook off, and the surface is ready for sanding. I find in the winter, when the humidity is low, it takes longer, in the rainy season, like now, it cooks off in seconds. :D

I usually sand one more time with the #400, then the #600 wet and dry, blow it off with the compressor, and then apply the next coat of CA glue.

I find in the first application of the CA glue, on the pen blank, with just the sanding sealer on it will take more CA glue to get full coverage, but after the first coat, the second and third coat only need a small drop of CA glue. If you put on too much, you just get a thick mess, avoid this.

After I have three coats of CA glue nice and smooth on the pen, I then go to #800, #1000, #1200, #1500 and then the synthetic steel wool stuff.

All at 250 RPM, and all with the lathe stopped between grits, sanding lengthwise, and blowing off the excess dust created by sanding. You have to use clean, unclogged paper all the time. I take a sheet of sandpaper and slice it in half lengthwise, then in to strips about 1 1/4" wide, I find I waste a lot less paper this way. I write the grit number on the back of each piece, or I can end up using the wrong piece and set myself back a bit.

I clip the 14 or so pieces of sand paper I get from each sheet cut up, in a steel clip, for papers (but not a paper clip).

Finally, I take the lathe back up to about 1500 rpm, and use the turners wax on it, rub on a good coat, then with the lathe still running, I have a 3" wide buffing wheel mounted on a mandrel in a hand drill, I use this for the final buffing.

The last thing that I do before I take the blanks off the lathe, is to clean up the tenon on the short, top blank, where the middle ring goes, as often the CA glue will make this tenon rounded, not a nice crisp 90.

From ready to mount blanks, to finished pen, ready to sell, takes about 25 minutes, or less, depending on the wood.

Some of the more open grained wood, will take 5 or 6 coats of CA, to make a nice smooth finish, on some of the harder woods, the three coats of CA are more than enough.

Well you asked, maybe too much information, but that is how I do it, and so far, my pens are looking OK, and the finish has yet to fail on one done this way.

Cheers!

[David Cramer]

Thanks for taking the time to respond with so many details Stu!!! Lots of information and technique there. I am having my wife make a copy of it and when I try my first pen, your finishing method will be what I try. I'll post it above my midi and follow step for step.

Again, thanks for the well thought out and chocked full of info response. What a cool wood forum this is! If I were in Japan, I'd buy ya a drink.

Thanks, Dave

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

You are welcome David.

It is not my own idea, I got it from various people at various sites and just adapted it for myself.

As to the drink, thanks, but I have a few on had...................we run a liquor shop ;) :D

Cheers!

[David Cramer]

Just had a chance to check back in the Creek since early yesterday morning. I read your response Stu and thought you were just "honing my bowl gouge". But........you really do own a liquor store in Japan. The first guy I offer to buy a drink for responding to a post and he owns a liquor store. Freaky man. Shouldn't I be buying a lottery ticket or something?

Seriously, thanks again for typing up all the info, regardless of where the source of information originally came from. Much appreciated sir:) . Have a good day, or is it night over there?

Dave

[Marc Martindale]

Great looking pens Stu!
I was going to ask how you finished them too, thanks for the detailed explaination. I'll try your method on my next pen.

-Marc