Alternative materials for Freedom Pens

[Bob Weisner]

Hi:

I was wondering about some alternative materials for the Freedom Pens.

1. Is it possible to turn Marble or some sort of ceramic material? I know of a source where I can get small peices of Marble and ceramic tile.

2. If they can be turned, are there any special tools that need to be used when turning Marble or ceramic?

Thanks,

Bob

[Chris Johnson]

Some of it can be turned with sharp tools or router bits, but they are too fragile for this project. They break easily if dropped, or bumped against things. They do look great when in the proper environment.


Hi:

I was wondering about some alternative materials for the Freedom Pens.

1. Is it possible to turn Marble or some sort of ceramic material? I know of a source where I can get small peices of Marble and ceramic tile.

2. If they can be turned, are there any special tools that need to be used when turning Marble or ceramic?

Thanks,

Bob

[Gary Salisbury]

How about this for an alternative to turning a wooden pen?
http://www.penturners.org/content/copperpen.pdf

Gary in San Diego :cool:

[John Miliunas]

Gary, that's pretty cool, but I would have one concern primarily and that would be where and what type of motor I have on my lathe. If it's mounted directly behind the headstock and not a TEFC motor, you may run into issues of that metal entering the motor enclosure! NOT a good thing, IMHO. :( Other than that, I think it's a cool alternative! :cool:

[Larry Gottlieb]

Bob:

I have used polymer clay for bands on some of my pens. The book "Turning Pens and Pencils" by Kip Christensen and Rex Burningham, has a chapter and many photographs of pens turned entirely from polymer clay.
There is great variation in color and the material turns very easily.

This (overly sharpened ) photo shows two pens with polymer clay bands.

Larry