How long to turn a pen

[Dave Dionne]

I was just wondering how long it takes experienced turners to turn say a screw cap american. Assume your balnks are cut and glued to the tubes but still square. How long from turning on the lathe to buffing out the finish?

I am slow at turning so I was wondering how it takes somebody that may be selling them or is just used to turning a quanity of pens.

Thanks in Advance Dave

PS. I should say up fron that turning pens is my relaxation so I don't push it, I was just wondering to myself that's all

[Jason Beam]

My slowest pen was 4 hours - 80% of that was fighting with a finish that just wouldn't cooperate (CA).

My fastest was 20 minutes from raw wood to finished pen (including drilling, gluing, milling, turning, sanding, finishing and assembly). It's my 2nd choice user. The 4hr one is my 1st choice user.

Edit: I should say - neither turned out well enough to show off to anyone. The first could have, but i gave up after awhile.

[Dave Dionne]

So do you do a CA finish, I would love to try it

[Paul Heely]

I'm currently making pens in batches of 12. Starting with square blanks with glued tubes I estimate it takes 30-40 minutes / pen start to finish and I'm use Enduro poly as my finish. That is actual labor time and has nothing to do with elapsed time. You will find elapsed time can vary widely based on what finish is used. Finishes like Enduro and lacquer require time to cure before the next step can be done to them. When you take this time into account it can take days or weeks to finish a pen.

I'm actually timing the different steps of the process now so I have a better idea how much time is actually being spent on each pen so I can figure out if I am actually making minimum wage or not :D .

[Jason Beam]

So do you do a CA finish, I would love to try it

I did for 3 or 4 pens ... but i can't anymore. It turns out I'm sensitive to it. Everytime I finished a pen with CA, I would end up with cold-like symptoms for 3 days. My nose was both PLUGGED solid and runny at the same time. No air was moving, so I couldn't sniffle, had to just dam up the nostrils with kleenex. I think the sinus clogging was less painful than my wife laughing at my Kleenex Walrus impression. :o

[Bonnie Campbell]

Gee! And I thought I was doing fantastic when I got 6 pens done in a day lol Well, for me I guess it was..........:o

[Mike Vickery]

You will get a range of answers on this many people say they can turn a pen in 5 minutes.

Personally I can turn them that quick but the majority of the time I take to make pen is drilling, sanding and finishing. Ussually I would say it takes about 40 minutes total for me to make one.

[Ernie Kuhn]

For Jason,
Try wearing a respirator with vapor canisters. I'm giving a seriously cracked black walnut bowl huge repetitive doses of powdered sawdust and CA. Fumes were really getting to me. Had same cold like symptoms but no problem after donning the respirator. Make sure you use the vapor canisters, not just dust mask.
Ernie

[Doug M Jones]

I've only done a about 30 pens and it takes me about an hour each. I spend more time sanding and finishing than actual turning. I have found that acrylic takes less time. I have to have the tools really sharp and then I Micro Mesh through 12000 and they really shine. Don't have to wait for sanding sealer to dry or wait between coats of finish. I saw a guy on another site that said he could do 7-8 per hour from start to finish. I figure his pens look like they only took 8 minutes each.:confused:

[Jerry Ingraham]

I've done about 40 pens now and they take about 20-30 mins each with a blo/ca finish.

[Dario Octaviano]

Based on your criteria (blank is all prepped), turning for me is about 5 minutes. My finish of choice is CA and it can take me 30 min - 2 hours to finish a pen.

If it is just friction polish, I can turn and finish a pen in 7 minutes or so IF I am lucky. That said, I don't use friction polish anymore.

For me it is not a race so I try to enjoy it...even if I take 2 hours, I am fine with it. Longer than that, it start to become a struggle and no longer fun...and there are a couple that gave me that.

[Nancy Laird]

I'd say that I can turn a pen--from blank on the mandrel to finish--in 15-20 minutes- depending on the wood I'm using. Some woods are less cooperative than others so it takes longer to get them down to size and get them sanded for finish. I've recently had people ask how long it takes to make a pen, and I, too, make them in batches. I would hazard a guess that 45-60 minutes per pen would be a good guesstimate.

Nancy (113 days)

[Bobby Perry]

I always turn my pens till they are done.:D

[Gary Herrmann]

Not sure. I guess they're about 4.5 inches?

[Frank Kobilsek]

Doug
You are doing fine at an hour. I've turned probably 200 over the last 3 years and they still take me at least 45 minutes. Time spent on finish is well invested. You ain't a little sweat shop, don't worry, just enjoy.
Frank

[Don Eddard]

I don't turn a lot of pens, but the last wood pens I did (using stabilized blanks) were taking about 45 minutes from start of spinning to finished and buffed barrels, ready to assemble. That's using 2 coats of CA as a finish. The actual turning with a chisel part is probably about 10 minutes of the total time.

[Bill Stevener]

Not sure. I guess they're about 4.5 inches?

That's to short, a nice pen is 5.75"

I don't do pens, only quills.


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