Pen Turning Kits: Any Recommendations?

[Tom Hamilton]

Greetings Fellow Turners:

Perhaps you all can steer me the correct direction. I'm looking at a pen turning kit from Packard or Craft Supplies. They are priced the same.

Packard has a "Deluxe" kit that includes a drilling jig, pen assembly press, and pen tube insertion kit.

So what do I need to get into this part of turning?

How did you start pen turning?

Any recommendations?

Thanks, Tom

[Neal Addy]

Even after several hundred pens I've never had a use for pen assembly press or tube insertion kit. IMO they're just something to spend more money on. Pens can be assembled with a simple pipe clamp or even a bench vise. As long as you have fine control you'll be good.

I don't even understand the insertion kit. Just pour a few drops of CA into the hole and slide the tube in. Why does this require a special tool?

Just my $.02.

[Neal Addy]

Tom, one other thought...

I just glanced at the $70 beginner's kit on Craft. You don't really need all that stuff.

My advice on pens is to find the kits you like (and know are good quality) and buy just the bushings, drill bits, and kits you need from the source for that particular pen. One thing I learned early on is that not all bushings are created equal. 7mm kits are fairly standard but when you get to the other pen types they can get real confusing. One source might use a 15/32" drill bit and bushing (for example) on a cigar-style pen kit where another will use 1/2". Before you know it you are chasing bushings all over the place.

I don't know anything about their "double mandrel" so I can't comment on it. I can say that the Woodcraft "Professional adjustable mandrel" is a nice one. Same with WC's barrel trimmers.

Also, you'll probably experiment with different finishes so why pay for the polish in this particular kit? Ask around and find out what works and buy it seperately.

I guess I'm saying don't waste $70 on a kit.

[David Fried]

Tom,

I posted my two cents in this thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=34345

At the time, I thought the pen insertion tool was the worse tool I ever bought. A year later I stand by that.

I do use a pen vise. I bought it at a time when I didn't have a bench vise or a pipe clamp. (Don't use a kitchen drawer and your hip! DAMHIKT)

The first thing I ever turned was a pen. I took a one day class at Woodcraft and could hear the vortex in the distance. In the class we used bench vises for assembly not a pen press. We also used a home-made drill press fence/clamp jig not a self-centering pen vise. The turning tool we used was a roughing gouge. We still managed to make pens.

Better to spend your money on kits and tools! :D

[Neal Addy]

Dave, that's a great description of the arsenal, and a good survey on what is needed and what isn't. If you don't mind I may have to bookmark that and link to it sometime.

BTW, I'd love to hear the kitchen drawer story sometime. Sounds like something I would do. :D

[Dale Gregory]

I've used a vice to squeeze the parts together, but I found that a wood clamp with a trigger that you squeeze is the easiest method for assembling a pen. Just my opinion.

[Tony Wheeler]

try Arziona Silhouette.com

[Jon Behnke]

You can use something as simple as a punch for an insertion tool, you probably already have multiple sizes that will match the multiple tube sizes for different kits. I use a clamp for assembly and my drill press with the chuck closed for final fitting something critical like the transmision for a slimline or euro pen. A barrel trimmer is something good to have so the ends are always square. Some people us a disk sander but it's hard to do without some kind of jig to keep the blank square.

[Dwight VanSickle]

Here is my two cents, I was at a woodworkers show and I saw a demo on pen turning and they did not use all those tools to turn and assemble pen. He use a electric hand drill and held the blank with his other hand and drill the hole. Insert the tube with his fingers and CA glue. He assembled the pen with a small bar clamp and the end resaults is the same as with all that fancy stuff. That is the way I started making pens. I did upgrade to a arbor press for assembly and a self centering vise that I use if I have a lot of pens I am drillng at one time.
Dwight

[Rich Souchek]

Tom,
Watch your step carefully! Pen making is a mighty slippery place......
Guess the best info to give someone is that the forum at penturners.org is the best source for pen info right now.
The next best advice someone else gave was for a new pen turner to buy two or three dozen pens of one type and whatever is needed to make that pen. Then turn some. Give some away, hide or destroy the real ugly ones, and after you turn about 2 dozen of the same pens you will have an understanding of most of the problems that that pen can have. Most of us also get bored making that many of the same pen, so you will start making your own changes and developing your style.
That makes a whole lot of sense, and keeps the cost and equipment needed down. Might suggest either the basic 7mm slim pen, the 7mm European pen, or the cigar pen. Pick the pen that you like the most or that you would like to make the most of the 3 examples, then get 2 or 3 dozen or so. Arizona Silouhette would be my preference vendor, but Wood Pro Pen, Berea Hardwoods, Bear Tooth Woods, Woodturningz, etc would work also. Chrome finish is the cheapest long last finish for pens. (Buy an extra 6 sets or so of the brass tubes for the pens in case you mess some up or want to work ahead.)
Then get a set of bushings for the pen type you chose, a mandrel with morse taper to fit your lathe, drill bit or 2 to drill the proper holes, some glue to glue the tubes in the blanks, a barrel trimmer with the proper size mandrel, a 5 or 6 piece set of micro mesh for sanding (say 600 thru 1600) and that is probably it.
The pen blanks can be cut out of nice shop wood or anything you want to use. suggest working with wood for the first dozen or so because the plastic pen blanks take some different techniques.
Use a drill press or a jacobs chuck in the tailstock to drill the pen blank holes. I still use a wooden screw clamp as a pen press.
Rich S.

[Tom Hamilton]

Thanks to all for the complete and detailed info. Once again the depth and breadth of Creeker's knowledge and their willingness to share is amazing.

All the best, Tom

[Stan Cook]

He use a electric hand drill and held the blank with his other hand and drill the hole.

I would advise against this practice as blanks have been known to explode upon drilling, especially small blanks with large drills.

[Earl Reid]

Hi,Tom
I have made about 3000 pens to date. I use my drill press to assemble , the tip on the glue bottle to insert the tube. I trim the tubes with the DP also. I made a tool to take pens apart from a piece of steel rod.

Good luck, Earl

[Rob Bourgeois]

Do you need a pen press for assembly...no. Can you do it with a clamp..yes. As with most things in woodworking, there are tools to make things easier or faster but you will get the same results. A pen press for assembly makes it easier. But if your just banging out 1 or 2 for fun, you can probably go with a clamp.

I purchased a press mainly because I had screwed up a few pens while using a clamp and I figured the small amount of money on a press was worth it instead of wasting kits or "important" wood. I would put a pen press or things of this nature on a Christmas present list. Its hard for people to get the wrong thing when compared to something like a tool that has multiple types and qualities(turning gouges).

Same thing goes for disassembly tools, and insertion tools..you may have something that works or be able to make it, but it depends on your time to make tools versus money to spend on it. I dont have a insertion tool but I did get a disassembly tool from Santa last year.

[David Fried]

He use a electric hand drill and held the blank with his other hand and drill the hole.
Dwight

Holding it in your hand isn't a good idea, as Stan points out, but I have seen people put the blank in a bench vise and use a hand drill. I don't know if I can drill straight enough to do that but I've seen it done.



I use my drill press to assemble , the tip on the glue bottle to insert the tube.


I 've heard of using the drill press as a press and it makes sense.

Using the pointy tip of the CA bottle to push the tube in is a GREAT idea! Why didn't I think of that??:rolleyes: I usually use a toothpick. That means I have to find a toothpick .

More good ideas to steal!

[Steve Trauthwein]

I guess I will throw my three cents worth in here. Start small and if you don't want to continue you don't have a lot invested. I would suggest you start with slim lines. You do not need a tube insertion tool, period. You can make the items you will need to take a pen apart (and you will need to). Many different ways to press pens together lathe, drill press, bench clamp, use something simple to start out and you can buy or build a nice press later it you want.

Many good sources for pens, I started with Woodturningz.com and still go there for my simpler kits, good prices and great service.

Regards, Steve

[Justin Bukoski]

I turned an insertion tool on the lathe out of a small scrap of wenge that was destined for the fire. Its handy on the larger pens and keeps the epoxy off my hands.

By the way, if you are turning big barrels out of anything that splits like burl or ebony, use 5 min epoxy to glue in the tubes. Using ca glue to glue the tubes on the larger sizes and these species will frequently end in a cracked pen.

[Dean Thomas]

So much good advice! Now all you have to do is figure out which of it to follow now!!

Insertion tool? Tapered cap off the CA bottle will do, as will a turned wooden taper. A long, steel drift punch or even center punch that won't get lost in a 10mm tube can be used. Steel or brass is better than wood IMHO because it won't cut on the tubes and it won't absorb the glues--ever. A little coat of paraffin helps keep it clean. Do you need it? If you're doing only a few pens now and then, probably not, and the tapered wooden throw-away dowel will be just dandy. If you're doing more, it's a handy thing. A cheapie long drill punch is only a couple of bucks. Harbor Freight or Cummins will do just fine because you ain't gonna be pounding on it!

Pen press? Rob's right, that you really don't neeeeeed one, but... Wooden jawed clamps are great. You can even double stick tape a little 1/8" thick slab of aluminum or UHMW (Ultra High Molecular Weight) polyethylene (available in many places including Woodcraft) on there to keep from biting into the wood. If you only do SlimLines, you can get by with a 6" jaw capacity. You may end up drilling holes in the handles and adding levers, but that's okay. Whatever works and if it's cheap, hey BONUS!! Or you may end up making one from less than $10 worth of stuff. Some KD oak, a dowel and a little bit of extra hardware and a plan, an hour in the shop, and presto, you have a pen press that works just fine and can be made to work for ANY of the kits. You may have to add a new set of steps, but hey, oak just ain't that expensive. :rolleyes:

I've used drill presses, vises with and without wooden jaws, and four or five different commercial pen presses. I even made parts for my ShopSmith and used IT as my main press! Expensive doggoned pen press, but hey, it worked...at least for a while. I'm coming to the end of a run of hundreds of pens for the Freedom Pen Project. It's changed my views on a lot of these things. Doing a few pens isn't a big deal. Who needs tools for that? When is a "few" turn into "enough"? Don't know. Your call. For me, I killed the attachments for my ShopSmith, decided that the haul on the drill presses at my disposal, the thread-based bench vises, and even the wooden clamps were more than I want to contend with ever again. I'm building myself an oak pen press. Steve T (above) can tell you of our conversations yesterday. I think we both learned a bunch. I really love his press, and am tempted to duplicate it. Walnut & aluminum? What's not to like?!?! It used to have holes down the middle to make the anvil length "adjustable". Nice thought, bad design concept, though. There are ways around the spinning of the anvil like double pins, but the anvil can still rise out of the holes. He glued his down and uses a couple of special length blocks of lignum vitae for different styles of pens to achieve two positions for squeezing. Nice rig. The other one is the oaky that I'm going to build. It has a movable anvil that has steps built in. I found that I could move that pretty darned quickly and was comfortable with it. Steve's reworked design may be my second attempt, though. Picture, Steve??

Lastly, a drilling jig. No, NEVER use your hand as a drilling ANYthing! YOY. You need a jig of some kind. Do you need to buy a commercial one? Probably not. Can you do something on your own? Sure can. It can be simple or complex. Simple is an inexpensive drill press vise or a smaller wooden clamp. I have a cheapie from Harbor Freight that is screwed down to a 2x8 that I can in turn clamp onto a drill press table.

What are the issues? Having just drilled about 500 sets of blocks for the FPP, I have some opinions! :p I used one commercial rig that was really nice. Mounted to a board that was long enough to clamp down to any of the drilling machines to which I have access (4 different ones in 3 different places, all with different sized tables). The nice feature for me was that the moving jaws did not sweep the bottom of the jig. They were 3/4" off the "floor" of the jig so that a fresh piece of scrap wood could be placed under the whole mechanism. Pull or push it and the chips went away. Most of the ones available don't have enough space for a scrap of wood underneath and no real escape path for chips. Vacuum or air hose would work also. Just have to think through how to make that work without clogging or getting in the way. Vee-blocks could be used so long as the Vee is shallow enough to allow 5/8 or 3/4" pen blocks to be held.

The self-centering aspect of these vises is really, really good. Consistent drilling will make good looking pens and with minimal waste of blown out blocks! Have thrown out some blown out blocks of really stellar wood, trust me on this one.

Got a good bandsaw? The old wooden clamp (handscrew, some call it) can be turned into a pretty good substitute for the self-centering jig. Cut Vee-grooves (90º) opposite each other in the two faces. Craft Supply in Utah sells a handscrew that has square U-shaped grooves in it for $20 or so. Either of these would work. If you're cutting squares or rectangles, the Vee-groove might be better. Or heck, cut a set of each in there! And you can still use it as a clamp when you need it! I started with a 4" handscrew and glued a 3/8" thick, 2" long block of hardwood to one of the jaws so that I would have a parallel path with the drill bit. I drilled a lot of blocks that way. Not as good as the good commercial jig with the space underneath the jaws, but I only used it for about 50 sets and that was fine. The handle is way to small for my ham-fists, though. WAY too small.

These are thoughts from really recent and raw experience. Hope they help. Email me if you want more details (or blood and skin samples showing what didn't work), or ask here. Lord knows I'm not afraid to share. :o That's how I learned most of what I know, so I feel an obligation to carry it on!

[Bill Wyko]

I've never turned a pen but Brea is contributing to SMCs give aways. You might check them out.:)

[Steveo O'Banion]

I'd recommend that you try a simple pen first, then get into some of the more detailed kits later (fewer additional drills and bushings).

I'd also suggest that all of the hardware that you buy come from the same source. We were cherry picking components from various suppliers and found that bushings from one didn't fit the kits from the other, even though they were both supposed to be 7mm. We now buy all our hardware from the same source.

We use polyurethane glue and wax or deft to finish the pens. My kids probably make 100+ pens each year. I had a student last year making them from deer antler supplied by a friend.

The various acrylics are fun too, we use lapping compound to finish them.