Pen making tutorial (or lack thereof)

[PGrevie]

It was brought to my attention that there may be some interest in seeing a thread showing how a pen is made from a pen kit, so here it is. The pen I'm making is a Hart Double Twist pen. Its a ballpoint pen that uses a parker style ink refill. They do make fountain pen kits, but I don't know if I'm skilled enough to try one of the fountain pen kits. I tend to use pen kits that are a little cheaper in case I mess something up.

Disclaimer time...
During this thread I will be showing how I used sharp things spinning at high rpm to make the body of the pen. If you attempt anything from this thread please follow proper safety procedures. Most woods and pretty much all synthetic materials used for pen bodies are toxic to some degree. Some of the methods I use may or may not be safe regarding the use of power tools. My lathe, at times, is spinning at about 2,500 rpm; about as fast as a car engine driving at freeway speeds. In a nutshell, please don't do anything that might get you hurt or inhibit your ability to count to 10. If you do I'm not liable.

Now back to the fun part...

 

[PGrevie]

First I start by laying out the pen kit components and making sure they are all there. I also check for obvious defects. I lay the components out in the order they go in for final assembly.

Next I pull out the brass tube(s) that will be used as the body of the pen. This kit uses two tubes. Make sure that the blank is long enough for both tubes after they are cut.

Mark and cut the blank to length. Most pen kits will specify the length of the tubes. I just hold the tube on the blank and make a mark to avoid making a measurement error. I add about an 1/8 inch extra to the blank. The extra will be trimmed off later.

After cutting the blanks I mark the center of the blank and drill a hole the length of the blank. This kit uses a "letter O" sized drill bit. When drilling make sure to back the drill bit out of the blank regularly to clear chips. You don't want to build up heat or put undue stress on the blank. I put a small piece of balsa under the blank to help prevent the end from chipping out.

 

[PGrevie]

After the blank is drilled I allow them to cool for a few minutes. I use superglue to glue the tubes into the blanks and the excess heat will make the glue set before I get the tube where I want it. I check the fit of the tubes in the blank. I don't want them to be sloppy, but I don't want them to be too tight. I want the tube to slide through the blank easily without hanging up. Scuff the brass tube(s) with a piece of sandpaper or steel wool before gluing. This roughs up the surface to aid in the mechanical hold of the glue. I glue the brass tube and slide it into the blank with a twisting motion. The twisting motion helps to distribute the glue evenly. Push the tube into the blank so there is a little bit of blank sticking out past the tube at both ends. I didn't take pictures of the gluing process because I have to work quickly before the glue sets.

I will continue this thread soon. I hope it wasn't too boring.

 

[the_edski]

Not boring at all, Pete. I'm an engineer by degree, so I'm very intrigued to see the whole process. I used to work with a guy who turned acrylic pens, fascinating stuff.

 

[PGrevie]

I'm kind of learning as I go. The next step is try acrylic. At first I just had HSS lathe tools, but now I have carbide tipped tools. Some guys are even using Corian for pen blanks.

 

[syngent]

Not boring at all,... Keep going when your done I think its grounds for the "Significant threads" section of the Nib wiki. this is fantastic and maybe a first for the Nib

 

[DevinLT1966]

This is fantastic. I have always thought a bout trying my hand at turning a pen. Now I will have a better idea of what I am in for if I ever decide to do it.

 

[PGrevie]

If you think fountain pens and shaving are expensive... Wait until you try woodturning. The materials are relatively cheap. The pen kit for this thread cost about $7 after tax. The wood blank is only about $2-3. I've even made pens out of large branches that fell after a windstorm. The tools and other supplies get expensive quickly. I think it is a fun hobby though. I don't have the tools to do a lot on the lathe, but I have enough that I can make some nice gifts.

They even make project kits for shaving. Eventually I want to make my own razor handle, brush and stand. It would be cool to make a matching bowl too. With a superglue finish it would be waterproof. I'm going to give it a try after I get a little better at making pens. I also need to find out if I can put a DE head on one of the razor kits. All of the kits come with a cartridge head.

 

[purerockfury]

Very cool, reminds me when I was turning wood fishing plugs. Cannot wait to see the rest.

 

[PGrevie]

Once the tube is glued into the blank and the glue is dry I use a pen mill to square up the end of the blank with the brass tube. A sander or other method can be used, but I prefer the pen mill. Its a two part bit that consists of a mill and shank. The shank is sized for the kit and can be changed out with a different size.


After timming I mount the pen onto a mandrel for turning. I start by laying out the blanks and pen bushings in the proper order. The bushings hold the blanks in place on the mandrel and provide a guide for turning. The stepped down part fits inside the tube. The larger diameter is about the same diameter as the pen component that will be attached to the end of the blank. Sometimes the bushings are a little bit bigger.

The mandrel is mounted onto the lathe. The side closest to the headstock (left side) will be the nib end of the pen. When I tighten the tailstock (free spinning end of the lathe on the right) I have to make sure not to tighten it too much. It can cause the mandrel to bow and the pen body won't be cylindrical when its assembled. I usually tighten the tailstock up to make sure that the mandrel is seated in the headstock then back the tailstock out and snug it up just a bit.

 

[PGrevie]

I start turning at about 1,000 rpm. Once the corners are rounded off I turn the speed up to about 2,000 rpm. I don't know the exact speed since my lathe doesn't have a digital readout. I'm using a variable speed lathe that is supposed to go between 700-3,200 rpm. I just have to guess based on how far I turn the speed knob.

Once the first blank is rounded I move the tool rest and start rounding out the second blank. Once the second blank is rounded out, I go back to the first blank and turn it to its final size and shape.

I put a white piece of paper or cardboard in the background. It helps to see the outline of what I'm turning. Without a light colored background it is hard to see uneven spots. I continue turning until both blanks are down to their final size and shape.

The pen blanks are turned to their final shape. I sand from 100 to 600 grit on the lathe. I start at the lowest speed and increase speed as I go to finer grit. I want the slower speed with the rough grit because I don't want to remove too much material. I use carbide tipped tools, so the rough grit is only to sand down uneven spots (aka flaws in my workmanship).

Now the blanks have been sanded to 600 grit. If I am going to do a beeswax finish I will continue sanding to 1,500 grit. If I go with a superglue finish I will stop sanding here. Depending on what kind of blank I am using I pull the blanks off the lathe and sand with the grain to remove scratches. Sanding on the lathe sands across the grain. I will sand this pen with the grain for a few swipes just to make sure it looks ok. I haven't decided if I'm going to do a beeswax finish or superglue finish on this pen. I'm kind of leaning towards a beeswax finish.

 

[PGrevie]

I opted to do a beeswax finish on this pen. I will upload and resize the pictures for posting shortly. Since I opted for the beeswax finish, here are some pictures of pens where I used the superglue finish.

I like this particular pen because they aren't too long. The finished pen is about 5 1/2 inches. They are a good length for a woman's purse without being too short. All three of these pens have a superglue finish. From left to right the wood used is: Sycamore, Red Heart and an Oak (from a branch I picked up off the side of the road).

 

[the_edski]

Very nice, Pete! Beautiful work! Thanks again for sharing the process with us!

 

[syngent]

Wow those are stunning fantastic work


And thank you so much for showing what all goes into it for you, we have had a few inquiries about pen kits this is a great thread to have for reference

 

[PGrevie]

Between the last set of pictures and this set I did a little bit more sanding since I decided to use beeswax. I use a stick of beeswax that I picked up at a woodworking store. I just hold it against the pen blank and wait for it to get warm. Once it gets warm I just move it back and forth until there's a thick coat.

As you can see the beeswax will be thick and ugly. I use a thick paper towel and work the beeswax into the wood with the lathe on the fastest setting (approx. 3,200 rpm). The beeswax gets hot enough to melt and suck into the wood. I wipe off the excess wax then use a clean towel to heat up the wax one more time to make sure it goes into the wood and also to make sure there isn't excess wax on the surface.

Once the blanks are finished on the lathe I lay them out according to the order in which they will be assembled. The components are pressed into the pen blanks and the pen is assembled.

They sell pen presses online and at various hobby stores. I just use a quick grip clamp. I don't see the need to spend extra on a press that may only work marginally better than my $5 clamp.

 

[PGrevie]

Here is the final product

Thank you all for the compliments. I'm getting a little better with each kit I make. Next time I make a pen with a superglue finish I'll try to remember to take a couple pics to post. I heard about the superglue finish on youtube. I tried it just to see how it would turn out. I was blown away when I saw how well it turned out.

Hopefully I can talk my wife into helping me record a pen making video. Who knows? Maybe it will be a fountain pen. Maybe it will end up as a PIF after its done.

 

[Snargle]

Beautiful pen and a great post. Thanks for sharing the process with us!

 

[Vercin]

great work .. and thanks for the showcase

 

[jzuzphreek]

Excellent job!! Thanks for the insight. It's clear that a great deal of craftsmanship goes into these hobbies we all enjoy so much.

 

[Argonaut]

I want a small lathe to do replacement stems for pipes, brush handles and now, pen kits. Great informative thread, thanks for sharing.