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Turning a Pen

4K views 25 replies 13 participants last post by  Richforever 
#1 ·
Turning a Pen

Hi Folks,

WayneC posted a great blog entry on Turning a Pen with outstanding instruction and resources. Using Wayne's blog and resources, I started turning a few pens and have found a lot of enjoyment in a quick little project in the shop. I have limited shop time and while I stall on a large entertainment centre as a feature in our home theatre, as well as trying to find the time for the summer entries, I've been spending some quality time with my lathe.

With the help of WayneC's blog, and with an inability to goad him into doing a video (he actually had legitimate reasons but I love my petty torments,) I've done a video on basic pen turning of a slimline pen kit.

Thanks for looking and please contribute to the LJ Cyber Skillshare program. I'll be gather up some resources and info for a Howto podcast on setting up your contributions. I'm going to demonstrate from both a Windows based PC side and the Mac side. Stay tuned for that feature in the next couple of weeks.

Tom

http://www.jumpcut.com/media/flash/jump.swf?id=81EB81583E4711DC927D000423CEF5F6&asset_type=movie&asset_id=81EB81583E4711DC927D000423CEF5F6&eb=1
 
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#2 ·
Any more goading and I am going to have to drop $500 on a video camera instead of a bandsaw or a performax sander….lol I'll watch the video when I get home tonight. I'm sure it will be up to your normal high quality standard.
 
#3 ·
the visual is a nice addition to the written tutorial. Now I can watch the video and take the notes into the shop with me.. well, that's if I was going to actually make a pen that is.

Well done Tom and Wayne.
 
#4 ·
Hear hear! I actually dusted off the pen kits because of Wayne, and although I have turned a hundred or so pens, learned something from this CSS offering. Go Lumberjocks! Hurrah Wayne and Tom.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for this… having made some of these recently I was easily able to follow along, and picked up a couple of great tips!
 
#7 ·
Thanks guys. Once you get the hang of the spindlemaster, it's a VERY slick tool. I was telling Douglas about really hating the thing when I first got it. I gave it all of about 3 minutes to formulate that opinion. Then I took a closer look at it, watched a video or two of the tool in action and then spent another 4 minutes with it. It's now the go-to tool for finishing cuts between centres. It has the finesse of the skew and the ease of a 1/2" bowl gouge. It's really a nice tool to turn with. The sorby site recommends just honing the top of the tool. I've had better luck grinding the bevel.
 
#8 ·
That's great Tom! I'm inspired to go out and start pen turning! Great gift ideas.

Anybody have recommendations on a relatively inexpensive lathe? I've used them in the past but never owned. I'm in the Toronto area (East side) so have access to a fair number of makes and models. Let me know what you'd recommend.

I'm also going to figure out a workshop configuration that lets me have a monitor, keyboard and mouse on/near my work bench. You guys are full of great inspiration and would be great to be able to surf in the shop.

Scott
 
#11 ·
Scott, depending on your proximity to your main computer, I put a keyboard monitor and mouse in my shop using a CAT5 KVM extender. So I run my display off the secondary display on my graphics card, then run a secondary keyboard and mouse in the shop. The whole mess is connected with just CAT5 cable. Saves alot of headaches as the only thing worth any money is the monitor. I used this one: LINKAGE=
 
#15 ·
Well done Mot. Amazing how fast and simple that was. Other than waiting for the glue to dry, everything else was in real time wasn't it? If you had your blanks glued up ahead of time, you could probably do 3-4 an hour that way.

LJTV is coming right along. You only have to create another 23.75 hours of videos to fill up the day. Going into a looping rerun, that could would cover the first 3-4 days of the month. About another 5-6 days of worth of video and away we go.
 
#16 ·
LOL…get crackin with the video camera Bill! I'll need help. Yes, all the turning and assembly was in real time. Had I used gap filling CA with accelerator, the entire thing would have been real time. So blank to pen in under an hour.

Cheers!
 
#17 ·
I use gap filling CA and can do 2-3 an hour if I am cranking. Also you can set up production line style processes if you want. Cut and drill 10 blanks, glue, turn and finish, then assemmble as a group.
 
#19 ·
Almost sounds like work, Wayne! Mind you, the first pen that came off the assembly line at K and T Woodworking was greeted with some enthusiasm by my wife. "What great gifts! Can you make some boxes?" She's related to half the eastern sea board so I may need to take Wayne's direction of assembly line production into action. I may have to stop toodling around watching the tiny whisps come off the spindlemaster though. That can take a long time with all the finicky stuff that is purely self indulgent. LOL
 
#21 ·
Tom

I just started making these myself and having a blast doing it. These are easy to make and are great gifts. The video is well done and easy to follow along. The guy who showed me had a few different techniques but its always nice to see how other people do each step. I like how you chucked up the blanks to trim the barrels.
NICE WORK !
 
#22 ·
tom - thanks for the video - nice camera work. I have turned a few pens (not many) never seen the "drill out" you did after the epoxy step or that little press at the end.

I am wanting to get a lathe to do these little projects, but one thing at a time…. nice lathe too (as I remember from your video shop tour).

Mike
 
#23 ·
Thanks, Bob and Mike…I'm glad you liked the vid. Mike, the lathe is pretty sweet. It's the highest end floor tool in the shop.
 
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