| Project by Peter O | posted 343 days ago | 691 views | 1 time favorited | 10 comments |  |
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Just about the time Scottb decided to Chic his Bic for his 30 projects in 30 days challenge…
... I took a class at Woodcraft to do the same thing with a Bic Stic.
The first couple of pens didn’t turn out so great. I was worried that the hole would be off-center and I would expose it if I made the pens too slender. As a result my pens were huge … like white-board marker huge! But with some practice I started getting some pens that were a size and shape that was suitable for human hands! I’ve made about 15 of these now, and most will be stocking stuffers. Most of the pens I’ve made have been soft maple, but the middle photo also includes pens made of hickory, birch, and purpleheart. The finish I’ve been using is shellac and wax.
I’m drilling my blanks on the drill press instead of on the lathe. I set up my table at 90° to the spindle, clamp a fence to the table, and feed the pen blank up into the drill bit. By doing this I’ve found that I can drill the entire hole with a long bit, instead of starting with a short bit and then switching. I’ve also found that by feeding the blank this way I can really feel the moment the bit loads up, so I can stop and clear the bit before it wanders too much.
-- http://www.north40custom.com -- http://north40studios.etsy.com --
10 comments so far
Thos. Angle
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4013 posts in 860 days
posted 343 days ago
Peter and the pens!! Has a ring to it, don’t ya think? Good stuff.
-- Thos. Angle
rikkor
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11335 posts in 772 days
posted 343 days ago
Very cool Peter. Now I am going to have to try it, too.
dennis mitchell
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3791 posts in 1212 days
posted 343 days ago
How many pens can Peter the pen maker make if Peter can only use Purpleheart and Pine. Purtty pens Peter!
-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com
Sawdust2
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1186 posts in 985 days
posted 343 days ago
Oh, pullease! That’s paltry praise for Peter’s pulchritudenous pens.
Lee
I was up on Arizona Silhouette yesterday and he has a mandrel for closed end pens. Probably too big a bore for a Bic but a great mandrel.
-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.
Peter O
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1027 posts in 772 days
posted 343 days ago
People, please! Prior to posting, please prepare and provide proper pronunciation if planning to post preposterous prose like “pulchritudenous” as proxy for plain positive parlance.
And … uh … thanks for the comments!
-- http://www.north40custom.com -- http://north40studios.etsy.com --
Broda
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235 posts in 417 days
posted 343 days ago
cool!
how are they made?
-- BRODY. NSW AUSTRALIA -arguments with turnings are rarely productive-
MsDebbieP
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14171 posts in 1058 days
posted 342 days ago
p-p-p-p-p-lovely :) lol
-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
Peter O
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1027 posts in 772 days
posted 342 days ago
Brody – If you go to Scottb’s project and look through the comments, there is a link to instructions on another site. I was thinking it would be nice to have the info here, as well … might do a blog.
-- http://www.north40custom.com -- http://north40studios.etsy.com --
Karson
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25806 posts in 1298 days
posted 342 days ago
Perfectly, and proudly presented.
-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
Tony
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813 posts in 928 days
posted 341 days ago
Nice interpretation of Scott’s pens
-- Tony - All things are possible, just some things are more difficult than others! - SKYPE: Heron2005 (http://www.poydatjatuolit.fi)