SAFETY: At a minimum, wear safety
glasses, no jewelry, and a dust mask. Some woodworker wear tight fitting long
sleeved shirts, aprons, face shield, and have a dust collection system. Never
operate your power equipment while you're tired. Don't wear loose fitting
clothes or jewelry around a lathe or any power equipment. Be aware and mindful
that exotic woods can have toxins in them, which can be absorbed into your body
via the skin and lungs. This doesn't mean to do your woodworking in fear, but
just take necessary precaution to protect yourself. Especially, if you use
exotic woods on a regular basis. That is when toxicity will accumulate in your
body.
GET ORGANIZED: Get your equipment and
layout organized how you like it. Your project will go faster and more
efficient. Have a designated spot for each piece of equipment so you are not
searching around for it creating frustration. Making pens should be relaxing,
enjoyable, and rewarding.
SHARPEN TOOLS: Always use a sharp chisel
when carving your barrels. The wood comes off very precisely with no gouging in
the wood. Take care of your tools and they will perform well and last a long
time.
How to make a pen:
A. Standard pen blank (5/8 x 5/8 x 5")
B. Two drilled half blanks
C. Brass tube is glued into drilled recess
D. Turned pen barrel with brass tube glued in place
PRELIMINARY: (Figure A above) Choose a type of
wood/acrylic blank, a pen kit style, and the metal plating.
MARK and CUT: (Figure B above) The blank needs to be
marked and cut to the specific length of the barrel tube. Usually 1/32 longer
than the barrel tube giving you some margin for error. I use a template to mark
each tube size. You can use a band saw or miter box to cut the blank. I use a
miter box. That is... until I get my band saw. (Note... you can buy blanks
that are precut and center drilled. Make sure they are drilled to the barrel
tube size for your selected pen kit.)
DRILL: (Figure B above) Drill out the center of the blank
with the appropriate size drill bit for your pen kit. If you plan on doing a
lot of drilling, get a carbide tipped drill bit. It will stay sharper much
longer. It's best to use a drill press and blank drill vise to secure the blank
for drilling. Take several drill plunges to remove the wood chips from the
drill hole, and decrease drilling pressure towards the drill-through point at
the bottom of the blank. This will eliminate wood blow-out. (Caution...never
hold the blank in your fingers/hands to drill the hole.)
GLUE: (Figure C above) Glue-up the blank. I generally
use a CA glue (gel), but I also use Epoxy (5 or 15 minute setup time) if I'm not pressed
for time. I recommend Epoxy for a novice until you acquire the gluing
technique. Rough-up the barrel with some sandpaper to give the glue some more
"bite" for adhesion to the wood. I will run a bead of CA glue down the outer
side of barrel tube. I use a barrel inserter to make the insertion quicker and
less messy. As you make the insertion, twist the barrel to coat the whole
barrel, which will make a stronger adhesive bond. Make sure the barrel is
inserted completely on both ends of the drill hole. CA glue dries fast (less than
20 seconds) so work quickly. Immediately wipe any excess glue off the blank and
your insertion tool. Be careful with CA glue. You just might become part of
your pen. (Potential problem- if the drill hole still has any excess residual
dust in it and there is not enough glue, the barrel will not adhere to the wood
properly and will come loosen during barrel trimming, carving, or assembly. I
recommend that you blow air in the drill hole and even run a Q-tip down the
drill hole with acetone to remove any debris.) Also, gluing takes a few attempts to get the
right amount of glue on the barrel. Too much glue and you have a gooey mess.
Not enough glue and you have some adhesion problems. Tip: Block one end of the barrel with wax, clay,
or play dough to prevent glue from going up the inside of the barrel as you press it in. Once glue dries, a barrel trimmer
will clean the wax out. Also, when working with glue, you may want to use Nitrile gloves to protect skin from glue.
TRIM: Trim each blank with a barrel
trimmer down to the barrel tube. This will square the blank and remove any
excess glue inside the barrel. You can do this by locking the trimmer in a
drill press, a lathe drill chuck, a hand drill, or attach it to a handle. If you don't have a
handle, well you have a lathe, put your skills to work with some scrape wood and
you should have a handle in a couple of minutes. Drill a pilot hole on the side
of handle where the trimmer shaft inserts into the handle and use a screw to
lock the trimmer into place. You can also use a bench disc/belt sander if you have a
light touch. I will occasionally use a disc sander on super hardwood.
MOUNT: Mount each blank onto the
mandrel. You can use a drill chuck mandrel if you have a lathe drill chuck or
use a morse taper mandrel. Use the proper bushings for the pen kit you have
chosen. There usually are different size bushings for different style pen
kits. I recommend that you buy the bushings from the same supplier of the pen
kit.. The bushing provide spacing between blanks and match the barrel thickness
of your pen's hardware kit. Lock in the mandrel with the tail stock and snug
the mandrel knurl nut. Do not over tighten the knurl nut. It will damage the
mandrel. If the nut is too loose, it will spin loose and the blanks will not
turn properly.
CARVE: (Figure D above) You can use a small gouge and
start to knock off the blanks corners slowly and gradually. I recommend that
you use a slower speed on the lathe to take off the corners down to roundness.
Once barrel is round, the lathe speed can be increased. Now shave the wood off
the barrel blank down to desired thickness and shape. This should be done
slowly and methodically. For a novice, I recommend you not shave too close to
the bushings, but use sand paper to get closer to the bushings. Now is the time
to use your imagination and make the pen your own. Also, if you like a
particular profile shape, you can buy a duplicator to copy the profile shape to
multiple pens of this style. Suggestion...Before you carve your first pen, use
a small piece of scrape at the same dimensions as a pen blank and practice a
time or two.
SANDING: (Figure D above) You start to refine the shape,
smoothness, and feel of the barrel.. Use a low speed on the lathe to prevent heat build-up and start
with 220 grit sandpaper and progress through 320, 400, and 600 grit. I will
usually progress even higher. Always sand in increment and don't skip any
intermediate grits. Anything less than 220 grit will create some deep scratches
that will require a little extra work to smooth out the barrel. You don't
need to apply a lot of pressure. Let the sand paper do the work. Never hold
the sand paper in one spot but keep it moving to make the barrel uniform and to
prevent the sandpaper from heating up on your fingers. After each sanding grit,
stop the lathe and sand with the wood grain to smooth out the cross-grain
scratches and inspected the sanding. The barrels will start to gloss-up as you
refine the smoothness of the wood. Since I don't have a dust collection system,
I use a small fan next to the lathe to blow the dust away from my face even
though I wear a dust mast. If you are looking for some finer grit sand paper
above 600 grit, go to a local auto-body paint shop. My sanding method is to buy
sandpaper sheets and cut 1.25 inch strips. Then cut 1.25 squares from the
stripe to make a 1.25 x 1.25 inch square piece of sand paper, and group the same
grit together in a sandwich bag. Each sheet will give me about 50 squares for
50 pens. After each sanding I discard the small square. Therefore, each pen
gets a new piece of sandpaper so the woods and colors don't mix onto a different
pens. Occasionally I will use a sanding block.
FINISH: (Figure D above) You can start to wax and buff.
I recommend that you cut some soft fine cotton fibered cloth into approx. 5x5 inch rag
squares and put them in a 1 gallon zip bag. After I have completed the
finishing of a pen, I will discard the small rags so the each pen gets a fresh
clean rag. First, you will want to take a clean cloth and wipe down the wood
and mandrel to remove any dust and debris before you start waxing. Finishing
your pen is a personal preference. I like to use a wax wood sealer such as EEE Ultra Shine Cream, then apply
a couple of coats of HUT Crystal Coat, and the final coat with a Renaissance wax. Also, the Beall buffing system is
a great way to finishing a pen or small project.
ASSEMBLY: (Look at diagram below) Prepare your kit. I use a
clean dish cloth and organize all my pen kit parts in order by laying them out
on the clothe with the barrels. I like to use a pen press. There are other
methods to press the pen together, but the pen press is simple and efficient.
Follow the instructions that come with the pen kit. All pen styles are a little
different in assemble, but it's not rocket science.
TEST: After assembly, test the pen
twist/click mechanism and ink-infill so it functions properly. You don't want
the recipient of the pen to be disappointed with a beautiful pen that doesn't work.
PICTURE: Take a picture of your pen so
you can display your work or to remember it for a future pen project.
CURE: I will let the pen cure in a cool
dark dry environment for about 72hrs so the wax can harden before I use the pen.
ENJOY!!
Below are the general components of a pen.
(picture acquired from HUT Products)
A B C D E F
....... . G
H
Legend:
A
Finial: the piece at the top of the upper barrel
(cap)
B
Clip: holds pen to pocket, decorative
C
Upper barrel brass tube: glued into pen blank
D
Center ring: both functional and decorative, separates barrels
E
Twist Mechanism: internal device for extending infill.
