Posted by Jerry on September 11th, 2007 — Posted in DIY, Journal, Woodwork
This is an easy project for the beginner, and shows you how to make your own pens using a lathe. The technique is the same whether for wood or acrylic pens.
Here’s what you need: A lathe – can be a small cheap one, but should have a Morse #1 or #2 taper on the headstock (the part that spins your work).
I use just one chisel – a half-inch spindle gouge
A dust mask and safety visor or glasses
A saw – a hacksaw will do A pen mandrel – to hold the pen parts while you turn them
A pen kit and A pen blank – this one is pre-drilled and has the brass tubes already fitted inside
A pencil – for marking where to cut and for lining up the grain if you are turning wood Sandpaper – various grades (360,600,1500 grit) Automotive cutting polish – for acrylic, or a wood finish of your choice
Method
First take the pen blank and cut it roughly in half – I do this on a hobby bandsaw by holding it against the square set at 90 degrees and just advance it into the blade about one quarter, then rotate the pen blank in place until it separates – the two cut ends should be square to each other. You may need to sand it square if you cut it at a slight angle.
Insert the pen mandrel into the headstock – the taper should just slide in and hold. Now take the two parts and mount them on the mandrel – there should be three spacers and a brass screw.
Load a spacer, then a pen blank part, then a spacer, then the second pen blank part, then a spacer and the brass screw to tighten it – not too tight or you could distort the mandrel.
Now bring the tailstock up and lock it gently and accurately against the end of the mandrel.
Then set up the tool rest close to the centre of the work and rotate the headstock wheel by hand to ensure that nothing touches the tool rest.
For any turning it is a good idea to have a dust extractor of some kind, but whether you do or not it is important to wear a dust mask and something to protect your eyes from flying chips – a visor or safety glasses. You do not want to breathe acrylic dust or fine sawdust, and you don’t want anything to hit your eyes or to irritate them.
Making sure your chisel is sharp – use whatever you prefer – some people do the whole thing with a skew chisel, but I prefer a half-inch spindle gouge – on small square stock it can also double as a roughing gouge – so you can use one chisel for the whole operation.
Set the lathe on about 3000rpm for timber or about 1500rpm for acrylic.
And turn to shape – The spacers on the mandrel are the same as the diameters of the internal parts, so I first shave the four ends of the pen blank down to just shy of the spacers – you can creep up on the final diameter in a moment.
I wouldn’t get too fancy with the shape – aim for slender consistent cylinders with just a nice rounded shoulder down to the spacers, stopping regularly to check the profile and to clear out the strands of acrylic that wrap around the work and the mandrel.
It’s a good idea to hold a white piece of paper behind each time you stop so you can better see the profile. When you have a nice smooth cylinder and you’ve eliminated any bumps or uneven parts, it’s time for the finishing.
Leave the blank on the lathe, but remove the tool rest. Now switch on the lathe again and sand gently – moving quickly from one end to the other – to prevent overheating of any one section. Do not wrap the sandpaper around your finger! Start with the coarser grit an move to progressively finer grits until the blank feels quite smooth and silky.
If you are using acrylic, now is the time for polish – load a little automotive cutting polish onto a rag and again, without wrapping it round your finger, apply the polish to the piece while the lathe is spinning. And then buff it with a clean piece of rag until it shines with a high gloss.
Now you are ready for assembly. Unscrew the brass keeper from the mandrel and slide the two components off, remembering to keep them the same way round.
Take what will be the writing end and press the cone-shaped piece onto the end using a vice, drill press, clamp, or even the cheapest pen press of the lot – a grout press – about $1.50 from your hardware store!
It’s crude but effective! That said, a vice is more progressive and has more ‘feel’.
Next insert the riser mechanism into the writing end – this way round
But just ease the bronze bit in and go no further until you insert the refill and ensure that it extends beyond the point, but also retracts beneath the point when you rotate the silver part.
Now for the upper part. insert the small brass cap through the loop of the clip and press this into the upper blank. Now slide a spacer ring over the refill and slide the upper over the silver part of the riser and press it snugly home against the brass spacer.
The writers group ‘Sliterary’ met again in Second Life at 0900AM Sunday morning Australian time (4pm Saturday SLT) with lively discussion of what such a writers group might want to do. One suggestion was to write stories based on ideas generated by the group – and the ideas came thick and fast. Good thing I had the chat history turned on!
Characters included: a scientist who turns his/her back on science to take up a career in the arts; characters from history including Ramelli, Bill Gates and others, and settings/concepts like nano technology, time travel, dystopian urban settings and so on.
The idea is to write a short piece – up to 500 words and circulate it to the other members. Ina the convener offered a prize for the best offering, of 500 lindens (about US$1.50).
This is a great group – very welcoming of newcomers and full of creative people. I look forward to seeing what they come up with (and might even put in a story myself)
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Posted by Jerry on September 10th, 2007 — Posted in DIY, Journal, Woodwork
On the second go, and after watching a video on YouTube, I made quite a passable pen in which the retraction mechanism works perfectly 🙂 The acrylic is easy to work and I now understand how the kits go together – there were no instructions included with the kits.
Here is the video that made the difference
I reckon some purpleheart timber would look pretty good!
Posted by Jerry on September 9th, 2007 — Posted in DIY, Journal, Woodwork
It was not my intention to return to the Canberra Working with Wood show for a third day, other than to collect the lathe I had bought from the demonstration stand at Timbecon. But sadly, while assembling the jointer I noticed a problem. As I was wiring up the switch I saw that the motor chassis was not quite sitting right. On closer inspection it became obvious that the base had suffered damage on its journey across the Nullarbor desert, and was badly bent.
The folks at Timbecon were very helpful and quickly substituted the base for one of the display models – and threw in a pair of push sticks for my trouble. And before long I had the jointer fully assembled. It is quite heavy and the instructions were far from clear. So it took quite some time to complete the job. The fence setup was fairly straightforward and has positive stops at 90 and 45 degrees, and once assembled the machine is remarkably quiet.
Another trip to collect the lathe and again it was quick to set up, quiet in operation and adjusting the tool rest and tailstock were a breeze with the L-bolts.
The mortise tapers in the head and tail-stock made it easy to set up for pen turning and within about an hour I had my first rough pen fitted up. It will take practice but the early indications are good 🙂
I had bought several pen kits and some acrylic blanks and the kits are fairly straightforward – but it will take practice to get the diameters right and the finish perfected.
Once I have mastered the acrylic – which is easy to turn, but I’m wary of the dust and appreciated the Dust-Bee-Gone mask – I shall look at turning timber pens. There are some excellent Australian hardwoods that would make excellent pens 🙂
I’ll keep you posted on developments
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on September 8th, 2007 — Posted in DIY, Journal, Woodwork
I returned to the Working with Wood show today and the folks at Timbecon were very helpful in locating the base to my jointer, and it was quickly stowed in the van. And since I was already there I may as well have another look around. The rain had clearly kept some people away and it wasn’t as crowded as in previous years. But most stands were still doing a good trade.
The weather cleared and I saw the demonstration of the Lucas portable saw mill – it is simple but very effective, as all good designs are.
and I bought some timber straight off the mill – who says I don’t buy timber at woodworking shows!
The wood wizz was demonstrated to good effect on what looks like a wide tabletop to be – this is another great design that does its job very well. Ideal for a furniture business.
I got a better photo of the sail boat kit showing the sail rigging – it looks delightful.
And the scouts were progressing on theirs
You can see how the boards are stitched together with copper ties, and the framework is being inserted afterwards to provide strength and rigidity, while maintaining a lightweight design.
I also revisited the Triton Club stall and got a photo of the thread holder – it is quite ingenious, using the same principle as a louvred blind to make the threads easily accessible. The thread holder is made from Victorian ash, ply and hardware dowel. You can see the prototype beside it which was used to test the mechanism and to ensure the correct heights for the reels. This holder was built to overcome the frustration of having to dig through drawers of cotton reels, and is wall mounted.
At Chris Vesper’s stall I lashed out on a luxury marking knife – sturdy enough to use as a chisel in tight places, this tool is a work of art and the handle feels great in the hand
I also watched the great Australian Criicket Bat Race – between Stan Ceglinski and Timbecon – man versus machine!
This one was cut out on a band saw and given rough shape on the same machine, then sanded to round off the edges and smooth the handle. Meanwhile Stan began by splitting a piece of timber from a stump and hacked away with a blade – sending wood chips flying all over the guy from Timbecon!
Although starting from a raw stump, Stan quickly hacked out the shape – here he is refining the handle
And it was almost a draw! with the Timbecon guy raising his just seconds before Stan had finished signing his name – two very different approaches, but Stan sure knows his timber and clearly loves every minute that he spends working with it.
I then watched a demonstration of pen making on a small Sherwood lathe. Afterwards the guy asked if i was interesting in taking up turning. I told him I had an old Rhino (Taiwanese) lathe but it didn’t have the morse tapers to accept the pen mandrel. The guy then pointed out all the other things you can do once you have one so equipped and I noted how smooth and silent this one was – the Rhino makes an audible hum. After seven years with the other lathe it wasn’t too long before this one had my name on it – yes I bought the shop-floor one for an extra (considerable) discount off the show price – I pick it up tomorrow. I even have a bench space just ready for it! See how much I’m saving??
I also bought a resin finish for my forthcoming table 🙂
So it was another good day at the Working with Wood Show in Canberra.
Cheers
Jerry
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