Bic pens Fred's way
Fred L. - North Carolina
>Hello! I have made a number of pens that use Bic and other similar stick pens.
I prefer to start with a round stick or dowel. As a matter of fact, some pens came from commercial dowels. The reason is that drilling the hole is easier for me. I have used 1/2" and 5/8" dowels.
I cut the dowel to about 3/4" longer that the finished pen with 3/8" waste at each end. I drill in the lathe, with the dowel in a chuck. I push as much of the dowel as I can into the chuck and spindle. The end of the Morse taper in the spindle seems to hold the dowel pretty steady! I mark both centers on the dowel.
I mount a SHORT 3/16" brad point drill in the Jacobs chuck in the tailstock and drill about 2". Then I change to a 6" long drill, and drill about 5" into the dowel. I drill slow, the wood will heat, and pull out the drill a few times to clear the shavings. When this is complete, I check to see if the hole is straight (most of the time it is) by inserting a long dowel (metal or wood) into the hole. This shows me how straight it is.
This hole is for the refill itself. A smaller hole for the refill part makes the pen stronger.
The next step is to drill a hole for the pen's tip (same end). I measure the tip's diameter and drill a hole deep enough for the tip + 3/8" waste.
This part of the hole then gets reinforced with glue, usually CA.
With the pen mounted between the chuck and a live center, I turn the length of the pen, excepting for the tip's taper at the live center, and the end at the chuck. I sand and put some finish on the turned part.
Then I turn the taper at the tip (live center) end. As I turn the very end of the taper, the waste parts away, and the pen is held by the chuck. Now I advance the live center to meet the turned end of the pen, with very light pressure.
The chuck end is turned, finished as much as possible, and parted. With some shapes you could remount the pen in the opposite direction to finish the end, but if the pen's body tapers as usual it will not work well. The nib is sanded off and both ends get the final finish.
Make sure the tip does not fit too tight, or you may crack the end. When using CA to reinforce the hole this is usually not a problem. Sometimes I have to open up the hole a bit with the drill bit.
When I give out these pens, I include the empty barrel so the recipient knows what to use as a refill.
These pens can also be used to make a cheap desk set. I have made several out of walnut scrap, and people love them! The pen holder is just a round piece about 2" dia. with a hole to receive the pen. I usually glue a wedge under the holder to give a a proper angle. I usually glue a piece of veneer, where the hole goes, to accent it.
On another note, the "finial" for the pen does not have to be turned as part of the body. I have turned finials separately with a little stem that gets glued in a hole at the end of the pen.
Hope this tips will help somebody.
Fred
