Knowledge You Can Build On — Est. 1998
pen turning
Jerry from MD.
>I'm new at this and am having trouble drilling and sanding the blanks.No matter how I try I . can't drill fron center top to bottom it always comes off center at bottom.I use a brad point drill in a drill press running at 2100rpm.When sanding Wood seems to collect sanding dust and I can't seem to remove it.Any help is appreciated.Jerry
Re: pen turning
Joe Herrmann
>I've found that it is darn near impossible to drill perfectly straight through the blank. Drill bits tend to wander in end grain. If your blank is large enough, it shouldn't be a problem. If you are really having a problem and the drill bit is square to the table, you might want to try something to hold the blank during the drilling operation.
I usually use some kind of danish oil to "wash off" the saw dust and to bring out the beauty of the grain. You could also use an air compressor or a tack cloth to eliminate the dust.
Joe
Re: pen turning
Fred in NC
>Jerry, I emailed you.
Re: pen turning
RonZ
>Precision:
I use the lathe as a drill press. I have my Vicmarc chuck with the extended jaws to hold the blank, this will keep the blank about as straight as you can get and there is a Jacob's chuck in the tailstock. I prefer the bullet tip bits to the brad point and I drill at about 800 -1200 rpm. If you use a brad point, it might help you to score the drill target point with the edge of the skew for marking the center.
Sawdust:
One method you can use is to use a paste wax between sanding grits and I usually stop at 220 so when I reach 400 grit, there won't be much wax left to effect the finish. I make my own paste wax of mineral oil and parafin wax. You can substitute beeswax instead of parafin. When you're ready to apply sanding sealer, I keep my lath at 30 rpm [lowest speed] and have my application cloth at the bottom of the blank and drip on the sanding sealer from the top. This helps 'wash off' left over sawdust. I repeat the same procedure with the friction polish. You'd be surprised at what still comes off.
If you need any further help, feel free to contact me.
Re: pen turning *LINK*
Brad Harding
>Most people use a drill jig to hold the blank square. There are lots for sale in stores selling kits. Here is one I made from some scrap, it is mounted on my drill press:
http://tinyurl.com/564zz
-the sanding dust can be removed with a hood on a dust collector or a shop vac in my case, but often you want the dust to help smooth the pen. I leave the dust on and seal. The finish is much smoother that way.
Brad
hardingpens.com
My Workshop
Re: pen turning
MikeinCapeMay
>I don't turn too many pens, however when I do I prepare the blank on a drill press. I have a vise with wood jaws. Each jaw has a "V" cut into it and when the vise is closed these match forming a square. These "V's" each grab a corner of the blank and hold it in position. I also use a brad point bit, however I drill (plunge) slowly and back out a few times to allow the sawdust to escape. I've rarely had problems. On those occasions when the bit has wondered it's been very little, not so much as to effect turning the blank.
