Pen Turning's Tower Of Babel

Re: Pen Turning's Tower Of Babel

Jim Breeden

YES !

A reamer?

Dick Coers

I don't think anyone uses a reamer when making pens. I don't even use a pen mill. I sand all my blanks square.

Ever look at the stationary section of office supply places? Lots of pens available, and lots of sizes. Variety will sell a lot more pens.

Now you can make your own center bands from Corian, plastic, aluminum, brass, etc., and make bigger pens from a slimline, or make your own bands and turn a smaller cigar. Works just fine. You can also buy a bunch of Bic pens and turn wooden stick pens and have zero investment in hardware. Being creative can save all the money you want.

Re: Pen Turning's Tower Of Babel

Peter Rand

good to hear from you again Charlie - but..... soon there won't even be useless jobs for everybody! and then what do we do?? :-(

Ignore the sales people

John K Jordan

>>>Why don't the pen kit manufacturers settle on Two (2) pen tube sizes so only two drills and two reamers are needed to turn any of their pen kits? Is this yet another CONSPIRACY? Are the pen kit manufacturers colluding with the bushings and reamers makers to extract more money from pen turners' pockets?

Because there is no government regulation? (Ha!)

I turn very few pens, usually only when a kid wants to make one for a gift.

I solve the many-sizes problem by sticking to two sizes. That prevents me from using many of the pen types but life goes on.

The pens our club makes for the military service people are all made with one size using the slimline kits.

I bought a pen mandrel, two sizes of bushings, and reamer with interchangeable shafts. I bought two drill bits so I could keep them with the pen supplies. I can do everything else with what I already have in the shop.

The blanks can be drilled on the lathe if necessary but it is easier to use a drill press and standard vise.

No need for micromesh, I cut up sheets of Rynowet redline paper 600-1200 into 1"x3" pieces. (I still have a large Micromesh kit from the '70s when I refurbished our airplane windshield - it was 1/3 of today's price - but I only use it when turning things from acrylics.) I use the Rynowet sandpaper on many small turnings, not purchased just for pens.

The lathe with tailstock can be used to press the pieces together.

Does this display as infinity on your monitor? ∞

JKJ

Re: Pen Turning's Tower Of Babel

Don Orr

Remember the adage that getting a lathe is the least expensive part of woodturning.

Re: Ignore the sales people

John Stegall

Yes, infinity symbol is displayed on Windows 7.

John, where do you get your Rynowet? prices on packets are all over the place and some of the highest then hit you with double shipping. Found some on eBay but only offering 600 grit

Re: Ignore the sales people

philip f Duffy

Cut the wood to +1/4th in. Glue same to tube. Square ends in Chuck. Measure/mic the size of the parts and turn down wood to just above that size, Sand. Secure with CA or Woodturners. Assemble. DONE. Not big expense, if you know what you are doing. Do not get suckered into a big pile of $$$$ ! P

Re: Pen Turning's Tower Of Babel

George Balock

That is one of the reasons I don't turn pens.

But good on you for tackling the project for our soldiers.

Rhynowet sandpaper

John K Jordan

>>>John, where do you get your Rynowet? prices on packets are all over the place and some of the highest then hit you with double shipping. Found some on eBay but only offering 600 grit

I bought a 1/2 lifetime supply from Highland Hardware (now Highland Woodworking I think) and Supergrit years ago. I see Amazon also carries it but I didn't compare prices. A 50-count box of one grit is more than most would want but maybe it could be split in a club. I did buy a whole box of the 600 since besides Klingspor Gold rolls, I use mostly 600 grit for my smaller turnings.

I have tried a number of similar fine wet/dry sandpapers and there is NO comparison in my book. The Rhynowet (I think I have the name spelled right now) is a great abrasive, easily cleaned, and the backing is both tough and flexible. The abrasive doesn't crack like some cheaper papers when folded over and creased.

Small rant: life for woodturners would be easier if all sandpaper makers printed the grit number on every square inch of the backs of all sandpaper. I can usually tell which is which by feel but most if the time I write the grit on the back of each small piece I cut or tear off with a Sharpie.

JKJ

Re: Rhynowet sandpaper

John Stegall

Thanks. Jimmy Clewes says he can tell the grit by rubbing it against his lips. Not into kissing sandpaper myself, but really agree with your small rant!

Re: Way off topic

Dennis in Southern Oregon

John, what were you flying? I sold my Mooney M20-J about 10 years ago.

Re: Way off topic

John K Jordan

Dennis,

The windshield was on our club Cessna 172. The plastic windshield was so crazed you were nearly blinded flying into the sun. I volunteered to restore it and the MicroMesh kit did a great job, leaving the windshield crystal clear (after an afternoon of sanding and polishing!)

Our club also had a Cessna Aerobat, can't remember if it was a 150 or 152. I still have some instruments from it after the unfortunate afternoon when someone ran it into the ground. :-(

All this was in the 70s and 80s, when the plane was $9/hr and the instructor I learned from charged $6/hr. Somehow I think it's more now...

JKJ

Re: Pen Turning's Tower Of Babel

Don Evans

I think the answer is: Almost ALL beginning turners start with pen kits.

That make them easy prey for extracting their money for all the things that make the job more convenient and much easier to learn.

We've all been there!

Don

Re: Rhynowet sandpaper

Chuck Engstrom

I'm with you on printing grit on every square inch. A few years back a major manufacturer was printing barcode large enough to read from the space station, but the grit only once or twice rather small.

When I am inaugurated to the Oval Office this will be a same-day Executive Order.

All beginning turners?

Dick Coers

There was no such thing as pen turning when I started turning. Heck, there weren't even 4 jaw scroll chucks for wood. If you wanted a chuck, you got something from a metal lathe. If you wanted a 4 jaw, it was independent jaws.

beginning turning

John K Jordan

>>>I think the answer is: Almost ALL beginning turners start with pen kits.

I'm not sure about this. I never turned a pen until years after I got started. I learned mostly from a couple of books and I don't remember anything about pens there. Of course, that's a statistic with a sample size of 1.

I know several woodturners who said they have never turned a pen. Maybe that's a more common thing in some areas or with some clubs. That's a slightly larger sample size.

Now I do know a few people who apparently turn nothing BUT pens. I suspect they started with pen kits.

JKJ

Re: beginning turning

rch

I've turned just one pen in almost ten years of turning, and that one was done at the local Woodcraft when they offered all materials and use of a lathe for a single price. It was a gift for my daughter. In contrast, I've turned literally several hundred bowls and plates, a wide variety of spindle things, not to mention any number of other things. I'm just not interested in pens.

Re: beginning turning

Bruce Markwardt

I used to turn a fair number of pens. I got completely turned off by the high cost and low quality of the kits. Plating issues. Transmission failures. Click mechanism failures. I found that I couldn't sell them for the time and money I had in them.

Re: beginning turning

Tom Gall

Of course, that's a statistic with a sample size of 1.

Make that a sample size of 2. I've only turned two pens (back in the '80's?) and the only reason for the second pen was because the first one cracked (Corian) during assembly. Back in those days if you wanted a pen kit you had a choice of ONE! No mandrels or fancy stuff….turned with a "dead" cone center in the headstock and a live center in the tailstock.

Re: beginning turning

John C Lucas

I e only turned about a dozen or so. I find them very boring to make. Since i worked for a university i made them as gifts for students who worked with me.

boring

John K Jordan

>>>I find them very boring to make.

Says the guy who made the Heart Lamp and the 30 Pieces of Sliver mirror and the.... Somehow I'm not surprised.