Beginning Pen Turner

[Mr Eddie]

I posted in a previous thread about getting a lathe for my wife and asking for recommendations for gouges.  What will she need to turn pens?  I saw PSI had some dedicated chucks for pen turning.  What kind of chuck do pen turners use?  Anything else you can think of would be very helpful.

Thanks,
Lonnie

[jaustin]

away to center drill the blanks
Pen mandrel 
live enter
bushing and drill bits for the pen kits you want to turn
Sanding and finishing material
Away to press kits together(you can make this from a pipe clamp)

[Angus]

It's easy to give a list of what she will need. But turning (even pens) is worse than any other form of woodworking. In that, you can ask 6 turners what she will need or whats best and you'll get 13 different answers (as you've seen in your other thread.)  I would recommend you start with this. That will give you a very good idea of the basics and she can use it also. I'm not a huge fan of penn state kits but, you can't beat the price and for every different kit they sell they have package deals including the drill bit and bushings making it very easy for beginners. 

Maybe get her the lathe then a gift card to penn state or another supplier. I think you'll both be surprised at the things beyond pens you can do with a small lathe.

[Mr Eddie]

Angus,
I know it's a slippery slope.  I have some experience using a metal lathe but that was many years ago.  I live in Columbus, Ohio so I frequently shop at Woodwerks.  They said the local wood turning club is very active and has a lot of women turners.  I'm signing my wife and I up for memberships and hoping they have some 'hands on' classes.  I know my wife will be making a variety of items.  We both just need some training to get us going.  Thanks for pointing me to the DVDs, too.

Lonnie

[badwhiskey]

away to center drill the blanks
Pen mandrel 
live enter
bushing and drill bits for the pen kits you want to turn
Sanding and finishing material
Away to press kits together(you can make this from a pipe clamp)

I'll add a means of squaring the blank after you've glued the tube in place.  Something like this.

In terms of tools, the basic turning tools are sufficient.  I use a gouge and a skew.

[gear jammer]

I get a flyer from Woodcraft. If you have one check them out for classes. My fliers always has classes for beginning wood turning and pen making. Wife and I took the class ourselves for the pen making.

You can find all kinds of suppliers on the net and get their catalogs sent. I get a catalog from 8 separate suppliers but I usually stay loyal to one unless they don't have what I want. Service is a big thing with me.

Good luck, enjoy.

[chips ahoy]

Check out these folks www.timberbits.com I buy a lot from them,their dollar is about equal to the Canadian dollar.Order takes about 10 days and costs $8.00. They are in Australia and are great folks to deal with.

Mel

[NCPaladin]

I can't reply to materials for pen turning but...
in looking at PSI their pen chucks are $80 -100?
You may want to consider the Nova G3 for about $100.  They do have "special" jaws for pens available or you can use the pin (not pen) jaw set.  The G3 will handle anything your 1221 will handle and allow flexibility with a lot of different jaw sets for any projects including bowls and platters.

As Angus stated correctly...I may come up with another answer to go with the 12 differing opinions.

[Arlin Eastman]

I have several DVDs on making pens if you wish to borrow them then just send me a pm with your mailing info.

[AHill]

Pen making is fun.  I used to think of pen making as the stererotype of an old retired woodworker's hobby.  But, it's also kind of like the turning equivalent of instant gratification.  Turning a pen is quick and easy, and usually won't break the wood budget.  I often make my own pen blanks from a larger bowl blank.  Pen blanks can get very expensive if you buy exotic woods. 

To understand what you need, understand the process, then get the appropriate tools for each step. 

Here's the process (generally).  Tools are in parentheses after each step.

1. Drill the blanks (upper and lower, or single barrel) to the appropriate diameter. (Drill press, appropriate pen barrel sized drill bit.)
2. Glue the barrels into the blanks. (I use epoxy, some use cyanoacrylate.  Epoxy is gap-filling.  CA is not.)
3. Mill each end of the blank square to the barrel.  This is VERY important.  If not square, you'll have gaps when you assemble the pen, and you'll risk cracking your pen during assembly.  (Can be done with a disc sander.  I prefer a pen mill. Again, you need the proper size mill to match the barrel diameter.)
4. Mount the blank(s) on a pen mandrel and turn to shape.  Leave the blank slightly proud of the bushings.  Sanding will bring it flush.  (Pen mandrel to match the Morris Taper of your lathe (usually MT2, 60 deg cone live center or pen saver mandrel on the tailstock).  Bushings that match the final diameter of the blank for your particular pen kit.  See note below for turning tools.*)
5. Sand blank on lathe. (Sandpaper.  Not necessary to sand any higher than 220 or 320, unless you won't finish the pen.  Sometimes I use micromesh for an unfinished (no oil or water based finish) pen.  If acrylic, then wet sand starting at around 220 grit, followed by micromesh to 12,000 grit, followed by plastic polish.)
6. Apply finish to pen blanks. (Wood only.) (Your choice.)
7. Assemble pen. (Arbor press or pen press or hand clamp like the Irwin Quick-grip kind.)

Every pen kit comes with assembly instructions you can download.  Read the instructions.  They are usually pretty good.

Sometimes, folks will drill the pen blanks on the lathe using a lathe-mounted drill chuck.  If that's the case, I recommend drilling after you round the blanks.  I find my drill press has less runout than the lathe chuck does, so I use my drill press with a self-centering vise for drilling.

*For turning tools, it depends on whether you are turning acrylic or wood blanks.  For wood, spindle roughing gouge to get the blanks from square to round.  Then spindle gouge or skew chisel to get to final shape.  Skew has a higher learning curve, but usually leaves a better finish meaning less sanding. If acrylic, I find a negative rake scraper works best for final shaping.  Acrylics need high speed and very light cuts.  If you get too aggressive with acrylics, you'll get a blowout.  Sharp really means very, very sharp when turning acrylics.  Expect to take 3-5x longer to turn an acrylic blank vs. a wood blank.   But you don't have to wait for the finish to dry if it's acrylic.  For pen turning, there's no need to invest in full-sized turning tools, but they will do the job.  If on a budget, get the mini or midi-sized tools.  There's another option which is the carbide tipped cutting tools like EasyWood Tools.  Eliminates a lot of the learning curve, but they don't work very well with acrylics.

I recommend starting with the 7mm Slimline ballpoint twist style pen kits.  They are inexpensive and you only need one size drill bit (7mm).  Once she gets the hang of it, you can progress into all kinds of pen kits.  Some kits can run up to $35 for just the kit - not including the bushings and bits.  Each pen kit has it's own unique set of bushings and bit sizes.  Rockler makes a Starter Pen Turner Kit.  It has drill bit, bushings, pen mandrel, pen blanks, and pen kits for at least 3 Slimline pens.  Another resource is the International Association of Pen Turners.  Free to join the forum and lots of tutorials.

One other note.  There are several different types of pens, classified by the ink it uses.  Ballpoint, rollerball, fountain pen are the three main types.  You can't retrofit a rollerball into any ballpoint pen kit, but you can retrofit a ballpoint into a rollerball kit.  Ballpoints normally use either a Parker style (click pen) or Cross style (twist pen) refill.  Most of those refills that come with the pen are junk.  Rollerballs normally come with a Schmidt style refill, and curiously enough, mostly provide the Schmidt brand refill.  Avant makes a hybrid ballpoint ink refill called Silk Scribe.  It's an awesome ink and you can get it at Staples.  Fountain pens vary.  They use cartridge ink or pump reservoirs.  Purists like the pump reservoirs.  The cartidges are less messy.  If you give a pen as a gift, let the recipient know the style of refill.  Otherwise, the ink runs out and the pen becomes a paperweight.  I often give a free refill still in the package, so they have a reference.