My First Pen

[Mark]

Well I did it, went and tried making a pen, and actually like the results. It was fun, and learned a few things, so I count it as a success.

It's the chrome, mini-bullet style kit from PSI, dressed in Madrone Burl. Finished with wipe-on Gloss Poly. Faults in my work seem to be not turning the nib-end of the lower barrell small enough, turning the top end of the upper barrell a hair too small, and pressing the mechanism in a tad too far so the very tip of the pen still sticks out a bit. The kit instructions were written for a different version of this pen, so left me wondering WTH they were describing at one point.

The display stand is just something that was handy on the dining room table, so not the best at showing the pen off. Have four more of this kit, and lots of different kinds of wood to use. It took three attempts on the lower barrell till I got one I liked. The Blackwood splintered-out at the top, and the Photinia had an area of grain pull out on the side. The Madrone turned sweetly.

As always, tips or comments are welcome.

Thanks,
Mark

[sachbvn]

At first I was thinking - Mark, that is the fattest slim line I've ever seen! Then I realized what kit it was. Looks really good for a first - the finish is nice. You did good there. I hope you bought some slim lines to try.... I'll be honest though - those are almost "more" difficult to turn because they are so dang thing when you are done with 'em. Best to finish the final dimension with some sandpaper.


Looks good - nice choice of wood!


Zac

[boodrow]

Be proud , u done good on ur first try , I remeber mine and the trash man prob does too.
Boodrow

[sdb777]

From the angle you are showing(cute frog BTW), can't tell if the center band is turned down far enough? Probably a wierd lighting thing, and I'm just seeing things.....

Finish looks really good. How many coats?


Keep that pen tucked away. Take it out next year, and compare it to the most resently finished pen you have.....just to see how far along you've come! Got one tucked away myself, in an envelope with a date on it....and I will open it then.




Scott (congrats...your hooked now) B

[Mark]

Thanks guys, appreciate the encouragement. It's alot different than turning bowls and bottle stoppers.

Zac - yes, a bit fat for a slimline, and exactly why I chose it over a slimline for my firt attempt. It's short too, so LOML will be able to stash it in her purse, and still be able to find it by touch.

Boodrow - I bet you'd make a right nice one today, after the skill you've obviously acquired in the years since.

Scott - The center band seems to sit in as you noted, but don't know if that's the way it's supposed to be or not. It feels smooth along the length, no catches. Turned it right down to the D of the center bushing. Three coats of poly, with light 3600 grit sanding between. I'm just going to have to make another for LOML in order to tuck this one away.

Thanks for the comments,
Mark

[Doug B]

Great first pen Mark. I still have mine and still use it every day. I'm sure your wife will take good care of it.

I know PSI calls those bullet pens, but I call them "torpedo" pens. It looks a lot more like a torpedo to me than a bullet. I've made several of them and just sold the last one a couple weeks ago. That is a very good choice for a first pen to turn. I hate the ink refills on them, but I'm still going to make a couple more to put out on display because some people have really liked that size of pen. That particular kit is well suited to use antlers with and that is likely what I'm going to do.

Nice job Mark, and that wood is gorgeous too! Oh, and do not trust the bushing and the pen parts to match up - they don't always come out the same size and that is why I measure both with a digital caliper. It only takes a little longer to do, and can sometimes make a big difference - especially now that almost all pen kits are coming from China now.

[Mark]

Thanks Doug, I'd read one of your posts recently about your measuring, but didn't try it on this one. Will on the next. I noticed also, that this set of bushings seem to have the ID and OD skewed slightly, which was disappointing. But I guess the manufacturers are out for the easiest buck from hobbyists that "don't really need the kind of accuracy aerospace or even the auto industry need". But, when the overall dimensions are small, a little-out becomes more noticeable.

Do you and the other Masters of Pen-turning make your own bushings or have a trusted source for good ones?

Thanks,
Mark

[Joe Lyddon]

Nice looking pen... Frog too!

[sdb777]

Mark,

I use the standard bushings made for the kits, but I use them for getting close. When I get close to the bushing, I get the pencil/paper out and write down the nib/center band/clip end dimensions from the calipers. I then start back at it with a skew for final 'shaping' until I'm about 0.002" oversized. Sanding will get rid of that 0.002" really quick.....
But even with measuring down to the thousandth, I still sometimes am over sized(it might be the finish.....)




Scott (this one is yours, make another one for LOML) B

[Doug B]

Mark, I do exactly like Scott except that I don't write down the diminsions - I have noticed that my digital calipers can measure differently after they have been turned off and back on so I measure the pen components again once I get close to final size on the pen blank. The bushings are just to get pretty close.

Now, to be clear, I don't always measure every part on every kit - to me the nib is critical and on most kits the center band portion can be off slightly without being very noticeable. Clip end usually is important too, but not always. By design, the center bands that slip over the transmission, like on a slimline, are going to have some play in them so it is not necessary to turn the blank precisely for them. Sometimes I will turn them precisely to match the nib so that I can decide which end of the blank to put on the nib end at the time of assembly, but usually the blank is not reversible because of the wood grain orientation.

To answer your specific question though...yes, you can buy better quality bushings that are custom made - IAP has some guys that do that and will sell them too. Because the kits seem to be inconsistent in part dimensions, I'm not convinced that is a good way to do it, and I just measure the critical parts as I make a pen. Even so, sometimes I will get one that I am not happy with, but it is much less often. We are human, and chit sometimes happens