# Kens Pen Shop



## KKingery (Nov 28, 2004)

Just thought I'd try to post a pic of my "shop"....don't laugh. This just goes to show that you don't need alot of space or money to enjoy this hobby.


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## DCBluesman (Nov 28, 2004)

I'm not laughing, Ken.  I love the efficiency.  In fact, until 2 weeks ago, my "shop" was a Black and Decker Workmate on which I mounted and dismounted each piece of equipment in turn, then cleared it off for assembly.  I just finished a tiny corner of my townhouse basement for a workbench.  I'm pleased with the fact that I no longer have to set up each piece of equipment one at a time, but a little nostalgic for my old friend the Workmate. Pictures will follow as soon as my tools are bolted down.  [8D]


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## KKingery (Nov 28, 2004)

Thanks Lou. My garage is a bit tight on space, since my boat (not pictured) takes up the whole right side. At least I gave in and left enough room for my wife to park her car in front of my "shop"!


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## dougle40 (Nov 28, 2004)

Looks very much like when I started , used the 3rd bedroom (the smallest one) of a 3 bedroom apt. located on the 3rd floor .
I had a full sized lathe , a router table , a scroll saw and a small drill press in there along with an 8' table under the window .
Gotta use the space available !! [] []


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## Doghouse (Nov 29, 2004)

Hey, you have a nice place there.  Small, but at least there is room to get away from it all.


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## jkirkb94 (Nov 29, 2004)

Amazing what some organization will do.  I'm still trying to figure out how you use the hammer and wrenches in your pen making?[]  Kirk [8D]


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## Fred in NC (Nov 29, 2004)

Ken, that is wonderful !!!  I think I need a few lessons from you on how to organize a shop.


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## woodwish (Nov 29, 2004)

Ken, very nice shop.  I am lucky to have a huge shop compared to most (16 x32) but truth is that I spend 95% of my time out there in front of my Delta midi-lathe in an area no bigger than your shop.  Most of the rest of the shop get used for finishing and preparing material.  When I built it I had visions of building furniture and cabinetry, and I probably still will as soon as I turn everything I can think of (which will be a while).


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## DCBluesman (Nov 29, 2004)

I don't have ANY of those problems, Ken.  Left the garage, the car and the boat behind with the wife a few years back. []  <b>But I've still got my pen blanks!</b>  [8D]





> _Originally posted by KKingery_
> <br />Thanks Lou. My garage is a bit tight on space, since my boat (not pictured) takes up the whole right side. At least I gave in and left enough room for my wife to park her car in front of my "shop"!


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## dougle40 (Nov 29, 2004)

Hey Lou ,
You mean to say that she actually let you keep your pen blanks ????[][]


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## DCBluesman (Nov 29, 2004)

Well, truth be told, the rest occurred 6 years ago and I only started making pens in August! []  [8D]


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## tipusnr (Nov 29, 2004)

Nice shop Ken.  Did you buy all your turning tools as a set or did you match up the handles yourself?


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## Fred in NC (Nov 29, 2004)

Ken, where do you do your glue-ups?


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## KKingery (Nov 29, 2004)

Whoa....did'nt expect to get so many replies! Thank You! Yes, it's small, but it works well for me. Let me see if I can answer all these questions in a row.

1.  The hammer I use to put the top back on my polyurethane can - the wrenches just looked good and I always seemed to never be able to find one when I needed it, so they fill the space good!

2.   Since I'm new at this, I don't do alot of glue-up other than just gluing tubes into blanks. One thing you can't see in the picture is my dual purpose pipe clamp/pen press. I use a 2' piece of black gas pipe with the pipe clamps on it with the ends covered in aluminum heat tape to prevent marring the pen pieces. It works good so far cause I'm cheap!

3.    The light box I built above my bench doubles as a great "hanger space" for when I poly my pens. I just clamp the hanging wire to the box frame and get a nice drip dry!

4.    Most all of my turning supplies came in the kit from PSI, with the exception of a nice 8 piece turning set I found last Saturday at the local Harbor Freight store. The handles just happened to match! I'm sure the turning set is cheap by most standards, but for 9.99, they turn great!

5.   I guess I'm lucky. Same wife for 25 years. Heck, she's the one that bought me the boat!!
Heck, she buys me just about everything....just call me a "kept" man!

Thank you all for the kind comments. I'm sure as I learn, and get into other projects, my little shop will need to expand. I'll post a few pics of some of my pens as soon as I get more batteries. They sure don't last long when you forget and leave the camera on!


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## Fred in NC (Nov 29, 2004)

Ken:  The 'cheap' set of turning tools from HarborFreight is carbon steel.  Usually carbon steel takes a finer (sharper) edge than HSS.  You just need to be very careful when grinding.  If you get it too hot, it loses the temper and will not cut.  Temper is lost when you see it changing to a bluish color, then it is too late.  

When I grind carbon steel I have a little can with water in it to cool the tool.  I grind a couple seconds and cool it, then grind some more if necessary.

Just curious, what do you cut blanks with ?


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## Mike_O (Nov 29, 2004)

> Originally posted by KKingery
> This just goes to show that you don't need alot of space or money to enjoy this hobby.


Ken, I understand that this hobby only needs this much space, but what about all of the other hobbies that this leads to? [] Where are you gonna put the band saw, table saw, Oneway, jointer, planer, etc...???

Mike


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## daledut (Nov 29, 2004)

My cheap set of tools from Harbor Freight is HSS NOT Carbon.


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## KKingery (Nov 29, 2004)

The only blanks I have cut so far are Red Oak and Poplar. Believe it or not, I get both from Lowes. In the section where they have dowel rods, they carry both of these woods in square rods, 3 feet long @ 3/4 inch square. I have a small metal mitre box with a small handsaw that came with it to cut these rods into black length. I'm sure as I get more into this, I'll end up getting a band saw. I have a small table saw mounted to the top of a rolling 2 drawer file cabinet that I sometimes use, but I hate all the noise and mess it makes. I just roll it out and lock the wheels if I need to. Since we moved here, I had to dis-assemble my big saw set-up. I'll post a pic of it if I can find it.


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## KKingery (Nov 29, 2004)

As promised - my old table saw set up. Notice the cabinets? They now make up the base of my new smaller shop!


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## KKingery (Nov 29, 2004)

Fred, thanks for the tip on sharpening!


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