# Spiritual pen kit



## DWalk (Mar 1, 2018)

I am looking for a religious or sriritually themed pen kit. I have looked at the faith, love, hope kit but the reviews aren’t very good. There are apparently problems with the fit. Does anyone know of any good kits in a spiritual/religious theme?


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## MRDucks2 (Mar 1, 2018)

Interesting, as I have turned a half dozen faith, love, hope kits and not noticed any unique issues. 


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## ajollydds (Mar 1, 2018)

Another option. https://www.signaturepensupply.com/...olish-antique-rose-copper-cross-center-band-1


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## DWalk (Mar 2, 2018)

MRDucks2 said:


> Interesting, as I have turned a half dozen faith, love, hope kits and not noticed any unique issues.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app



The issue I have seen and read about were gaps near the cap and center band portions. Maybe they have recently corrected the problem?


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## DWalk (Mar 2, 2018)

ajollydds that is exactly what I’m looking for. That’s definitely a contender and nice looking kit. Thank you


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## pshrynk (Mar 2, 2018)

I have done one F,H,L pen and did not have any problems with fit.  I did it in Bethlehem Olive Wood and it looks great.  I got the three pack and will definitely be making more, as I suspect they will be popular.  I like the looks of the one from Signature, too.  Sort of a Pastor's Pen feel to it.


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## DWalk (Mar 2, 2018)

pshrynk said:


> I have done one F,H,L pen and did not have any problems with fit.  I did it in Bethlehem Olive Wood and it looks great.  I got the three pack and will definitely be making more, as I suspect they will be popular.  I like the looks of the one from Signature, too.  Sort of a Pastor's Pen feel to it.



That’s two votes for thr FLH pen not having problems. Maybe they have worked out the issues it had. Could you tell me where you bought the three pack from Brian? I’ll give it a shot and hopefully it works out. I reaaly lime the looks of those pens.


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## pshrynk (Mar 2, 2018)

I got the starter three pack from PSI.  Good deal with the bushings and didn't happen to have the drill bits, either.


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## MRDucks2 (Mar 2, 2018)

I have gotten my FHLs from both WoodTurningz and Exotic Blanks, who each resell the PSI kits typically at a lower price than PSI. Just looked at one I still have in inventory as well as one my wife claimed. No noticeable gap. If held up to the monitor, you can see a crack of light but no different than other non-tenon center bands I have. No noticeable deflection at the tiny gap when held up to light and side pressure applied. 


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## MRDucks2 (Mar 2, 2018)

One thing to remember on the FHL ballpoint is that the top is heavy. I like to turn 4 or 5 different profiles and have noticed if I turn the bottom half with a heavily tapered or very slim profile, the pen feels out of balance to me. So, keep a little more meat on the bottom half, at least 1:1 ratio with the top and it makes all the difference. 


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## DWalk (Mar 2, 2018)

Thanks for the tip MRDucks2. I will keep that in mind.


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## DWalk (Mar 2, 2018)

pshrynk said:


> I got the starter three pack from PSI.  Good deal with the bushings and didn't happen to have the drill bits, either.



Thank you sir.


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## DWalk (Mar 2, 2018)

Thanks for the help guys. I just ordered the starter kit from PSI which includes bushings and drill bit.


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## MTViper (Mar 2, 2018)

I've turned several Sierras with religious themed blanks. 

My favorite is a stained glass with bloodwood cross:  https://www.beartoothwoods.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=832&1

He is Risen Easter blank:  https://www.beartoothwoods.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=5558&1

Amazing Grace blank:  https://www.beartoothwoods.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=5469&1


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## WriteON (Mar 7, 2018)

DWalk said:


> Thanks for the help guys. I just ordered the starter kit from PSI which includes bushings and drill bit.



You will like the final product.


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## Mike V Florida (Mar 10, 2018)

Just did a FHL pen and I did have problems. I disassembled the pen and chucked the center in the lathe and trued up the edge of the casting with a file. Went back together without a hitch.


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## DWalk (Mar 10, 2018)

Mike V Florida said:


> Just did a FHL pen and I did have problems. I disassembled the pen and chucked the center in the lathe and trued up the edge of the casting with a file. Went back together without a hitch.



I guess it’s pretty much hit or miss with this kit. The reviews are also on both sides of the fence, but it seems most have problems with it. I’m still going to give it a shot though.


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## MRDucks2 (Mar 10, 2018)

I believe this is one of the kits that the threaded portion of the center adapter is pretty thin (not uncommon) and you want to make sure you do not press it in directly on the threads but by placing a strip of solid wood or plastic with a hole in it over the threads and pressing on the shoulders. You bend or break the threaded stub sticking up. 


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## pshrynk (Mar 13, 2018)

MRDucks2 said:


> I believe this is one of the kits that the threaded portion of the center adapter is pretty thin (not uncommon) and you want to make sure you do not press it in directly on the threads but by placing a strip of solid wood or plastic with a hole in it over the threads and pressing on the shoulders. You bend or break the threaded stub sticking up.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app



I have a left over EZ blank from the starter kit I got with my lathe I use for pushing anything with threads.  I have reamed out one end to be a bit bigger than the 7 mm bore to accommodate larger threads and it works pretty good so far.  I am also saving up some stub ends of blanks that I will drill to make other pushers as the needs be.


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## thawkins87 (Mar 13, 2018)

I have had problems with the center band of the FHL ballpoint pen - the casting was not uniform (on each of 3 different finishes) so it did not match up well with squared pen tube. But that was about a year ago, and from what I recall they (PSI) said they had a known supplier issue on that and were working to resolve. 

I've also made several FHL rollerball pens, and those have turned out great. One thing I will say on that kit though is to make sure to measure your components with a pair of calipers and turn to the measured diameter; the bushings weren't quite the same size as the cap required, but it was an easy fix and the end result was quite nice.


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## MRDucks2 (Mar 13, 2018)

thawkins87 said:


> I have had problems with the center band of the FHL ballpoint pen - the casting was not uniform (on each of 3 different finishes) so it did not match up well with squared pen tube. But that was about a year ago, and from what I recall they (PSI) said they had a known supplier issue on that and were working to resolve.
> 
> I've also made several FHL rollerball pens, and those have turned out great. One thing I will say on that kit though is to make sure to measure your components with a pair of calipers and turn to the measured diameter; the bushings weren't quite the same size as the cap required, but it was an easy fix and the end result was quite nice.





Tim, as mentioned previously I have noticed with some of the shapes I use for my pen bodies, the FHL ballpoint can quickly seem top heavy in the hand. I have been wondering if this would be less of an issue on the Rollerball version since we will have the extra metal on the bottom and the weight shifting down some. Any insight?


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## thawkins87 (Mar 13, 2018)

MRDucks2 said:


> thawkins87 said:
> 
> 
> > I have had problems with the center band of the FHL ballpoint pen - the casting was not uniform (on each of 3 different finishes) so it did not match up well with squared pen tube. But that was about a year ago, and from what I recall they (PSI) said they had a known supplier issue on that and were working to resolve.
> ...



When posted, you're still likely going to notice it being top heavy if you did with the ballpoint. It may actually be moreso with a bigger, thicker piece of wood on the top cap. I suspect the main contributor is the cast metal cap piece, which looks to be the same in the ballpoint and rollerball. But if you write with the cap unposted it shouldn't be a problem.


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## sbwertz (Mar 14, 2018)

Years ago, when I was just learning to turn pens, I wanted to make a pen for the Priest and Assistant Priest at our Anglican church.  I special ordered three blanks in royal purple with a gold cross cast in the blank. The blanks were expensive, but truly beautiful. It was my first time turning acrylic.  I was almost finished with the first pen.  Just a FEW more passes with the skew.  Then a little catch and the blank exploded....totally vanished from the lathe!  That's when I realized I probably should have glued a tube into it first.....Senior moment. Thank goodness I ordered that extra blank.


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## TonyL (Mar 14, 2018)

I bought 6 when they first debuted, I made 3 with little trouble and I still have another 3 that I can't get to work. A PSI rep admitted to me that I was not the only one with the issue and that the Cowboy kit and those based on the same design suffered from the same issue. Remember, however, that was a long time ago, and it may have one lot. I hope your experience is better than mine. Happy turning!


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## sbwertz (Mar 15, 2018)

We made several of the cowboy pens at the blind center, and they didn't have a problem, but that was over a year ago.


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## Mack C. (Mar 15, 2018)

You might like Pacifica “Fishers of Men” pen kits!


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## Talltim (Mar 15, 2018)

The nice thing about the new mini lasers is you can make any pen a “spiritual pen”


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