# Best Practices in Pen Making



## PenMan1 (May 26, 2011)

I've been teaching an "alternative materials" turning class. At the end, I mentioned "best practices". A question came. "What would YOU always do the same way, if you could only do ONE thing the same each time". In other words, what is THE most important thing?

Since we had been working with very brittle acrylics and making two piece pens, my answer was "always drill from the centerband toward the ends on every two piece pen". They "got" this because of the difficulty in pattern matching around cracks.

With this body of pen makers, we have an opportunity to make a "BEST PRACTICES" list that should be observered every time we set out!

If this thread turns out as I hope, we'll have a "BEST PRACTICES IN PEN MAKING" tutorial for the library.

Please consider carefully and add your best answer.


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## TerryDowning (May 26, 2011)

Always use sharp tools! Dull tools are dangerous to you and your finished product. Invest the time and/or money in a sharpening system that works for you and use it regularly.


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## bensoelberg (May 26, 2011)

Always measure your component and match it to your blank.  Bushings are rough guidelines.


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## TomW (May 26, 2011)

Keep CA debonder within reach at all times.


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## BRobbins629 (May 26, 2011)

*Drilling*

Use a centering bit to start hole prior to drilling. 





Takes a minute or two longer, but is one key to drilling a straight hole through the blank. Particularly important for segemented blanks. If you need a hole all the way through a blank, make it longer than needed, stop drilling before the end and cut it off. These techniques with a sharp bit will prevent many potential disasters.


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## Drstrangefart (May 26, 2011)

Always test-fit before you attempt to glue a tube in. It's easier than trying to break it loose wtih a birthday candle and pliers.


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## mredburn (May 26, 2011)

CLean my work  area prior to and after  working


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## ctubbs (May 26, 2011)

Always use the best abrasives available.
Keep all tools in top notch condition (lathe, saws, drill press, etc)
Use all safety equipment (dust collection, mask, safety glasses)
Learn how to sharpen.

Charles


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## witz1976 (May 26, 2011)

When purchasing tools always think ahead to what you would like to be doing with the tool before purchasing.  If you need to save, then continue to work with what you have until you can afford to do so.  Follow up with don't always buy the cheapest tools on the market unless you want junk.


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## its_virgil (May 26, 2011)

Cut blanks long. Drill short of the total length. Then cut them approx length exposing the "exit" hole and square. Cutting long, drilling short, and trimming will eleminate chip out on the "exit" end of the blank. Takes an extra minute or two but well worth it.
Do a good turn daily!
Don


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## PenMan1 (May 26, 2011)

mredburn said:


> CLean my work area prior to and after working


 
Perhaps, the most often overlooked process in pen making, at least in my shop. The I'll clean later is a disaster, waiting to happen.


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## bitshird (May 26, 2011)

Andy DON"T use southern Yellow Pine!!!,

Seriously the safety issue is the highest priority, it happens twice, once when you are just beginning and don't know any better and then it becomes a problem after you've done it forever you get SOOO GOOD that you can ignore safety I've seen it and done it far too many times. SAFETY is the first thing any one working on any kind of power tool or equipment has to learn..


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## George417 (May 26, 2011)

+one on the sharp tools


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## PenMan1 (May 26, 2011)

bitshird said:


> Andy DON"T use southern Yellow Pine!!!,
> 
> Seriously the safety issue is the highest priority, it happens twice, once when you are just beginning and don't know any better and then it becomes a problem after you've done it forever you get SOOO GOOD that you can ignore safety I've seen it and done it far too many times. SAFETY is the first thing any one working on any kind of power tool or equipment has to learn..


 
ROTFLMAO! 
Ken:
Down here, we call it Georgia Fat Wood or Fat Lighter. The joke (which is really NOT a joke) is that it takes 3 people to turn fat lighter: One to handle the tools, one to man the fire extinguisher and one to call 911.

I may change this one to "Be familiar with the properties of the materials you are about to turn"..........OR NOT!:biggrin::biggrin:


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## Padre (May 26, 2011)

Go over your lathe at least once a week:
Clean it
Lube it
Make sure the belts are fine
Assure bearings are good  
Make sure the tailstock and toolrest slide along the bed easily.  If not, lubricate.
Clean out your morse tapers
Make sure tool rest is smooth with no nicks or divots.


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## GoodTurns (May 26, 2011)

PenMan1 said:


> ... The I'll clean later is a disaster, waiting to happen.



oh. it's not waiting to happen....  it's waiting to happen AGAIN!


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## MorganGrafixx (May 26, 2011)

NEVER...........and I mean NEVER tell your wife over the phone that you're only getting a few things from the local Woodcraft! And this next part is most important; If her reply is "fine" or "I don't care, do what you want", this is a coded WARNING that you should not ignore!!! For the love of all that is holy, put your purchases back on the shelf, go over to the acrylics, find a pretty pink blank, buy it, take it to her and tell her you are going to make her something pretty for your anniversary (which you didn't forget....again).


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## TerryDowning (May 26, 2011)

MorganGrafixx said:


> NEVER...........and I mean NEVER tell your wife over the phone that you're only getting a few things from the local Woodcraft! And this next part is most important; If her reply is "fine" or "I don't care, do what you want", this is a coded WARNING that you should not ignore!!! For the love of all that is holy, put your purchases back on the shelf, go over to the acrylics, find a pretty pink blank, buy it, take it to her and tell her you are going to make her something pretty for your anniversary (which you didn't forget....again).



I think this falls under the safety warnings.  Sometimes I'm glad I don't have a woodcraft nearby.


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## Seer (May 26, 2011)

The one thing I would do the same every time is wearing the proper safety equipment ie: face shiled/respirator etc.  I say this because we may try to turn the blank the same it will always be a little different but safety COMES FIRST in my eyes.


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## sgimbel (May 26, 2011)

Great thread!


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## leehljp (May 26, 2011)

Finish! The best made pen is still ugly with a rushed finish. Have this attitude: If you spend an hour or so getting the pen made, be willing to spend that much time or more in getting it finished if needed. If I spend 3 or 4 hours to "make" the pen, I am willing to spend as much time as needed to complete the job.

That old adage of - the clothes make the man . . . well the finish makes the pen be all that the insides can be! A good finish reveals the insides, a great finish showcases it.

In flatwork (woodwork) I know people who will spend 40 to 60 hours on a project and spend 4 to 6 hours on the finish, and it shows.

For customers, at the point if delivery, the feel and finish is as important as the design inside.


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## MarkHix (May 26, 2011)

all the responses are good....my #1 would have to be don't skimp on the sanding.  use the grits in order, don't skip one; use a good light so you can see what you are sanding;use good sand paper and use it like your neighbor gives it to you for free.  Just changing to a decent brand of sandpaper made finishing less of a chore.


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## tjseagrove (May 26, 2011)

MarkHix said:
			
		

> ...  Just changing to a decent brand of sandpaper made finishing less of a chore.



What is considered "decent brand"?  And, I am ready to get a dozen answers to that one.

This is a good thread for folk like me.  I would rather learn from the wisdom found here than personal experience on these matters.  There will be, I am sure, moments I don't believe and then learn from experience. 

My suggestion would be to track your costs so you know where your money is going.  So far mine has gone to a number of you!!!!

Tom


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## Atherton Pens (May 26, 2011)

The old adage....  Measure twice, cut (drill, fit) once.


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## paintspill (May 26, 2011)

when it comes time for assembly, i lay out all the pieces out on white paper or paper towel very methodically. stop. breath. check that everything is there. stop. breath. assemble. i learned this one the hard way.


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## Lenny (May 26, 2011)

tjseagrove;1227429
 
My suggestion would be to track your costs so you know where your money is going. So far mine has gone to a number of you!!!!
 
Tom[/quote said:
			
		

> Best practice in that regard is to have 2 sets of books .... One that shows your actual costs and then the other one that you show to your wife/significant other, that looks like your actually breaking even! :biggrin:


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## Brooks803 (May 26, 2011)

1: never turn while wearing a tie :wink:

2: keep micro mesh clean and free of debris.  

3: PATIENCE!!! Don't rush or it'll look rushed


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## johncrane (May 26, 2011)

Use a 2 pack glue when gluing brass tubes into blanks.


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## soligen (May 26, 2011)

Rememeber:  Slow is fast and fast is slow!

If you go too fast you will spend more time fixing or doing over than if you would have slowed down and taken your time.


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## OKLAHOMAN (May 26, 2011)

When buying tools but the best you can, it's so much cheaper when you only buy once. And this only comes second to SAFETY!!!!!


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## robutacion (May 26, 2011)

Invest on some breading "apparatus", depending on the conditions (area, enclosement) you are working on.  CA fumes, some woods and other materials are/can be very toxic or provoke allergies that be minimized or prevented with a good breading mask, a good ventilation systems to filter the air environment you are working on or simply a fan located close to you and orientated to blow the air away from you, taking most of the dust and fumes away from your lungs...!:wink:

Cheers
George


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## JimMc7 (May 26, 2011)

Use high speed air from a shop vac to cool the bit when drilling brittle pen blanks and, just in case....
Always drill the cap blank 1st on large tube diameter pens such as JGII, Baron and Cambridge. If you crack the larger cap blank, you can still salvage the pen section 1/2 blank by making a Sierra or Aero/EB (and drill slower, cool more often on this one!).


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## reddwil (May 27, 2011)

Pray...Dear Lord Don't let me screw this one up....Amen


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## robutacion (May 27, 2011)

Have the lathe set up at the correct weight for you, too low or too high will cause you back/neck problems.

Many times building a small wood box (step) will bring you to the correct hight.  Extending the lathe bed legs, will lift the lathe up if you are a tall person.

There is no such thing as a unique correct working hight for when turning but, having the elbows matching the hight of the tool rest, when in the working position, is known as the most preferred position...!

Cheers
George


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## Daniel (May 27, 2011)

So many good replies here. I find most of them are generally given attention by the average member. Sharp tools, quality materials and equipment, practices that produce a quality writing instruments in general. But the one that stuck out to me was the one about paying attention to your spouse. I believe there is a discipline that develops with the quality of work. It is a behavior that does not cut corners to get things done faster. that wil not grab a unsharpened tool and try to make that pen. This behavior I believe also carries over to every area of life. For me the top thing you can practice is, responsibility. Be responsible for every effect yoru turnning has, even those on your wife, Husband, children and others. I know my wife does not mind the time I spend in the shop. Btu she does mind when I want money to buy pen kits and she is struggling to buy groceries. We now have it so my turhing money is completely separate from the rest of our money. I earn it separately and I keep it in a separate account. I sitll tell her when I am spending money on it, but that is more to include her. It never causes stress on her. That and I have been known to buy her gifts out of those funds at times. Pens are fine and I want mine to be even finer. But so is my wife and that matters even more.


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## snyiper (May 27, 2011)

I would have to add something that to me appears to be common sense. Measure with a micrometer the parts for the kit and match the material with it. Do not rely on the bushings being exact or the pen parts to be consistant.


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## azamiryou (May 27, 2011)

Many of these best practices seem to be generic to woodworking, or to tool-based hobbies in general, or even just to life. Personally, I'm most interested in seeing pen-specific _practices _(actual techniques, not philosophies) that might not be obvious or occur to everyone, and  aren't in the instructions. So far in this thread, I've seen several of these:


 Drill from the center of the blank for the best grain-matching.
 Cut the blank long, don't drill through, and cut off the end to avoid blow-outs when drilling.
Use a centering bit to start holes for drilling.
Don't rely on bushings for accurate sizing - measure the pen parts.
I'll add:


When squaring then ends of a blank, square to the tube (hole), not the outside of the blank.


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## Padre (May 27, 2011)

When gluing the blanks, clean out the tubes using q-tips BEFORE the glue hardens/cures.  Especially helpful when using polyurethane or epoxy glues.


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## leestoresund (May 27, 2011)

The other side of that is get in good with your dentist. If you make pens for him/her and staff you can probably get lots of that pink wax dentists use so that you can easily plug the ends of the tubes to keep the glue from getting inside.

Lee


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## woodgraver (May 27, 2011)

Inspect you pen kits at point of sale or when they arrive in the mail.  Look for finish problems, operate the transmission, make sure all parts are in the bag.  Nothing like meeting a deadline only to find that your last pen kit has a fatal flaw.


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## TerryDowning (May 27, 2011)

woodgraver said:


> Inspect you pen kits at point of sale or when they arrive in the mail.  Look for finish problems, operate the transmission, make sure all parts are in the bag.  Nothing like meeting a deadline only to find that your last pen kit has a fatal flaw.



+ 1 on the above and if purchasing your blanks inspect those as well for obvious signs of impending disaster. I recently returned 2 blanks out of an order of 30. 1 was undersized (Too Short to get a designer pen out of), 1 was badly cracked and would have disintegrated the minute I got a tool on it. It may not have even survived drilling. Better to find the problem while it can still be returned.  

Remember to get what you pay for.


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## Chasper (May 30, 2011)

Don't believe everthing you read on IAP.  For almost every "best practice" the are a good number of people who believe that the practice is unnecessary or that something different is better.

Do it your own way, make your own mistakes, but most importantly try everything that someone else claims to be a best practice.  They may be right.


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## tjseagrove (May 30, 2011)

Chasper said:
			
		

> Don't believe everthing you read on IAP.  For almost every "best practice" the are a good number of people who believe that the practice is unnecessary or that something different is better.
> 
> Do it your own way, make your own mistakes, but most importantly try everything that someone else claims to be a best practice.  They may be right.



I like that reply.  I am an IT Tech by day and I always say...

To find the correct way to fix a problem, count the number of techs in the room and that is the number ways there will be to do it.

I find I take a little from this person and a little from that person and come up with a plan from there.  It is like going to the grocery store, full of good things but you get what you need and leave the rest...

Tom


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