# Paper pen blanks



## ds_1899 (Jan 25, 2007)

Hi-
I've been turning pens for a couple of years, but this is my first post on this site.  

I had a crazy idea this morning in bed while I was waking up and wanted to know if anyone has tried it or thought of it before.

My thought was to glue up layers of construction paper to be the thickness of a pen blank and then preparing it and turning it like wood.  I figured the glue would add enough stability to the paper to turn it and that you'd be able to get some really cool color layers by gluing paper up.  

I'm interested in people's thoughts on this and if the consensus is that it will work, I may try it.

Hope you're all doing well

Dan


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## Paul in OKC (Jan 25, 2007)

> _Originally posted by ds_1899_
> <br />Hi-
> I've been turning pens for a couple of years, but this is my first post on this site.
> 
> ...



Tubes are cheap, go for it and show us how it's done[]. One thing I try to do is never think an idea may not work until trying it. I'd so a slim line for starters and see what happens. Sounds like a neat thing to do.
Oh yeah, welcome to the insanity!


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## JimGo (Jan 25, 2007)

Welcome!!!

I'd probably skip the slimline and do the Sierra - only one blank to prepare! Otherwise, it sounds like it could be interesting.


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## Penmonkey (Jan 25, 2007)

Welcome.  One thought is that you would want to make sure the dye in the paper does not run when you glue it up and I think CA glue does that.

Looking forward to seeing your results.


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## pete00 (Jan 25, 2007)

Dan

go for it, next time supprise us and do it first.....[][]
looking forward to the results....


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## jtate (Jan 25, 2007)

As the paper absorbs the glue it will swell up and crinkle according to the direction of the grain of the paper.  (Most paper has a grain like wood does.)  Stack your paper with the grain all running the same way.  You can determine the grain of the paper by holding a sheet and bending it in an inverted U shape.  The sheet will form a narrower bend in one direction than when you bend it the other way.  The grain runs parallel to the top of the U-shape when you have the more narrow bend.  In other words, for an 8.5x11 sheet, hold the sheet as though you are folding the two 8.5 inch wide sides together and form your U.  Note (mentally) how much pressure you're using and how acute the bend is.  Turn the sheet around and bend the two 11 inch sides toward one another and, using the same pressure, see how sharp the bend is.  This is all done by feel.  After bending a few sheets of different kinds of paper, you'll see what I mean.

 I'd suggest that you do the glue-up between two stiff boards with clamps all around.  This will give you more uniformity and increase the amount of paper you end up turning (as opposed to turning dried glue). 

I love papermaking so I'm excited to see what you turn out.

Julia


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## ed4copies (Jan 25, 2007)

Common paper is nearly all Long-grain.  Julia's description is absolutely correct.  But, if you can't figgur' it out, bet on your paper's grain going parallel to the long dimension - you will be correct MOST of the time.

Oh, your project should work, if you can keep the layers from forming bubbles, separating them.  If that happens, fill with CA. 

Should go smoothly.


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## Ozzy (Jan 25, 2007)

Sounds interesting. Let us know how it turns out.


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## twoofakind (Jan 25, 2007)

It should be the same concept as linen micarta used in knife scales. As long as you have good equal pressure it should work. I have been toying with doing a linen micarta pen myself. I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Andy


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## jleiwig (Jan 25, 2007)

> _Originally posted by twoofakind_
> <br />It should be the same concept as linen micarta used in knife scales. As long as you have good equal pressure it should work. I have been toying with doing a linen micarta pen myself. I can't wait to see what you come up with.
> 
> Andy



There is a good post about this on the austrailian woodworking sight in their pen turning section.  I'm thinking if I remember correctly it was a heavyweight paper that he used many different shades of.  It was pretty thick to start with and he soaked the whole thing through with epoxy and then put in a press of sorts using wood and a bunch of clamps.  I'll see if I can find the page describing it.  He was selling the blanks at one point.  Not sure if he still is.


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## wood-of-1kind (Jan 25, 2007)

I think it will work. I believe that one of our members here did a similar thing using pieces of cloth and soaking(with resin) them and tightly pressing until hardened. Believe that he received many complimentary comments for his results. Perhaps someone here will recall the posting and open up the link.
-Peter-


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## jleiwig (Jan 25, 2007)

here is the page I was talking about

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=29736&highlight=micarta

Here is one of the pens it produced

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=29696


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## Pikebite (Jan 25, 2007)

I had a go at casting blanks with layers of felt soaked with PR after reading these threads. It worked ok but had a lot of small bubbles and it really smelt. I was reluctant to work with it after that. There is a company in the UK that produces layered paper blanks that can be used for woodturning. I will try to find the information.




> _Originally posted by jleiwig_
> <br />here is the page I was talking about
> 
> http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=29736&highlight=micarta
> ...


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## ds_1899 (Jan 25, 2007)

Thankyou all for the encouragement and the ideas.  I just bought three reams of construction paper from walmart.  I'll post pictures if I can get a pen out of this

Dan


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## alamocdc (Jan 25, 2007)

> _Originally posted by jleiwig_
> <br />here is the page I was talking about
> 
> http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=29736&highlight=micarta
> ...



Cameron has posted the same thing here IIRC, but he uses fabric (as he did in your link) not paper, and resin instead of epoxy. However, the same principle should apply to the contruction paper. I have applied Cameron's techniques to fabric using Marine epoxy and achieved the same result. FWIW


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## jleiwig (Jan 26, 2007)

> _Originally posted by alamocdc_
> <br />
> 
> Cameron has posted the same thing here IIRC, but he uses fabric (as he did in your link) not paper, and resin instead of epoxy. However, the same principle should apply to the contruction paper. I have applied Cameron's techniques to fabric using Marine epoxy and achieved the same result. FWIW



Yup..but in his posts he also talks about people doing it with paper as well.  I've seen it done for knife handles with some older "real" paper (ie either linen bond or real wood pulp paper).


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## rtjw (Jan 26, 2007)

Eagle uses paper in a lot of his pen blanks. WHEN we used to talk, he told me several things that construction paper was good for.


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## RussFairfield (Jan 26, 2007)

Several years ago one of the woodturning magazines showed some pictures of bowls that were made from old telephone beeks. Thjere was a note that he soaked the books in a diluted Elmers White Glue and clamped them to dry.


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## alamocdc (Jan 26, 2007)

> _Originally posted by RussFairfield_
> <br />Several years ago one of the woodturning magazines showed some pictures of bowls that were made from old telephone beeks. Thjere was a note that he soaked the books in a diluted Elmers White Glue and clamped them to dry.



So that's where you got the idea.[]


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## Mikey (Jan 26, 2007)

Construction paper???

I WANT TO SEE DILBERT!!![]


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## ed4copies (Jan 26, 2007)

Several pieces of information have entered my e-mail that will help the aspiring paper pen makers.
1) Using CA does not work well, the paper acts as an accelerant and bubbles are the result.
2) Construction paper may well have water-soluble coloring.
So, Use watered down white glue if you are using "printed" (oil-based) products.  Don't do this if the colors are water-soluble.  

Test first.

To add credibility, I received the following picture and the permission, in fact enthusiastic encouragement, to post it.






<br />

Courtesy of Eagle.

Clarification: (straight from the source):

Eagle writes me:

"I didn't say anything about bubbles.
I just said the CA will set before the paper absorbs it.
I have used CA with construction paper,
In a solid glue up beware of blow outs, go slow,sharp tools,add CA as you go.
Treat like rotten wood."


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## ed4copies (Jan 26, 2007)

Another e-mail from a different source reminds me that bowlturners use brown paper, soaked in glue to make it easier to separate their bowls from the "holding block".  So, gluing paper is generally not considered permanent.

Good point!


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## bob393 (Jan 26, 2007)

Go for it. Would love to see the results.


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## ed4copies (Jan 26, 2007)

With all this help, it ought to be a "Walk in the park"!!

(You notice I'm NOT rushing right in to doing it, just "coaching")


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## Rmartin (Jan 26, 2007)

I think CSU sells a pen blank made from recycled paper, or something like that.


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## low_48 (Jan 30, 2007)

Make sure the paper is properly saturated. I glued in strips of construction paper in Christmas ornaments. The bond is good at the seam, but the paper would delaminate very easily. I think it has to do with the method of making construction paper. It is not the same as say, printer paper. It seems to be similar to felt and is easy to seperate. It turned okay, but I had to glue one of them back together. Don't put alot of pressure on the drilling or turning.


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## airrat (Jan 30, 2007)

I just turned a couple pens made from a composite surface product made using recycled papers and non-petroleum based resins.   Would love to see how your experiment turns out.


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