Greenstick, your pen is completed. I have taken pictures, (I still have a flip phone) so send my pictures to my oldest daughter and she is sending them to my email account at home and then I will get them posted. I actually used it for a demonstration for my advanced turning class as the bushing is a sliding bushing and they have not encountered that type yet so was a good opportunity. Everyone that has handled it likes it, the two girls in class have small hands and it is to large for them to use comfortably. So here is hoping it is large enough for your hands! I actually bought two kits, in the event you don't like this one, I can build the peanut shaped pen that you drew from a single piece of wood using this kit. This is your original bocote wood pen blank. Then I cut the blank to size, drilled it to size and glued in the tube. This is what they look like from the end view. More pictures later.
Alright, we left off with the tube drying in the blank. Now we need to "barrel trim" the ends of the blank down to the tubes so we have a full 90 degree edge at both ends of the tubes so when we assemble our kit, the wood fits flush all the way around the pen to the attached metal parts. So here is your pen blank with the ends barrel trimmed. and the other end. And here are all of the parts to build your pen. Here is a terrible shot of the lathe with your pen on the mandrel while being sanded. And this is your pen blank after sanding before polishing. More pictures later as I get them. I am a better turner than photographer!
That is neat to see how it is going from raw materials to a piece of art! I will send you a private message with my mailing address. Just reply to that and let me know how much I owe you. Thanks a million!
Okay, in order to get the wood to the same diameter as the metal parts that make up the pen kit we use bushings. The bushings are specific to the pen kit being built. In the above photo of the pen blank on the lathe it is on a mandrel which is a shaft that everything lines up on and allows us to turn the blank down to size. Here are the bushings off of the mandrel. Here is a terrible photo of the completed pen. Here is another photo, less terrible than the first one. And there you have it. Your completed pen. It is a nice writing pen. I like this kit, I will be making more of them for sure. I got your pm and will be replying and all that jazz later on today. Sorry about the photos, I am not a photographer! It was nice documenting this build here for you. Jon
Greenstick, my wife put your pen in the mail today. Let me know when you get it and if you like it. If you don't, send it back, no problem.
Just had a piece of handmade wood art arrive today. JWinIndiana, you sir are an artisan of real talent! The lathe turned pen you made for me is beyond what I had hoped for and is a true treasure from a fellow FHC friend. Thank you.
Well, I hope it fits your hand and works as expected. You and the Mrs. take care and talk with you in a couple of days!
Just wondering if you looked up the ink cartridge for the pen? I have never had a nice pen to replace one for so I have no idea if it is a universal or are they a very specific reload for it???????
Greenstick, so sorry for not getting that information to you. Completely forgot, sorry. Anyway, hope you are still enjoying the pen and Mama Bear is on the mend. Your pen uses a Parker style ballpoint or gel refill. Usually Walmart will have a good display of refills at a good price. To change out an empty ink cartridge, unscrew the tip of your pen, be careful and don't lose the spring at the front end of the ink cartridge. It (the old ink cartridge) should slide out and the new one slide in. If you greatly enjoy the gel, be sure to get a gel refill. Sometimes refills are just a hair oversized so if it doesn't want to slide in a little sandpaper to the sides of the plastic top of the refill will allow it to fit. If ever a problem with this pen, contact me, if we can't fix it long distance, send it to me and will rebuild what is needed.
Thanks Bob. I teach woodturning at my local high school as well as welding and engine mechanics. I am glad to help, built a pen for a lady missing her pointer finger years back. She enjoyed writing letters and couldn't to her degree of satisfaction so hadn't for years, using an antler with a fork, it fit her hand and she is still writing with it to this day.
Just curious since I am not a wood turner so I have no idea what makes good wood for turning, is any of the variety pack I sent good for turning? I don't know that I have really ever heard of the silver buffalo berry ever used for anything, well except for the worlds greatest tasting jelly.
Greenstick, any wood will turn. Some just turn or polish better than others. Some are great challenges, others are easy. The wood you sent me, I have set it on my heat duct in the basement. When we get into heating season that will dry them down to a useable moisture (0). Basically for a pen you are turning the wood to generally twice the thickness of my student's fingernail thickness. So if it isn't dry, when finished turned it will crack. I haven't decided what I am going to turn from those pieces of wood yet. Probably be around Christmas time when I get to them, will share whatever it is they turn into.
