BumHead wrote:
Got a Grizzley mini lathe for X'mas. QUESTION IS..... WHAT ELSE DO I
NEED TO GET TO MAKE PENS.
wood is not a problem. I have bunches of scrap from other
projects. Walnut, white and red oak, cedar, maple. I have some
large limbs from a pecan tree, and several pieces of mesquite large
enough for pens. Any suggestions or advice would be more than
welcome.
Beside the metal parts for the pens, what tools and accessories
do I need to buy? Good reliable sources would also be appreciated.

You have already received a lot of good info. I have turned a few pens
myself and agree with a lot of the info, some not so much. You will
have to decide what you want for yourself but to get started I think you
can just get a few "essentials" and maybe make some additional tools.

Go to a store such as Woodcraft or Rocklers and look at all of their pen
making supplies. There are some things like the pen mandrels that are
just a must and that is that. There are other things that are "nice"
and some others that you need to have but are easy to make for yourself.

Try thinking about the sequence of making a pen. The first thing you
need is the blank. You said that you have wood and have made other
projects so I assume you have the means to shape your pen blanks. Some
approximation of a square piece of wood about 3/4" square and, depending
on the pen kit, 2 to 4 inches long. If you really get into some of your
own designs you may even want to go longer, but the longer you go the
more problems drilling.

Now you need to drill it. Drill press? Hand drill? Both can be made
to work, but you DO need a jig or vise of some sort so that you can
drill a hole accurately and straightly. You may have a drill press
vise that can work, or some other means, but whatever you use must hold
the blank SOLIDLY. The blank must not twist or wiggle at all. I have
made a couple out of wood but they just don't seem to be stable enough.
They work but I have to be very careful when drilling. I think I
might try making one out of steel next.

You also need drill bits. Don't buy cheapo drill bits. Cheap bits are
sometimes not the straightest bits in the world and may not be ground
properly, so they will not drill an accurately sized hole. Also, as
hard as drill bit steel is, there is tool steel and there is tool steel.
Cheapo bits are most likely made of the cheaper grades of steel and
therefore not quite as hard as better quality bits. That means that
generally speaking, the cheaper the drill bit the faster it will dull,
the more likely it will not be exactly sized, the more likely the point
is not ground properly so the more it will want to wander too. Then the
brass tube will not fit correctly which can lead to a failure of the pen
kit, or other problems. It also helps a lot if your bits are SHARP so a
future investment could be a drill bit sharpener if your bits are not
brad point or some other grind that a sharpener cannot accommodate.

Speaking of the brass tubes, now you need to glue them into the blank.
I have tried CA glue, Polyurethane glue, and quick set (5 min) epoxy. I
don't like any of them but use them all. CA is good if your hole is
accurate and exactly sized. If the hole isn't perfect, Polyurethane
will fill the gaps a little better but takes several hours to cure.
Epoxy is good too but I just don't like mixing it. I also use thin CA
glue to handle possible problems with the wood blank. Sometimes you
might see a small crack starting to form, or you may have some "spunky"
wood or some such. Many times these can be "fixed" with a thin CA glue.

So now you have a blank, drilled it, and inserted the tube so you are
ready to turn it. Not so fast. When you cut your blank you most likely
cut it slightly long. That gave you room to accommodate any tear-out
you may have had when drilling, and gave you a little wiggle room for
inserting the tube. Now you need to accurately size the blank, and make
sure the ends are perfectly square. Some have said that a pen mill is
the best tool for this, and I can understand that. It will square the
end of the blank, allow you to cut the blank to the appropriate length,
AND clean out the inside of the tube all in one operation. For me, I
didn't want to purchase tools that I didn't think I really needed and so
I use my disk sander for the length and squaring operations, and then
just run an appropriately sized bolt through the blank to clean out the
inside of the tube. It is simple and fast at both getting the blank to
the length I need, and squaring the ends. If I was going to be making a
lot of pens I would probably get the mills but you don't NEED them to
get started.

You have purchased your pen kits and associated bushings. Right? Well
you need to put the bushing onto a mandrel. Several good mandrels out
there. I haven't come across a bad one yet, but I only have three.
There are basically two types. Fixed and adjustable. I have two
adjustable and one fixed. I like the adjustable better because you
don't have to make spacers to fill space like you may have to do with a
fixed length mandrel. But I have a fixed length mandrel because some of
the pen bushings take a larger diameter shaft and the fixed length
mandrel has two different changeable shaft sizes. I have not seen an
adjustable mandrel with the larger shaft diameter (but I have not looked
for it either). As someone has already said, make sure you get the
correct Morse taper to fit your lathe. Oh, I assume you aren't going to
use a drill press mandrel since you have a lathe. :-)

Man! This is getting too long.

OK, got the pen blanks mounted and ready to turn. Turn them with what?
It sounds like you already have some lathe tools. Do you have a set
of chisels for pens? While a good set of pen chisels is not absolutely
required, I found it good to get a set. They are small and let me do
the delicate work much easier so I would recommend a set. Not going to
say much more about the turning. (good thing huh?)

Now you have your pen turned and are ready to sand in preparation for
finishing. The amount of sanding will, in part, be determined by the
type of finish you want to apply, and by the selection of wood (or other
material such as acrylic, Corian, non-ferrous metals
(brass/aluminum/copper, etc.). There are just far too many options to
even start that discussion here. This is already too long. But for
sanding I would say that you should get a good selection of sanding
materials with . . .say . . .up to 600 grit sand papers, and a sampling
of "micro-mesh" up to 6,000 grit. That will be enough for you to decide
what you want to do. Is 320 and a coat of poly good enough? friction
polish? Wax? CA and 6,000 grit . . .? I think only experience will
tell you what you will need for finishing materials and supplies.

Lastly, assembly. Some have said to get a pen press but I have used
several other things. I have used 6" c-clamps, a machinist vise, even a
small bar clamp like the Irwin Quick-Grip and the all worked ok. I'll
have to say that you have to be very careful to make sure that the parts
are being pressed together STRAIGHT. IF you get crooked, the parts can
be too loose and the pen may come apart or not work properly.

OK, this IS lastly this time. Display and presentation. If you are
going to be trying to sell pens at craft shows, etc. you would probably
benefit from a nice display. Many many options here. I'm just saying
that you might want to look like you are successful even if you aren't
yet. And when you do make a sale (if you are intending to sell them),
then a "nice" box is an added benefit for the customer. I think it was
Mac Davis who has said that providing a personalized card describing the
materials, who made it, when it was made, and for whom will add to sales.

And one last suggestion. I just noticed that your question was posted
in alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking. Might get a few more responses if
you posted to rec.crafts.woodturning.

My fingers are tired now.

Wayne