most drill bits are not long enough to drill the pen blank without
cutting the blank to length for the tubes.


1) Mark the length of the brass tubes on your blank leaving some extra
at the ends. Not all brass tubes are the same length. It depends on
the kit and style your using.
2) before you cut the pen blank mark the wood so you can tell what ends
go together. The challenge is to have any grain pattern match at the
center of the pen. I draw 2 or 3 lines one a couple different sides
near the cut before I make the cut.

I use my bandsaw to cut the blanks in "half". If you don't have a
bandsaw then a miter box with a thin fine toothed saw would work. I
think using a tablesaw without a properly constructed jig would be
asking for the loss of some fingers and the blade would take too much
wood...remember that the challange is to have any grain pattern match at
the center of thepen. The more wood you take from the center the more
it will seem to be off.

3) Drill from the center out. You sometimes get breakout when the bit
punches through the other side. Any punch out is hopefully less than the
extra wood you gave your self for each half
4) Check that your brass tube fits all the way in before you try to
apply glue. If it gets stuck a pencil or your trimmer will get it out.
5) Apply glue and push the tube in from the center (I use a sharpened
pencil). You want the tube to be just inside the center end. Do not
make it flush because if your cut is not square you can correct it with
your trimer without taking off too much brass.


harryc wrote:
I recently purchased a book on pen turning. And, I find very little in the
book about cutting the pen blanks. I have two questions(1)what are the
measurements for cutting blanks in half and how best to cut them ? (2) do
you drill the blanks after they have been cut in half or before they are
cut?