In this part of the tutorial we don't purchase a pen blank. We made our own out of recycled milk jug plastic.
Here is a look. This picture shows us the parts of a pen kit and the blank that we made out of recycled plastic.
Marking out the blank is standard to all pen making. If you have never made a pen before I have a great tutorial on it that shows you every step with pictures. That is right here: How to make a pen or pencil on a lathe
However, for this project, the drilling and fitting of the pen tube is slightly different.
For my pen I used a 7mm tube but the drill bit was 6.5 mm. The reason for using a smaller drill bit was because there is no adhesive suitable to hold the pen tube secure enough or it would just spin on the pen mandrel for turning purposes. Cyanoacrylate or super glue is used to affix tubes after abrading the tube to remove the protective lacquer coating securely within an acrylic or a wooden blank.
So the solution is to abrade the tube as before, create a small countersink ready to start the edge of your tube. Then you can gently press fit into the blank using a flat headed bolt in a pillar drill. (Please note - Pen tubes are very thin brass and if pressed too quickly will either bend or distort) check the bore of the fitted tube as it will cut into the plastic and could distort slightly. This can be fixed by running a relevant sized barrel trimmer down inside to clean and repair any distortion. Flatten off the ends with your barrel trimmer and make the plastic and brass flush.
Use the relevant spacers and fit the blanks to the mandrel.
Make sure it is secure and ready to turn. Be prepared for a massive amount of plastic shavings which can wrap around your work so periodically check and stop your lathe to remove it.
All in all, a very productive project and any off cuts and clean shavings can be re-used to make more blanks.
**Bear in mind that Plastic is very much softer to turn than regular acrylic blanks and therefore to achieve a smoother result I would miss out using a roughing gouge and just use a skew chisel. The reason being a gouge by its nature of the edge being curved will create lines in the material, whereas the skew chisel will be a much cleaner and smoother cut to start.
Very little sanding would be needed and a final finishing polish on the plastic is achieved with Rustins Burnishing Cream ideall
Resources
Amazon Pen Making Starter Pack 3 -
Get started in the wonderful pastime and hobby of pen making. This 42 piece Pen Making Starter Pack 3 is a comprehensive collection of kits, tools and supplies to get you started making hand turned pens. It includes enough pen kit components and pre-drilled exotic rosewood pen blanks to make 10 projects. A pen turning mandrel, sandpapers, polishes pen assembly tools, and presentation pouches are also included. The bundle includes a 40 minute instructional DVD and comprehensive user manual to help you get started. Requires a lathe with a 2MT headstock.
Pen Mandrel Pro MT-1
Pen Mandrels are used specifically for turning pens on your lathe and essential to the pen turning process. The Pen Mandrel Pro features a precision-machined steel shaft that is held in your lathe for accurate pen turning when used in conjunction with a live center (not included). Since the Pen Mandrel Pro has a morse taper on the end, there is no need foe a drill chuck! It fits directly into the morse taper on your lathe. Another unique feature of the Pen Mandrel Pro is the brass compression fitting. The fitting allows you to turn shorter blank lengths with no need for a wood spacer. Just slide the fitting onto the precision-machines shaft and tighten the fitting in the proper location for your pen blank.
Holy land Olive wood pen blanks for turning - 10 Olive wood blanks, Each aged for more than 5 years.
Micro-Mesh 2" Assortment Pack - 18 pieces
Exotic Wood Pen Blanks - Want to purchase pen blanks? Amazon has lots of them right here: -Pen Blanks on Amazon
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