New Shipment

Well, its been a while yet again and hopefully I stay more frequent to update.

A new shipment of parts came in yesterday from Penn State Industries containing a Majestic Pen and a Nouveau Sceptre pen. The Majestic Pen will be turned using a Dyed Red Maple Burl and, the pen is Platinum Plating with Black Titanium accent pieces. The Nouveau Sceptre pen is Platinum and 22Kt Gold and has been turned with a Black with Gold Matrix Tru-Stone blank. More posts coming soon on both pens as soon as I can take pictures.

Handmade Segmented Cambridge Pen

This is a Cambridge Rollerball Pen with sterling silver and 24 karat gold hardware. The barrels are made out of a segmented blank that I assembled from 3 materials. First I took a white with gold matrix "Tru-Stone" blank and routed 1/4 inch square recesses along the corners. These recesses were filled with Gaboon Ebony and Flush trimmed even with the original blank using a 1/2 inch bearing guided router bit with a top mounted bearing. Finally I cut the first part of the segmented blank 3/8 of an inch shorter than the tubes and glued the red with gold matrix "Tru-Stone" pieces even with the other parts. these were cut to 1/2 inch to provide some clearance. Finally the blanks were drilled and the tubes were centered using a depth gauge to make sure the red segments were even on both ends. From there it was turned and finished like a standard pen. The blank was glued using "Titebond Polyurethane Glue" for strength in the joint between the plastic and wood components. I like the quality and strength of the Polyurethane glue very much that I may experiment using it to glue the blank to the brass tube as long as the blank is wood I don't think strength can be beat and with the squeeze out turning to a tough foam which is easily removed with a knife it cant be beat for cleanup. Also, the glue comes in a small 4 oz or so bottle so the 1 year shelf life of polyurethane glue after being opened doesn't become waste. Another good product from Titebond.

Now some pictures.

Macassar Ebony Pens

I made a bunch of pens out of Macassar Ebony and I have 4 left.

These are 2 Executive Style:





Macassar Ebony is a very hard dense exotic wood used for musical instrument and other very high end wooden trinkets from pens to bowls and everywhere in between. These pens will continue to get more beautiful with age as you natural hand oils continue to shine the ebony. Finished with lacquer for a hard finish. These pens will last a lifetime with the combination of resilient wood and lacquer.

Its been a Long Time

While it has been a long time, I have been very busy.






It is a "European Style" or "Dome-Top" twist ballpoint pen. The hardware is finished in Black Titanium with a single Chrome/Rhodium ring. The barrels are made of Dark Blue Invisavue which makes it impossible to see through the acrylic to the brass barrels and finishes very strong and durable. The plastic also is marginally more flexible and rubbery than acrylic which reduces chances of cracking in severe cold and scratches overall.

Similar items are available.

Churchill Rollerball

This is a pen I made over the weekend. It is available from Woodcraft and is a great pen. Although it is a little bit larger it has a good feel in the hand. It is not near as large as the Majestic but it is the second largest pen I have made. It has Black parts and is accented in 24 karat gold. It is finished with Blue Dyed Buckeye Burl.

First Pens Since Blog Creation

My grandpas birthday is Thursday so I made him a nice rollerball screw cap pen. The base of the pen is the Tycoon pen Kit from Penn State Industries Woodturners supply. http://www.pennstateind.com/
It is 24 karat gold plated and features sleek parts that make for a splendid pen. I completed the pen with a Dyed Stabilized Buckeye Burl and finished it with seal coats of CA Glue and a high gloss wax finish.

Another Pen I made was a Majestic Rollerball pen also available from Penn State Industries. It is a very large pen and with the cap on feels very heavy but when the cap is removed it is perfectly balanced. This pen was purchased in the Rhodium and Black Titanium Nitride finish. A sleek and sharp looking pen perfect for anyone with large hands or that likes a large well balanced pen. It also for its size isn't very heavy which makes it a pleasure to write with. This pen was completed with a very nice Redwood Lace Burl Blank which makes very nice large pens and the wood couldn't have worked any better.



Majestic Pen in Rhodium and Black Titanium Nitride and Redwood Lace Burl



Tycoon Rollerball in 24 karat Gold and Red Dyed Buckeye Burl

Hope You Enjoy

First Post Ever

Well here goes something new. I'm going to "blog" about my pen making experiences. I've been turning pens for about 5 months now and would like to think I have progressed pretty well. I made about 25 pens for relatives for christmas and besides that I have made them to give away. I am basically using this as a marketing feature and as I make some more pens and continue to photograph them I will put them up for review and if you are interested in potentially purchasing one we can work something out. All of my pens are turned by me and are finished with a few different processes.

• Wood Pens- Wood pens are glued onto the brass barrels using a combination of water thin CA glue to help seal the pores on the inside and then glued in place with thick CA glue. They are turned down to about 1/32nd larger than the finished pen and then sealed from the outside with water thin CA glue and sanded multiple times to stabilized the wood and help "plasticize" it to increase durability. The pens are then sanded down to final size and in grits progressing from 120 or 220 up to 600. After sanding I use 0000 steel wool and then finish with either lacquer, wax polish, or High Build Friction Polish. All of the finishes produce similar results and I use them on different woods depending on the type of wood.

• Acrylic Pens- Acrylic Pens are glued in using 2 part epoxy. After it cures I turn it down to about 1/32nd of an inch over and then sand starting at 220 and finish at 600. I then polish it to a high gloss finish unless a different finish is requested. Acrylic blanks are simpler to turn and polish but the downside is they are more expensive than wood.

Hope you enjoy all of my pens and continue to read this. I will try to update at least once a week depending on time and my schedule