| Introduction
I love to
try new things, especially if it's outside the normal realm of my previous
experience. I've been intrigued with the idea of penmaking since I first
heard of it. I've worked in the construction industry before, but never
did any woodworking or fine craftsmanship and I never had the joy of operating
a lathe so I thought I would document my first penmaking experience.
My dad owns
a lathe and drill press so I knew I would have access to the basic tools
and I asked my friends at Steebar to
send me the basic items I would need to make a few pens. Having received
previous items from them - I knew their packaging would be excellent and
was not disappointed as you can see from the photos below.
Photo1:
No chance of any shipping damage with this excellent packaging.
Photo2:
Items included a set of turning
tools, pre-drilled blanks, several pen
& pencil kits, 7mm drill bit, mandrel,
Instant CA glue and HUT
perfect polish.
I
did take a few minutes to watch the excellent 'Basic
Penmaking' video to get a basic idea of how the process should be
done. I'd recommend it as a good starting point for anyone - even experienced
wood craftsmen. I also, printed off the penmaking instruction &
assembly sheet from the PenmakingSupplies.com
site that matched the model number of my pen & pencil kits.
|
Prepare the blanks
After unpacking a few
of the kits and blanks I roughed up the outside of the tubes with 100
grit sandpaper as per the instructions and then applied glue to the tubes
and inserted with a twisting motion to ensure that the entire inside surface
of the blank was glued to the tube.
Photo3: Roughing the outside of the tubes..
Photo4: Use
a gap-filling CA Instant adhesive to glue the tubes to the blanks.
Photo5: Insert
with a twisting motion to ensure a good bond.
....
Continue |
