Texatdurango
Member
After reading yet another thread where a member wanted to venture beyond making a kit from a bag of parts BUT... didn't have a metal lathe, I thought I'd comment.
Fact: You can make a pen from a bag of parts (kit) using almost any lathe.
Fact: You can also make a custom, kitless or component-less pen using the same lathe you use for your kit pens.
For some reason, many members think you have to have a metal lathe before making their own pens from scratch and that's simply not true. I can do everything to make a nice pen on my Jet mini lathe that I can do on my metal lathe.
I read most of the threads over the past year or so where members are venturing into custom pens and it appears to me that the trend is to make it sound like it's so complicated that those crossing the threshold are super pen makers with keen pen making skills, while in reality, making a pen from scratch in many areas is much easier than putting a kit pen together!
It's just drilling, threading and shaping... THAT'S IT, no supernatural skills involved, and to prove it...... I've been making them for years now and I don't even have a degree in pen making!:wink:
It seems that way too many posts where one wants to start making their own pens starts out with..... "I probably don't have the skills yet but".... or "I don't have a metal lathe yet but"....
To those folks I say, just do it! Your first pens won't be masterpieces (and neither are some of the ones being shown as "My first kitless" either! )
Fact: You can make a pen from a bag of parts (kit) using almost any lathe.
Fact: You can also make a custom, kitless or component-less pen using the same lathe you use for your kit pens.
For some reason, many members think you have to have a metal lathe before making their own pens from scratch and that's simply not true. I can do everything to make a nice pen on my Jet mini lathe that I can do on my metal lathe.
I read most of the threads over the past year or so where members are venturing into custom pens and it appears to me that the trend is to make it sound like it's so complicated that those crossing the threshold are super pen makers with keen pen making skills, while in reality, making a pen from scratch in many areas is much easier than putting a kit pen together!
It's just drilling, threading and shaping... THAT'S IT, no supernatural skills involved, and to prove it...... I've been making them for years now and I don't even have a degree in pen making!:wink:
It seems that way too many posts where one wants to start making their own pens starts out with..... "I probably don't have the skills yet but".... or "I don't have a metal lathe yet but"....
To those folks I say, just do it! Your first pens won't be masterpieces (and neither are some of the ones being shown as "My first kitless" either! )