I'm so Happy

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Scissortail Pens

Scissortail Pens

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2016
Messages
493
Location
Davis Oklahoma
I just got my first lathe ever in this afternoon. A Turncraft Commander 12". I've been working on some wood that I cut earlier to try and get the feel of it and I've been working on my first pen blanks. Hope to have my first pen posted soon. Thanks for all the information from guys. You don't realize how much you've taught me and I had never turned before.
 
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If you ever need wood, just follow the county linemen down the road in the spring as they trim back trees overhanging the road and power lines .... :rolleyes:

Alternatively, mesquite grows around here like a weed ... and I have some kind of mystery wood in my yard that seems to be quite common in this area but I haven't identified it yet. It's harder and denser than maple, and quite beautiful when turned... termites kinda like it, though, so I gotta cut it all down. They are overhanging my house!

I also love hitting up the local Harbor Freight. We have one in town in Cache Road Square, on the corner of Cache Rd and 38th street. Cheap sets of HSS lathe tools, sandpaper, and superglue! :)

Even if you already have a DECENT set of lathe tools, you can't go wrong grabbing the 8-piece set from HF for only 15 bucks or so ... Grind the tips into ANY PROFILE YOU LIKE and sharpen them up... very hard to beat that deal. That's why I bought two! :laugh:

edit:
Hmm .... decided it was time to figure out what kind of tree that is leaning on my house ... went to What Tree Is It and identified it by leaf type as a Chinese Elm. It's still a gorgeous wood! :)
 
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Skie_M said:
If you ever need wood, just follow the county linemen down the road in the spring as they trim back trees overhanging the road and power lines .... :rolleyes:

Alternatively, mesquite grows around here like a weed ... and I have some kind of mystery wood in my yard that seems to be quite common in this area but I haven't identified it yet. It's harder and denser than maple, and quite beautiful when turned... termites kinda like it, though, so I gotta cut it all down. They are overhanging my house!

I also love hitting up the local Harbor Freight. We have one in town in Cache Road Square, on the corner of Cache Rd and 38th street. Cheap sets of HSS lathe tools, sandpaper, and superglue! :)

Even if you already have a DECENT set of lathe tools, you can't go wrong grabbing the 8-piece set from HF for only 15 bucks or so ... Grind the tips into ANY PROFILE YOU LIKE and sharpen them up... very hard to beat that deal. That's why I bought two! :laugh:

edit:
Hmm .... decided it was time to figure out what kind of tree that is leaning on my house ... went to What Tree Is It and identified it by leaf type as a Chinese Elm. It's still a gorgeous wood! :)
Click to expand...

Hehe, I can already tell, my tools, well, s*ck... I guess that's kinda the fun part. I've been stacking up Crepe Merdel(sp?) for a while in the hopes that this day would finally come(and it has!!). We've got tons of other wood around here to cut and (hopefully) turn. I did my first pen earlier because I was just too excited to wait. It didn't turn out great, but it's my first one and it's going up on the mantle. I need more grits of sandpaper and a better way to press them. Plus, I can tell I need a better finish than the one that PSI sent in their kit. It's all good, I've got a smile from ear to ear and I don't see it going away anytime soon.
 
Check out this post of mine for some basics concerning your lathe tools ... how to sharpen them from right out of the box from Harbor Freight.

I do my finishing with a combination of Minwax Stain'n'Seal (Natural Wood color) and Harbor Freight Super Glue. (not the gel!) To prepare for this finish, I sand the wood up to 1000 grit ... I get the variety pack of sandpaper sheets of 220 - 1500 grit paper from Harbor Freight as well, since they are cheap and effective, and then I clean the blank with rubbing alcohol or acetone. Then the minwax, followed by 6 - 12 coats of CA.

Hobby Lobby has micromesh sanding pads .... grits 3200 - 12000. They are abut 2.5 inches square, double sided (same grit on both sides and marked), and will last you a good 20 - 30 pens with proper use. Cost is a bit on the high side, at about 12 dollars for the set, but more than worth it! Sand laterally (along the grain of the blank, with the lathe turned off as you turn the blank slowly by hand) at least every other grit with the micromesh. You should do the same in the previous stages of sanding as well, to remove radial lines that go around your blank. Sanding in the pre-finish stage up to 1000 grit greatly reduces the roughness of the wood and the finish that goes on top of it, which saves you time and effort with the micro-mesh pads. It also makes your pads last a good deal longer!

Find an Advance Auto Parts or other car parts shop and get some Meguiar's Plast-X plastic polish. It has super-fine abrasives that break down into finer and finer particles as you polish, taking a 10,000 grit surface up to over 30,000 .... a glass-like surface, especially one that was coated in multiple layers of CA, or superglue, but it will work on soft metals (aluminum, copper), soft rocks (turquoise, alabaster, soapstone, marble, malachite, lapis lazuli, tigereye, ect), and acrylics like alumilite and silmar.

Finally, while you're in the car parts store, pick up a bottle of liquid or paste Turtle Wax Super Hard Shell ... it goes on last, and helps protect the shine on your pen from things like fingerprints.


Keep in mind, my way is not the only way ... it's certainly not the "right" way, it's just the way I do it. You can try it and see if it works for you ... but feel free to change things around to what feels right and works for you!

Many people only sand up to around 400 grit ... finish sand their CA to 1000 grit and then go straight to some type of polish, and still end up with a beautiful glassy finish ...

Many people also prefer the look and feel of real wood, and finish their sanding at around 220 grit, then begin applying a sealer, polish it up with some wax, and call it pretty well done ...

No one person's way is more right than any other, which is part of the beauty of this form of art! If it works for you, then it's good to go! :)

edit: That's Crepe Myrtle... :)
 
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Skie_M said:
Check out this post of mine for some basics concerning your lathe tools ... how to sharpen them from right out of the box from Harbor Freight.

I do my finishing with a combination of Minwax Stain'n'Seal (Natural Wood color) and Harbor Freight Super Glue. (not the gel!) To prepare for this finish, I sand the wood up to 1000 grit ... I get the variety pack of sandpaper sheets of 220 - 1500 grit paper from Harbor Freight as well, since they are cheap and effective, and then I clean the blank with rubbing alcohol or acetone. Then the minwax, followed by 6 - 12 coats of CA.

Hobby Lobby has micromesh sanding pads .... grits 3200 - 12000. They are abut 2.5 inches square, double sided (same grit on both sides and marked), and will last you a good 20 - 30 pens with proper use. Cost is a bit on the high side, at about 12 dollars for the set, but more than worth it! Sand laterally (along the grain of the blank, with the lathe turned off as you turn the blank slowly by hand) at least every other grit with the micromesh. You should do the same in the previous stages of sanding as well, to remove radial lines that go around your blank. Sanding in the pre-finish stage up to 1000 grit greatly reduces the roughness of the wood and the finish that goes on top of it, which saves you time and effort with the micro-mesh pads. It also makes your pads last a good deal longer!

Find an Advance Auto Parts or other car parts shop and get some Meguiar's Plast-X plastic polish. It has super-fine abrasives that break down into finer and finer particles as you polish, taking a 10,000 grit surface up to over 30,000 .... a glass-like surface, especially one that was coated in multiple layers of CA, or superglue, but it will work on soft metals (aluminum, copper), soft rocks (turquoise, alabaster, soapstone, marble, malachite, lapis lazuli, tigereye, ect), and acrylics like alumilite and silmar.

Finally, while you're in the car parts store, pick up a bottle of liquid or paste Turtle Wax Super Hard Shell ... it goes on last, and helps protect the shine on your pen from things like fingerprints.


Keep in mind, my way is not the only way ... it's certainly not the "right" way, it's just the way I do it. You can try it and see if it works for you ... but feel free to change things around to what feels right and works for you!

Many people only sand up to around 400 grit ... finish sand their CA to 1000 grit and then go straight to some type of polish, and still end up with a beautiful glassy finish ...

Many people also prefer the look and feel of real wood, and finish their sanding at around 220 grit, then begin applying a sealer, polish it up with some wax, and call it pretty well done ...

No one person's way is more right than any other, which is part of the beauty of this form of art! If it works for you, then it's good to go! :)

edit: That's Crepe Myrtle... :)
Click to expand...

I like that, you make it sound so easy. After watching all the videos and reading tons and tons and tons, I thought it would be as well. Turns out it's not...:laugh:

I know it'll get better, as the fun I had today was either illegal or it was really was fun..:glasses-cool:

I've read you're posts many times so far. Everyone here is so extremely helpful, I can't help but get better.

Thanks, more than you know.
 
Almost forgot .... pen press!

You can use one of several methods .... they all work fairly well, as long as you are certain you are pressing the parts in evenly and without anything binding the parts. (Glue or debris inside the pen barrel!) Always ream your brass tubes and clear out any glue in there before mounting on the lathe, and again just before you assemble your pens.

Available options for actually pressing the pens ....

12-inch bar clamp - Harbor Freight or other source ... as low as 2 dollars. Comes with plastic jaws, so it wont damage the finish or metal parts.

Plastic inserts for your lathe ... one on spindle, one on tailstock. Lock the tailstock in place and advance it like a vice jaw with the tailstock's wheel to press the parts.

Drill Press Vice (this is what I use) ... Harbor Freight or other source, for as little as 15 dollars. I replaced the steel jaws on mine with some vinyl, to protect the finish on my pens.

Drill Press (plastic insert held in drill chuck, and plastic on the table or a plastic cutting board)

Pen Press (probably the most expensive option would be a dedicated pen press, as it serves virtually no other purpose)

Pen Press/Disassembly Tool (second most expensive option, though it costs more than a regular pen press ... you can at least disassemble a pen using this tool.)


Whatever method you pick, the process is simple. Line up a pen barrel and a single part at a time (unless you are installing a clip, in which case it should be already on the part you are about to press). NEVER attempt to press pen parts with the ink refill in place, it is NOT structurally strong enough to take these pressures and can rupture! Make sure the part is lined up and begin pressing with VERY low pressure .... turn the barrel and part 1/4 turn and press a little more (this is to ensure that the barrel is indeed lining up perfectly true to the part), and keep rotating the barrel as you press the part all the way in.

NEVER attempt to press a part into a barrel without lining up the barrel and part perfectly perpendicular to the clamping surfaces or vice jaws. The off-angle can cause the pen barrel to bend or break, or make the part press into the pen crooked.

ALWAYS double-check to ensure that your barrel is perfectly obstruction free ... glue is the major culprit in a failed pen assembly.
 
Welcome to IAP from Ohio!

Have FUN!

(Greg (Skie_M) has made excellent suggestions for you to explore.)
 
I've noticed that PSI has a pretty nice new press that you can also use for pen disassembly as well. But, I'm really leaning towards the Artisan pen assembly tool for the lathe from CSUSA. I'm headed up to OKC to Woodcraft today to get a few more items on my list. Sandpaper rolls, CA, for glueing barrels and finishing, oh, and of course more pen kits and maybe some wood.:biggrin:
Will probably run by HF while we're up there and see about some transfer punches as well. I know I'm bound to mess one up sooner rather than later.

I think I've created more than one monster with this, when my wife got in last night and saw the pen, the first words out of her mouth was, that's beautiful, can you make me one in silver?...:eek:

Thank you for all of the info. You're one of many that I've been following on here for the last couple of months. I was trying to learn as much as possible before I ever turned my first pen. I think it paid off quite well.
 
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