First Pen Off the New Lathe

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Chief TomaToe

Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2017
Messages
262
Location
Bloomington, Indiana
I recently purchased a MicroLux 7x16 mini lathe from MicroMark and was excited to put it to good use. We had unseasonably warm weather during the week of Christmas, so it was the perfect time to get out and do some work! It took a while to get acquainted with using the new lathe, as it is with any new tool, but overall I really enjoyed using it. I was amazed about how less nerve wracking it is to use the metal lathe for this sort of work than trying it all by hand on the wood lathe. I did, however, do a minimal amount of final shaping on the wood lathe along with all sanding, micromesh polish, and buffing.

Below is a kitless fountain pen with the body and cap in a blue swirl acrylic, the section in Japanese ebonite. It is fitted with a #6 Jowo nib. Compared to my first one, this pen is a lot less "chunky" as I was comfortable taking off more material. Also, I made a slightly longer section which resulted in a longer cap and shorter body. I am more pleased with the proportions with this pen than the last.
 

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Dalecamino

Local Chapter Leader
Joined
Jan 2, 2008
Messages
14,569
Location
Indianapolis, In.
You did very well on this one Ronnie! Nice looking pen. I learned to shape my pens on my MicroLux using the etch-a-scetch method, which is very easy to do with these lathes. Try it out sometime.
 

magpens

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Joined
Feb 2, 2011
Messages
15,913
Location
Canada
Very, very, beautiful pen, Ronnie !!!

Glad to hear that you are enjoying using your new metal-working lathe for making pens !!!
 

Chief TomaToe

Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2017
Messages
262
Location
Bloomington, Indiana
Thank you all for the compliments!

You did very well on this one Ronnie! Nice looking pen. I learned to shape my pens on my MicroLux using the etch-a-scetch method, which is very easy to do with these lathes. Try it out sometime.

I have some extra material from a pen that didn't work out a while back. I will give this a try.

Nice and the blue is striking. Source for the blank????

I got this material here: https://vermontfreehand.com/product/acrylic-rods/
I believe they call it "cobalt". It is a great source for ebonite, too.
 

NT_2112

Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2019
Messages
147
Location
Rochester, NY
Very nice looking pen. Well done.

I have to agree. I find working with a quality metal lathe much easier than a wood lathe. Where did you get the ebonite from?
 
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PenHog

Member
Joined
Jul 6, 2019
Messages
255
Location
Mississippi
Nice pen! Vermont Freehand is an excellent source for ebonite (colored and plain black) and some really nice acrylic rods.
 
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