Odd request - heavy materials for pen turning?

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Uncle_Lou

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I have a friend who suffers from essential tremor, so when she uses writing implements they need to be fairly heavy to help keep her hand steady. She asked if I am able to make a heavy pen. I've seen a few older threads talking about heavy wood, but I don't believe she has a material preference, so I thought I would do some digging to see what materials are readily available that might suit. I am a relative newcomer to turning, but am game to try anything if it will help her out.
Thanks!
 
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Tru-stone is very heavy. I have two pens that are made from tru-stone blanks I carry. The bigger the pen the heavier it will be.
Jay
908020D6-16D6-4901-A493-B2A633F29986_1_105_c.jpeg
 
I know nothing about the other materials posted. I do know african blackwood is a nice heavy wood also.
 
If you are focused on kit pens, I suspect that the relative weight of the blank is irrelevant. The fact is that the amount of turned material in a kit pen is miniscule, and you could double the material weight without changing the weight of the finished pen to any significant degree.

Instead, I think you need to look at the materials used to make the kit components, and in particular, cap and barrel finials. Here's a quick comparison between two pens selected at random from the collection on my desk:
  • El Grande (plastic finials) - 34 g
  • Big Boy cigar (metal finials) - 44 g
I also weighed a couple of Chinese factory-made all metal pens (Jinhao and Huashi) - they were essentially the same weight as the Big Boy.
 
You can also make a pen to fit in the palm of the hand, (a large ball on the lower end). This tends to keep the hand steady when writing.
 
I think combining a heavier blank (most of which have been mentioned above) and a heavier component set will give you the result you are looking for. In addition to the ones Louie mentioned, you might consider the Nouveu Sceptre kit. I made a pen a while back combining those components with a Conway Stewart Coral Green blank (you can find them both through Exoitc Blanks), and the end result was a fairly heavy pen at 65 grams.
 

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monophoto said:
If you are focused on kit pens, I suspect that the relative weight of the blank is irrelevant. The fact is that the amount of turned material in a kit pen is miniscule, and you could double the material weight without changing the weight of the finished pen to any significant degree.

Instead, I think you need to look at the materials used to make the kit components, and in particular, cap and barrel finials. Here's a quick comparison between two pens selected at random from the collection on my desk:
  • El Grande (plastic finials) - 34 g
  • Big Boy cigar (metal finials) - 44 g
I also weighed a couple of Chinese factory-made all metal pens (Jinhao and Huashi) - they were essentially the same weight as the Big Boy.
Click to expand...
This pretty much nails my biggest concern with material weight - there just isn't generally enough material in the blank to alter the weight of the finished pen by more than a few grams. Being relatively new to turning, I wouldn't even know where to begin outside of kit pens; I don't believe the specs for the various kits even list the weight of the kit itself. I also don't really know how heavy a pen would need to be to really benefit her condition. I need to reach back out to her to see if she can narrow that down a little before going further I think. Thanks for the input!
 
If you are looking for a wood, one of the heaviest hardwoods I use is Desert Ironwood coming in at around 75lbs/cubic foot -- named Ironwood most likely because of its weight. Cocobolo is also fairly heavy at about 67lbs. As has already been mentioned, the reconstituted stone blanks are some of the heaviest materials readily available.

Regards,
Dave
 
So apparently she has a special pen designed for her condition; it is on the lighter end of the range for that type of pen and it is 70 grams. I'm not sure I can get close to 70g with a kit pen, even with a big kit and heavy blank.
 
Although I have never built one, the Panache Rollerball looks like it would be a very heavy pen because of the exaggerated diameters on the ends. (One end is 0.67-inches and the other is 0.79-inches) - Dave
 
Lignum Vitae is the heaviest wood in existence.

However, it leans toward a greenish hue not everyone finds appealing.
 
derekdd said:
Lignum Vitae is the heaviest wood in existence.

However, it leans toward a greenish hue not everyone finds appealing.
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Great recommendation. I used some Lignum Vitae to make a pen and pencil set on DuraClick EDC kits. I didn't recall it being heavy, but I do recall it being extremely hard. As you indicated, mine did have a muddy-greenish tint, but I think it paired ok with the Burnt Bronze plating option. - Dave

IMG_1506 Cropped.jpg
 
You need to look at kits with a lot of metal and relatively thin tubes and combine it with heavy material. For example, PSI's cast kits (Phoenix, Dragon, newly added Basketball kits, and others with a "sculptured look") are usually much heavier than most rollerball pens and have 9.5mm long tubes with up to 13-14mm outer diameter so the weight of the material actually matters. Brass or copper might be the heaviest materials you can use and you can make them really pretty with some patina - just use a kit with similar color. For patina search youtube, there are a lot of videos showing how to use ammonia, salt, vinegar and mustard to achieve sick results:) Just don't forget CA on top to protect patina.
 
The full size Gent, Majestic and Statesman rollerball kits have always been among the biggest and heaviest kits around. They are a high quality product so are priced accordingly. Exotics have two of them and I would expect Ed would, given a little time, weight the lower barrel parts to give you an idea of how much it is. The tubes are in the half inch range, give or take, so a heavy blank would add more than a smaller kit does. Look into them.
 
Casein and ebonite are pretty dense. I also agree with suggestions to turn a large pen with big metal components. The full size gent is pretty large.
 
I make pens out of 50cal shells using a simple slimline kit. It weighs in at a substantial 96 grams. This might be within your capabilities using only a wood lathe. I 3d print the inserts now but I used to use 1/2" dowell. The only tricky thing would be drilling the bullet….well sourcing single bullets is an issue too. I think it would be possible to hold a bullet in a chuck for drilling, though I always use a collet.
I've also done novelty pens out of a 1/2" brass bolt, rebar, brass rod and steel rod. They're definitely heavy but well beyond the capabilities of a wood lathe. I also do stone pens, but as has been pointed out, there is so little actual material remaining after drilling and turning they don't feel heavy at all.
 
egnald said:
Although I have never built one, the Panache Rollerball looks like it would be a very heavy pen because of the exaggerated diameters on the ends. (One end is 0.67-inches and the other is 0.79-inches) - Dave
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I have made several Panache pens, and in fact, have one on my desk at work. I can weigh it tomorrow.
 

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Uncle_Lou said:
I have a friend who suffers from essential tremor, so when she uses writing implements they need to be fairly heavy to help keep her hand steady. She asked if I am able to make a heavy pen. I've seen a few older threads talking about heavy wood, but I don't believe she has a material preference, so I thought I would do some digging to see what materials are readily available that might suit. I am a relative newcomer to turning, but am game to try anything if it will help her out.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
I have the same tremor. I've made a number of heavy pens. Dragon, Phoenix, Steampump and others. I also have used blackwood and ebony and agree with others who suggest that the actual pen provides more weight increase than the decorative material.
 
I just made a couple of pens from alabaster and soapstone and they are by far heavier than anything ive turned. I have a few blanks if you need 1 or 2.
 

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Hey... we can help. Now that I own the M3 product/process we've got some options to make things heavy since we're using metal. Brass is on the upper end of the weight scale but in theory we could use tungsten as well. Tungsten will be a lot rougher on your tools but very heavy obviously. M3 has twice the metal as rein by weight in some formulations so we can add weight quickly. Shoot me a message and we can come up with some ideas to help her out.
 
McKenzie Penworks said:
Hey... we can help. Now that I own the M3 product/process we've got some options to make things heavy since we're using metal. Brass is on the upper end of the weight scale but in theory we could use tungsten as well. Tungsten will be a lot rougher on your tools but very heavy obviously. M3 has twice the metal as rein by weight in some formulations so we can add weight quickly. Shoot me a message and we can come up with some ideas to help her out.
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That M3 blank from my last box was beautiful but very light. Switching resins really made the blank better than the old M3 in my opinion.
 
Joebobber said:
That M3 blank from my last box was beautiful but very light. Switching resins really made the blank better than the old M3 in my opinion.
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The aluminum and carbon combo is pretty darn light that's for sure. Now you load it up with brass or iron.... That's a different story. Some sacrifices were made in the name of switching to urethane but ultimately I think it's worth it lol
 
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