Circuit board pens

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iowacobb

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Aug 13, 2008
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Location
Central Iowa, USA (Pleasantville) 50225
Good morning,

I'm getting ready to make a couple of circuit board pens for a Father's Day order. I originally was planning to purchase a real circuit board blank from another pen turner that makes them but I having trouble finding a source. I hear they are a pain to make and probably not cost effective.

Does anyone still make them or does everyone use the "real" imitation ones from the various dealers?

Thanks,
Tim McGill
 
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Just ordered a couple dozen WSIII kits. They sell well at shows for me, the green and black are the most popular. Not hard to make, rather easy, they are cost effective. I only have about 15 minutes in each pen.
 
Good morning Tim

I have not seen the sanded, wrapped and cast blanks for a long time. There are a few venders who sell 2 piece sets ( Beartooth Woods for example) but most appear to be for the Sierra style. Az Sill has them in the close out page for a good price

The cigar version on bling hardware looks good.
 
Nope - the hand made ones are a collectors item at this point. They are very time consuming and you are dealing with toxic materials as well.
 
About a week ago, I bought the green one from Woodcraft. Haven't had time to go back up and complain. At the same time, I purchased a carbide (r2) chisel. Tried the chisel on wood first and it was wonderful. Then mounted up the circuit board and started VERY slowly into it with the carbide and it looked good at first. Nice, little shaving of plastic. Then chunks started coming off! Not sure why, but I'm not at all impressed with this blank. And these kits aren't cheap either. I've turned other acrylics and never had this problem even with normal chisels.
 
The resin is chippy. I have several blanks I am slowly building up CA glue to replace chunks that flew off the ends. I have made quite a few of them, but sometimes they just go to pieces.
 
Then use "even normal chisels." :biggrin::biggrin: Seriously, there is no better tool for turning pen blanks than a nice skew. A 1 inch or larger skew will cut very nicely and leave a smooth surface and eliminate a couple of grits of sanding (I start at 320). Carbide tools can be quite aggressive. Many will disagree and will swear by carbide tools. I'll take my skews any day. I use a skew from start to finish on pens of all materials.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

pshortjr said:
About a week ago, I bought the green one from Woodcraft. Haven't had time to go back up and complain. At the same time, I purchased a carbide (r2) chisel. Tried the chisel on wood first and it was wonderful. Then mounted up the circuit board and started VERY slowly into it with the carbide and it looked good at first. Nice, little shaving of plastic. Then chunks started coming off! Not sure why, but I'm not at all impressed with this blank. And these kits aren't cheap either. I've turned other acrylics and never had this problem even with normal chisels.
Click to expand...
 
Tim--

I've only made the circuit board pens sold by exoticblanks.com mounted on a Sierra Stylus (same vendor). I love the way they cut and finish, and my customers love them, too.

I occasionally build *real* circuit boards at work. I don't want to do that in my turning.
 
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