Most challenging aspect of pen making for you?

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Cwalker935

Cwalker935

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Just curious what do you find to be the most challenging thing when making a pen? I made a fountain pen section this morning and found it very challenging.
 
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Every step of pen making has been a challenge to me.
I was caught in the Great Recession several years ago.
I lost my job, and then I got sick with cancer.

I had a hard time getting 2 nickels to rub together.
I have had to piece meal my turning tools a little at a time over the years.
It's amazing I still have the desire to turn after all the crap I've been thru just getting stuff together to actually turn.

But, a little here, a little there, and I've finally got enough stuff together so I can really turn. It's only taken me 8 years so far.
 
Spanx said:
Trying to make one Jeff likes.That and making one without any mistakes along the way.
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Jeff likes ones without mistakes. However you could take a picture of the side without the mistake and that would do! :biggrin:

When you finally give up trying, and just make a pen to please yourself, then it might be the one he likes! :biggrin: Timing also helps.


As for me, finding time (AND Energy) to finish my shop and do some turning is my most challenging. LOML is demanding of my time when I am home now. And that is not always a bad thing! :wink:
 
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My most challenging aspect of pen turning is to figure out how to store all my kits and blanks and casting equipment and segmenting equipment and glues and so on. The next challenging thing is finding time to make all the to do list things pen related. Have sooooooooooo many ideas. :biggrin:
 
My challenge is to keep from dropping every little piece i pick p. Every part lands on the floor. It is i my quality control manual. "Must Survive drop from work table". Sec. 4, pp. 5
 
Mine is designing a new pen. I have to really work at design. Mechanical processes are easy to me most of the time but design is where I really really have to work at it.
 
Unquestionably....sanding and finishing. And don't even ask me to make a pen with black acrylic blank.
 
Cody, For me it is "All of the Above", and I dare say "All that will Follow".
But Mainly All of mine are Time Related.
They are Like the "Wine Conundrum",
"Too many Great Wines, and Not enough Time to Taste Them All".
In Pen Turning Terms,
Too Many Great Idea's, and Projects (Many of which, I have Already Forgotten), to Improve, the Efficiency and Effectiveness of the Chaos I Call "My Workshop".

While this All Sounds,Negative, and it could be, seen as Soul Destroying.
In Particular, to a Person who's Professional Career was in Manufacturing and Logistics.
But I am Enjoying "My Chaos".

I trust that when it is my Time to "Drop off the Perch", my Son's and Grandson's will enjoy Discovering the Chaos, that has been left for them, and Appreciate the Effort I had to put into Creating it For Them.
Brian.
 
mredburn said:
Mine is designing a new pen. I have to really work at design. Mechanical processes are easy to me most of the time but design is where I really really have to work at it.
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Mike,
I will have what I think is a good idea but the end result does not come up to my expectations. Proportions are hard for me to gauge. BUT, I have found that if I try enough, I will accidentally hit a home run on occasion, and that will carry me a long way. On one of my pens, someone commented specifically on the nice proportions of the segments. Shucks, I didn't plan it, it just happened! I was in somewhat of a rush and it happened.

When I plan, it doesn't happen! I have a few dozen tubed blanks turned (most finished) that I never assembled into a pen because they look just plum ugly. I keep them close by to examine what not to do the next time.
 
Being new to pen turning, Jan18th was the first time I turned something, a pen. Now I'm addicted. My challenge is keeping everything organized.
 
For me, the most challenging part is taking the time to make pictures and post my work on SOYP.

I find the photography and photo editing processes quite frustrating as well as struggling with the hassle of manipulating files and folders in Windows. . Back in the days of DOS things were a breeze but not anymore. . OK, so I am dating myself but I am quite sure a lot of you will understand.
 
Three things for me.

  1. Dialiing in the size perfectly.
  2. Blank to kit matching
  3. Finding the time without other shoppy things interfering. Or sometimes, non-shoppy things.
 
Challenge

I don't care to make the same thing over and over, and try not to put myself in competition with china .
I make few pens , but I try to make my work different then anyone else's.

so the challenge would be design and style , to make a pen different from everyone else that will have a secondary market .
 
This seems elementary, however for me, after 3000 pens, it is drilling. I drill on my Shopsmith with a dedicated chuck in the tail stock. Easy chuck pen jaws in the drive. My bits are Sharp. My head stock and tail stock are aligned. There are times, when drilling with the same bit, the first May be spot on and stable. For the second and subsequent the drill bits starts a chatter , which elongates the entrance hole. I always let the drill bit "find" it's natural drilling center before I advance the quill. Aggravating.
 
jttheclockman said:
My most challenging aspect of pen turning is to figure out how to store all my kits and blanks and casting equipment and segmenting equipment and glues and so on. The next challenging thing is finding time to make all the to do list things pen related. Have sooooooooooo many ideas. :biggrin:
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This is the challening problem for me. I have SO many ideas!! I have also bought a ton of blanks and kits, to try and realize those ideas...

The problem I have is finding time to actually do the work, and then when I do find the time, having it be on a day that is not too cold to turn (huge problem since January this year). I stocked up on a ton of stuff last year. I've only turned a handful of pens... The hardest thing by far is actually doing it. Once I'm doing it, I think I have the process down now, and I don't really find any particular part hard.

Early on, I think the hardest part (and maybe in some ways still is, although mostly because I'm still waiting on some TBC bushings to come in) was getting things truly round and concentric. Most of my pens have a little bit of non-concentricity and some even out of round issues. I am a perfectionist, and that little issue just drives me crazy....
 
Finding time. Organizing parts and blanks. Having so many ideas, deciding what to do next.
And something I really fall down on, documenting what I've done. I really should be taking pictures of everything I make and noting when it was made and where it went.
 
Most challenging aspect….. stop buying. I can get by with what I have for a while. But the itch to unnecessarily spend needs scratching occasionally.
 
I have mentioned my challenging aspect and seen it in/discussed it with others here.

For me it is doing vs learning to do. I find it far more enjoyable to learn to do something than to repetitively do it once I know how. The challenge is in coming up with a reason to do the more routine aspects.
 
I would like to piggyback on what Mike just said. I too mentioned my challenging aspects of this hobby but would also like to say that coming up with ideas is a challenge but one I really enjoy because I too am a one and done unless I get a request for something I did already. There are soooooooooooooooo many ideas out there and I try to stress this over and over again here and that is let your mind go and think outside the box. Many of the pens I do I only hope others would take the ideas and expand or even make better of ones I did. I have no problem sharing any idea here because it is a hobby for me and I hope to see this hobby grow. I have seen a few new designs pass here and those are the ones I focus in on. When someone says I wish I could do that I shake my head because you do not give yourself enough credit and ask questions and you too can do the things you see here. Yes some may take some more tooling but many times there is more than one way to do something. Just another thought being this thread was revived.
 
finding the time to - move the stuff piled onto the lathe and it's bench to let me start turning.

That and the multiple other projects on the go such as the tree shaped bowl , knitting sticks , that new jig I know I need etc, etc.

Ive even stopped going to car boots to try to resist the urge to get more tools…. I know it's not healthy or natural to suppress such urges but OK I admit it , I am a Tool Squirrel 🐿
 
I'm going to echo Frank (WriteON). My most challenging aspect is to stop buying. I just finished up adding all of my kits and blanks (well, pen blanks anyway) to a Microsoft Access database. I just didn't realize I had so much inventory. And yet I can hardly wait for the end of next week when I get my allowance. I already have an order ready to go to for more of my favorite kits from Ed. - 🤪 Dave
 
Finding my steel ruler.

After that it's keeping things organized so that i know where I put down the tubes for the blank that I just cut and drilled.
 
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