What size pen blanks do you like to use?

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What size pen blanks do you prefer?

  • 3/4 x 3/4 x 5-1/4

    Votes: 94 68.6%

  • 7/8 x 7/8 x 5-1/4

    Votes: 32 23.4%

  • Something different, I'll post the size below

    Votes: 11 8.0%
  • Total voters
    137
  • Poll closed .
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It depends on what I'm building . Kit pens up to cigar or Jr's 3/4" , Full size kits like Majestics and Emperors 7/8" , Kitless - whatever it takes usually 7/8"X6" or bigger .
 
One day I was rearranging my shop and realized I had boxes full of short cuttoffs, mostly between .75 and 1" long and I realized how much material is wasted making pens so as I made more of my own molds I sized them to suit me. I cast a lot of .700" X 4.5" square blanks or .675" x 2.5" round blanks.

Here is a list of sizes I cut to when making these kits:

4.2" - Imperial
3.7" - Lotus
4.5" - Emperor/Statesman
4.2" - Jr Gent/Statesman
2.1" - Elegant Beauty
2.3" - Sierra
2.5" - Sierra Click

Nothing I make requires larger than a .700 x 4.5" blank so I have no need for those 7/8" x 6" "Jumbo" blanks.
 
Great information so far everyone!

I hate wasting perfectly good(outstanding) wood, and cutting blanks that are too big is definitely a surefire way of making a LOT of waste!




Scott (keep the info coming) B
 
I am with Butch... It all depends on what i am doing.


I have molds that make skinny blanks, and i have molds that make fat blanks. I cant find my calipers to measure the blanks so i am not sure their exact size as far as diameter goes.

For the length, I prefer 6 inch blanks. They give me the opportunity to do kitless, or closed end, or custom cb and finial work. The cutoffs always make cool CB's and finials and such if the blank is too long.
 
I personally would love it if the wood were just a bit larger than the pens largest final diameter. I hate using full size 3/4 blanks for making slims andother small ballpoints, I've gotten quite a few smaller blanks (sometimes on purpose, sometimes by not reading fully...) and once I got beyond the need to have a larger blank to make up for drilling inacuracies, I much prefer the blanks to be as close as possible to size before they hit the lathe, so I would prefer to keep a stock of everything from 1/2" to 3/4" so I can use a blank that isn't going to end up mostly in the dust collector... That being said, most of the time I buy blanks, I head strait for the 3/4"...
 
I prefer to buy material in as wide and as long as it will come, and for pens, at least .625" thick. I like to cut off what I need for whatever I'm making which may be a very short section or finial or a longer barrel if that fits the design.
 
Seems to me that woodturning and not wasting wood don!t go together. I always have more wood on the floor than in the things left on the lathe when I finish...
Do a good turn daily!
Don
.




Scott (hate to cut the wrong size) B[/QUOTE]
 
I like the 7/8 by a full 5 if they are already cut. I don't make hundreds of pens to be concerned about the waste. The wood might as well be wasted in my shop as elsewhere anyway. The extra size allows me a little more lattitude to make adjustments to place features of the wood where I want them.
 
Frequently if I have a blank that is more than I need thickness wise, I will slice off the extra on my band saw and safe the slices for segments later.
 
Great info!!

The poll would give me an excellent starting point for how much to cut, in what size!

Thanks so much to those that have already voted and posted here already.....it is appreciated!



Scott (keep voting everyone) B
 
Just as a newbie, I found 3/4 x 3/4 - 6" to be very useful. It might be that I went from Slimlines to PSI Executives, and found I could use one blank to make a pen/pencil set, same species and pretty much same grain pattern.
 
Hmmmm. The poll shows most like 3/4" but I sell way more 7/8" blanks than 3/4". If I offer both 3/4" and 7/8", more people will buy the 7/8", even if they cost slightly more. Why would that be if the poll is saying 66%+ like the 3/4"?????
 
I rarely have to use something bigger than 3/4 x 3/4 x 5 1/4 blank but it does depend on the project. I have used 1/2 x 1/2 x 5 for slimlines and up to 7/8 x 7/8 x 6 for some of the larger pens.
 
I like having the longer blanks. yes I know I have a whole box of cut offs, but they get used for projects too. my concern with blanks getting shorter is you don't have room to trim on natural wood to get rid of checking an chips. acrlyic blanks sometimes need extra length to account for blow outs too.

Erik
 
I use 3/4 & 7/8, the small cutoffs get sold for a few cents to a neighbor that makes jewelery from them
 
It all depend if I am making my own or buying.

If I am making my own, I will make them for the style of pen I am doing. I like my blanks a little long for the drill though and then cut off the end method:
-Slimline... 5/8 x 5 1/2
-Anything up to a Jr Statesman/Jr Gent... 3/4 x 6 (sometimes less length)
-Full Statesman/Full Gent or bigger 7/8 x 6

If I am buying, it is generally 3/4 x 6 unless I know I am shopping to do a full size Statesman or Gent.
 
ersRFP said:
Hmmmm. The poll shows most like 3/4" but I sell way more 7/8" blanks than 3/4". If I offer both 3/4" and 7/8", more people will buy the 7/8", even if they cost slightly more. Why would that be if the poll is saying 66%+ like the 3/4"?????
Click to expand...

Eric, I wonder too. I started making 3/4 x 5 blanks but kept getting requests for 7/8 so now my standard blanks are very close to 7/8 x 5 1/2. I don't turn a whole lot of pens since I spend my time making blanks but for every blank I design (or attempt to design) I make several pens to test the blank just to make sure it will work...and i have ended up with a SIGNIFICANT amount of cut-offs. George's (Texas Durango) size table is spot on so you can see how much waste there is with using 7/8 x 5 1/2" blanks. I rearly throw anything away so one of these days the cut-off box may come in handy.
But like Don Ward said "Seems to me that woodturning and not wasting wood don!t go together".

Eugene
 
When I'm casting I usually pour 5/8 thick in a tray mold then cut them off to 5/8 wide. Occasionally I'll make something thicker when needed. I have a tray mold that is 4 1/2 wide by 6 inches long, normally I cut them the short legnth so the finished blanks are 5/8 X 5/8 X 4 1/2
 
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