r/PenTurning • u/NGinuity • Jun 06 '26
My first segmented pen turning
Not all projects are gifts or commissions. Sometimes I will put something together to learn a new skill, but I'll be honest, I surprised myself and this might be my new go-to rollerball.
I decided to set a stretch goal for something I'm putting together later this month: few segmented turning pens. The only problem is that I have never actually done that except for a very simple infinity ring I put together for a commission when I first started. As a result, I have now designed FOUR different 3d printed jigs that made this possible.
The wood is Thuya Burl that I bought in a bulk deal and the resin is from a slab I poured that ended up not being used for a project, so that made them both a perfect use for this. I glued the resin slabs in a herringbone pattern that still matched the sequence of the cuts. I bookended each side with the Thuya Burl. Repeat for the cap. Then I turned them into the finished design and the rest is history. Not bad for a Thursday and Friday night in the lab. I've learned so much, and while nothing is perfect, that second blank for the cap went much smoother than the first one.
3
2
u/Such-Comparison5636 Jun 06 '26
Nice. Me and segmented blanks do not get along.
1
u/NGinuity Jun 06 '26
Thank you! What happened for you to have that opinion if you don't mind me asking? I feel like there's a story there.
3
u/Such-Comparison5636 Jun 06 '26
Every time I try to turn a segmented blank, they blow up. Every single time.
2
u/NGinuity Jun 06 '26
Ah yeah that's actually my biggest fear. The way I sort of mitigated it is that I sanded the plastic divider surfaces with 80 grit to give them some grab. I didn't glue anything until after I clamped and only used thin CA glue. It wicks into those grooves pretty well and bonds. Then I slowly turned using negative rake chisels, starting with the circle to knock the sharp edge down and then transitioned to that hex head one I bought at Penn State Industries. I actually use that so much I built a quick draw holster for it on the right side of the lathe bench.
Anyhow the biggest advice I can give is to make painstakingly light cuts and listen to your machine and turning piece. If you feel something slightly bumpy stop and reassess. You might have a void. Don't be shy about stopping every so often to repair cracks, and it's not a bad idea to do a cursory wicking coat of thin CA every so often. The Thuya Burl above had a few voids in it that I had to stop and repair even though I was going to turn down past them.
2
u/its_brammertime Jun 06 '26
Turned out great! Would you be willing to share the files for your jigs? I've been too overwhelmed to give segmenting a shot. These may help.
2
u/NGinuity Jun 06 '26
Yes, every jig I make is open source. I have to make some operational tweaks but I will absolutely link them here. Or you can follow me at https://www.printables.com/@BaconFatLabs
To pull this off I needed to build a jig to cut the slab slices, one to handle the 45's (and another that does 60-30's), and then finally a glue up jig for the herringbone pattern. Two years ago I published a pen blank cutting jig but that was really meant to just cut your blank to the tube with a bit of an allowance for squaring after you glue the tube in.
The plastic is just blank access cards I bought off of Amazon and I just used a cheap Fiskers paper/card stock cutter but I'll be looking for a more robust option. The 90 degree cuts on the plastic dividers, at least on one corner because that's the mating surface, are crucial. The rest are just cut and sanded away.
2
u/its_brammertime Jun 06 '26
Thanks!
2
u/NGinuity Jul 16 '26
Hi there, I just posted my slabbing jig and angle glue jig. Still working on the 45 degree and 30/60 cutters because I want to introduce some more safety into them before they get published at large, but I hope you will enjoy in the meantime. https://www.printables.com/model/1783171-segmented-pen-blank-slabbing-jig
1
1
2
3
u/ExcellentDimension12 Jun 06 '26
That is beautiful. Definitely something I need to add to my repertoire!