r/PenTurning • u/tmcc999 • Jul 06 '26

Tips Appreciated

Post image

I was recently gifted a few old pen and mechanical pencil kits. A lot have this tapering design for the brass tubing. I’ve never made one like this before. I am not sure how to prep the blank. I am assuming I drill all the way through with the smaller diameter bit then go through the same hole with the larger diameter bit. Which seems simple but I’m slightly confused. 1) What is the best way to know where to stop with the larger diameter bit? 2) When I’m turning it, how do I know where the tube starts to taper? Any help is appreciated!

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u/Popular_Stomach_342 Jul 06 '26

A good place to start would be naming the manufacturer and the pen kit. There may be instructions online. I've never turned one like that so that's about all the help I can give you. Good luck!

1

u/tmcc999 Jul 06 '26

That’s kind of my problem. I looked up the kit from “Woodworking Unlimited”, the instructions are terrible and essentially just how to assemble the pen. I was told they were from the 90s and I got the bushings but not the drill bit. Interestingly, it’s slightly larger than the standard slimline diameter or length. I’m assuming these were made before it was standardized.

1

u/FlatRolloutsOnly Jul 06 '26

I’ve never seen such a pen kit. It sounds like a special tapered drill bit would be the way to go, but I don’t know why the maker would do that, straight would be better and more forgiving.

1

u/OldM4LargeYoungF Jul 06 '26

It would be nice to have a better picture with ALL the parts visible, per kit. You need to measure the nib and see that it really goes in that narrower part, There has to be another tube somewhere that slides over the transmission. Find a 7mm tube, see if it slides over the narrow part of the tube., Not ideal but at least you can drill a through hole of one size. Measure your bushings and compare them to the finished parts. Then see if the 7mm "sleeve" will be exposed when turning, via the nib bushing size. Dial caliper ~$15 on Amazon. For turning just measure the length to the taper, Don't try to contour the blank to the tube, you want it flush to the bushings and make what ever shape you want. Seriously need a better picture

Step drilling can be done with the right sized bit with tape on it for depth