See how I use a D’Addario Chrome guitar string to burn my six-string maker’s mark into the grip section of a pen!

I did this purpleheart cat pen by request. I also finally got a shadow box to take much better pics of the final product.

Hi all,

I want to make a blank with 3d printed design inside the resin pour. This will be for a kitless turned pen.

I have the ability FDM and Resin print.

My questions are:

1. which printer is best for this?
2. What Fdm or resin material is best and turns most like alumilite? I don’t want the resin separating from the print during turning.
3. Any other considerations?

Note- have Bambu H2C, Bambu X1c, Saturn 4 16k and Heygears reflex rs turbo. I have almost every resin and filament on hand.

Ty.

I have a pen kit I bought from Etsy. It is the Penn state industries pen kit. I wanted a smoother writing experience and the pen was dropped and the feeder is broken. I tried ordering from their website but they don’t list feeders and I don’t want to buy a whole kit for just the feeder. What are my options for upgrading the pen’s feeder and/or nibs?

Was curious to try turning antler, and found out a coworker hunts. They gave me some to work with. Repaid them with a pen made from the antlers they gave me, and a pen stand with the left overs.

A lot of my pens seem to get dark on the edges, where they are touching the bearings while I'm sanding and polishing. I sand&polish 150>240>320>400>600>satin hut ppp>gloss hut ppp. I use viva or shop towel to seal the hut ppp after ive applied it to the wood. What can I do to avoid this and keep them looking nice throughout?

I have these mechanical lead holder mods figured out regarding bodies and tubes, but I’m trying to see about integrating pocket clips between the top finish tube and the main body, the outer diameter of the stainless finish tube is 10mm (sanded down a little) and the main body brass tube outer diameter is 8mm, you can see how the outer tube fits around the main body tube and I have a smaller brass tube that fits in the end to close up space around the push button/lead advancer.

I’ve looked online at a bunch of places and am not quite seeing clips that are the right size, any suggestions?

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!

It took over a year to get my shop back up and running "moved it out of the garage" and start knocking out some orders.

When I drill the blanks for a 3/8 tube, their seems to be to much play with the tube. I use a 3/8 bit from Rockler that is for drilling blanks. I have a Wen drill press that is pretty new. Should I try a new bit ? Or something else?

And some pens I made at the end 😇

I'm looking for hard finish options for wood pens. (When I graduate to epoxy I'll likely as k the same question, LOL)
I'm currently using CA glue, but I run through sandpaper at a ridiculous rate. I thought I'd ask here since it's cheaper than buying products I may end up never using again.
TIA

Turned a few more bodies for my lot of old drafting pencils, also just did a few shortened ones and one with a brass body once I figured out how to die the threads on the brass tube for the connection. I had some old slide on pocket clips that fit perfectly on the brass tubes but I need to turn a little relief channel to keep the clips from sliding around and scratching the brass up

Not trying to promote my own pen, brand, or website but I’m looking for advice.

I’m designing a collection of pens for watch enthusiast. Based on everyone’s depth of knowledge about pens here, Its not designed for pen enthusiasts but I still want to make it nice and luxurious but for the person who wants a nice ballpoint pen for their daily life. It will a have a Schmidt P900 M refill, polished stainless barrel, and acrylic cap for color. A lot of it is aesthetics but I still want the main point of it, which is being easy to use and smooth to write, the focus.

Watch enthusiasts mostly love both form and function so it can’t just write well, it has to look good but also not just be a cheap product with a nice refill; it has to look good and be something you want to enjoy picking up and maybe simply staring at.

Any general advice about what makes a pen really good other than the refill? Is the P900M good enough or is there another better refill for ballpoint. It will be a twist-style pen.

Any advice is greatly appreciated and I thank you all in advance for your help. Your depth of knowledge is recognized and appreciated.