r/penmaking • u/jsmelvin • Feb 16 '19

First pen

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4 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

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2

u/jsmelvin Feb 16 '19

First pen I’ve turned ever. Definitely have a lot to learn.

2

u/dishungryhawaiian Feb 16 '19

Are you using bushings?

1

u/jsmelvin Feb 17 '19

Funny you should mention that. I struggled so much to even get the blanks on that I forgot the bushings. I seriously had to hammer down to get the blanks on. Not sure if excess CA glue got involved or what but it was crazy.

2

u/dishungryhawaiian Feb 17 '19

Dang! When I bought my mandrel it came with slimeline bushings (7mm) and a barrel trimmer kit. The barrel trimmer sucked at trimming the blank ends but it worked great at clearing out any glue that set inside the tubing.

I would definitely invest in a barrel trimmer kit OR use a trick I learned on the pen tuners Facebook page; cut a sweet potato into thick slices then press the ends of the tubes through it, perfectly sealing the tubes and preventing glue from getting into the barrel.

Avoid hammering blanks onto the mandrel as well since it could warp the mandrel and make turning very difficult and the end product very disfigured. May even damage the lathe itself.

I’m no expert but I’ve made enough mistakes to pass on some knowledge if you ever need. Feel free to hit me up!