Hi all

[reiddo]

Hi all,

New to the forum. Been turning for a wee while but just a few months doing pens. Have a passion for fountain pens and mechanical pencils as I also do portrait art and use both in my art. Had owned a Mont Blanc Meisterstuck 146 for 15 years until I realised I can make luxury pens of my own! Sold the Mont Blanc a few weeks ago to buy more pen turning bits :-)

Since starting pen turning I have been wanting to make my dream pen which is a Mistral fountain pen in Rhodium with Ebony, attempted to make it tonight and the Ebony split when I used the barrel trimmer on it, turns out Ebony is very brittle! Now I have to wait a few days for another Ebony blank to be delivered, gutted. Never mind, I will make a Mistral mechanical pencil in gold and mahogany instead as I did one recently as a commission and couldn't believe the quality of the kit (have attached a pic of the commissioned pencil).

I started life as an apprentice carpenter which is why I have always been handy with tools, but gave that up after 3 cold Scottish winters on building sites and went off and joined the Army, yes I know! ;-) I'm now in IT management and have ambitions of making a career change to woodwork, wood/pen turning and also professional portraiture. I plan on using my pension in 11 years to get started and am going to spent the next decade honing my skills. For now though I'd like to have a side business of making luxury pens and pencils to start my brand, and with the kits at Beaufort Ink the only thing holding me back is my skills!

Looking forward to learning lots on here and chatting with some of you lovely folk.

Kind regards
Dougie

 

[Dalboy]

Hi and welcome Douglas. Plenty of folks here who can help with questions, just ask away if you have any. Barrel trimmers are OK but many use a bench mounted disc sander and a jig to keep the barrel square to it which will reduce the wood splitting.

 

[alpha1]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[flexi]

Welcome to the forum, always keep your first pen..... 5 years down the line, you will understand where all your money has gone No in all honesty you will see your path and how far you have come.... In a years time you may have changed direction completely and be casting your own blanks or going down the kitless route...... Good luck with this venture... I too was an apprentice carpenter and its been good over the years, but pen turning has expanded my knowledge of wood no end

 

[pittswood]

Hi Dougie and welcome to the forum. My advise on barrel trimmers, buy one with as many flutes as possible and keep the edges horned sharp. I did try a disc sander once, but the glue melted and messed up the outside of the blank. I have more than one tube blank cutter, both have six flutes that are very sharp. Another method, is to put the pen blank and tube back into the pen jaws, (the same ones used to drill out your brass tubes) and clean up the end with a bowl gouge. I have used that method on very brittle woods and works a treat.
Good luck.
Kelvin

 

[wm460]

G'Day Doug,

Welcome to the forum from the warmed up centre of Aust.
Great looking pen.


Cheers,
Mark

 

[flexi]

Hi Kelvin.... You could spend 3 figures and buy the Woodpecker pen mill
Ultra-Shear Pen Mill Ci
I use this on some and a disc sander on others.... Can't make my mind up

 

[reiddo]

Thanks for the welcome all, and for the cracking advice already!

 

[reiddo]

Third time lucky, had another blank blow out when the drill reached the back of the blank. Got success incrementally going up the drill bits from very small to the size I needed, probably 10 increments. I now have turn Ebony barrels! I'm very excited about this and looking forward to sanding and finishing these tonight, then fitting to a Rhodium Mistral pen kit. My dream pen! Well nearly, just need to cough up for a gold nib... ;-)

 

[Bucks]

Welcome to the forum Douglas

 

[Penpal]

Welcome Dougie love your pen.

Peter.

 

[Phil Dart]

Hi Dougie - welcome to the Forum. That's a cracking way to get the ball rolling. I find myself strangely drawn to your pen

I'm a barrel trimmer kind of guy myself, but my take on it is a bit different to Kelvin's - I prefer the four blade type rather than the multi (usually 6) blade type, on the basis that I find the multi blades impossible to sharpen. I made a jig for my Pro-edge so that I can sharpen my four edge type on it (once I've removed all the safety features on the Pro-edge) and it's then a matter of seconds to keep the blades in tip top condition. I know that others favour the sanding method using a disk sander, but a super-sharp trimmer does a better (and more accurate) job for me at any rate, but each to their own.