How hard is it to prepare blanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[L33]

Today hasn't been very productive...but it's been a huge learning curve....

I had this great idea of making a batch load of Scribe pens with a walnut and maple stripey pattern...mainly because I've sold a couple already and been asked for some more. So last night I prepared the wood and made a shed load of blanks. All was good.

After cutting the blanks to size, it was all systems go...or so I thought. I spent all day on the one pen and in the end gave up....

Today I have destroyed a whole batch of blanks, glued my hands together and filled the swear box and more! But here is what I have learnt from today...

1. Ca glue isn't for me...it's too fast setting, doesn't allow for adjustments and above all, when things go pear shaped...they really go pear shaped!

2. Patience is everything...rushing just doesn't work in the pen turning world.

3. Gorilla glue is messy...and sticky...but I think it's the glue for me. Thanks to the guy on FB for pointing me in the right direction. I just need to prepare my blanks 24 hours in advance...but that's no issue.

4. Squared off blanks make life easier...the drill bit can wonder at any time but squaring the blanks off helps reduce this at the start of the cut.

5. Use the correct bit...I like the pen drills...they aren't cheap, but they do the job. Metal jobbers just don't work properly and destroyed many of my blanks today. It's worth splashing out on the right drills.

6. Take light cuts...up...down...up...down...it's boring, but it works.

7. If money is no object, but I drill press with 80mm travel...mines only 60mm and that means messing around. Think I'm gonna get a new press.

8. When frustrated, don't just stick a blank in the vice and drill it in one pass...or it'll come out the side...not the bottom!

9. When using gorilla glue, don't think that you have all day to fix in the barrel...or it might end up getting stuck half way through insertion and wreck another blank...although this may have been caused by an overly wet segmented blank.

10. When beginning pen turning...segmented blanks may look cool...but realise that for some strange reason, a whole new set of rules apply to drilling and turning them, as oppose to normal straight cut blanks!

Learnt a lot today from guys on FB...they were really helpful and I almost feel as if I'm back as an apprentice again...surprised nobody tried to sell me a left handed pen! :) No doubt some of the guys are also on this forum too, so I just wanted to say thanks for any advice and as always, I'm greatful of any advice given. Just bought some TM pen kits and I'm hoping that if I keep things simple regarding the blanks, I will hopefully be able to make a few decent looking pens.

On a side note, if anybody has any advice or knows of any videos etc on making segmented blanks etc, I'd be interested to know. I think today, a lot of problems where caused because I was drilling into side grain, not end grain, and turning end grain, not side grain. I'm not sure any other way of making stripey blanks, other than cross cutting some boards and gluing end grain to end grain which would mean I'd be cutting side grain...but I'm sure I heard the gluing end grain to end grain isn't something that is done.

 

[Neil Lawton]

Where in the UK are you?
Most members on here would be happy to give one on one advice, if near you?

 

[Buckeye]

Have a look in the Segmenting section of the Tutorials.

Peter

 

[Phil Dart]

9. When using gorilla glue, don't think that you have all day to fix in the barrel...or it might end up getting stuck half way through insertion and wreck another blank...although this may have been caused by an overly wet segmented blank.

...surprised nobody tried to sell me a left handed pen! :)

As Peter says, have a look in the tutorial section to find some help with segnmented blanks.

There's a Gorilla Glue turorial which you may find helpful on the Beaufort Ink blog
Preventing pen tubes from moving with Gorilla Glue | Beaufort Ink

As for left handed pens, you thought you were joking.
Left handed Bock Nibs

 

[Penpal]

Normal day in the workshop I would say.

If using a drill press spend time with an accurate square to ensure whatever vice you use with it holds blanks vertical in all directions. I like Woodies suggestion one time to use a small square to ensure the blank is held right on the drill press. I use jaws (4 inch) with Vees horizontal and vertical they allow setting for me by eye quickly.

I use DEWalt Extreme 2 HSS-G 7mm for Slims Din 338. They have a small drill point and almost flat lands.

When using segmented blanks ensure you use the dead centre to drill them, using a centre drill initially to guide the main drill entry.

Have fun mate the rest is a learning curve. Well worth establishing techniques and habits that work every time.

Good luck mate

Peter.

Love Gorilla Glue but unlike Phil I use a rubber band to ensure no movement while the glue expands removing the band after an hour or so.

Make yourself a device using whatever with a sanding disk, also on libraries how to and why.

 

[AllenN]

I got frustrated using a drill press with too short a travel and moved to drilling on the lathe. I have found it much better. Using a centre drill to start is also very helpful in my experience.. You still need to take care that everything is square and keep the drill speed down.

 

[Vic Perrin]

Use your lathe for the drilling process I have been doing this for years now and the number of failures have been negligible.

 

[Dalboy]

By the sound of it you have already learnt a lot but still need some guidance. Like Neil said is there someone near you it helps if you put a town near you in the profile instead of UK

 

[Bill Mooney]

Follow the advice given. Best of luck.

 

[bigbob]

As above use your lathe to drill out blanks if you can not afford a drill press. If you are going to buy a drill press make sure the stroke is more than 60mm my one has 90mm my wife bought it for me a few years ago and at first I did not like the look of the thing as it looks different to any other drill press I have seen but it was free to me and it has done a fantastic job in my workshop has a super digital depth gauge laser is accurate and it drills out pen blanks very well link here Benefits of: The Bosch PBD 40 Bench Drill - YouTube .

As for not getting on with CA glue I have only had one instant where the tube stuck before being able to insert the brass tube and that was because the drill hole was too tight(small) this was a while ago when I just started and ever since then I always test the fit before rubbing the brass tube then put it on my tube inserter the CA glue I have has never set less than about 5 seconds maybe more and it only takes me about 2 seconds including rotation to insert the tube so maybe have a trial run to see how long it takes you to put the tube in the blank without the glue as this I feel is where your problem is. Gorilla glue I use occasionally but only if the hole is slightly loose. To stop the glue getting into the tube i put blue-tac in each end.

I agree with Peter re the Dewalt extreme 2 drill bits you can get them locally at screwfix the advantage of these bits is there is less blowout at the bottom of the blank apart from the fact that they cut very well. However I would not be put off normal drill bits I used an 8mm one the other day for a seam ripper kit as I did not have a "proper" drill for pen blanks and provided you put a block of wood hard up to the bottom of the blank to stop blow out you should have no problem and the drill did not drift at all as I used a centre drill to start.

 

[Winemaker]

Well come to pen making you done most of the mistakes in one day

 

[L33]

As above use your lathe to drill out blanks if you can not afford a drill press. If you are going to buy a drill press make sure the stroke is more than 60mm my one has 90mm my wife bought it for me a few years ago and at first I did not like the look of the thing as it looks different to any other drill press I have seen but it was free to me and it has done a fantastic job in my workshop has a super digital depth gauge laser is accurate and it drills out pen blanks very well link here Benefits of: The Bosch PBD 40 Bench Drill - YouTube .

As for not getting on with CA glue I have only had one instant where the tube stuck before being able to insert the brass tube and that was because the drill hole was too tight(small) this was a while ago when I just started and ever since then I always test the fit before rubbing the brass tube then put it on my tube inserter the CA glue I have has never set less than about 5 seconds maybe more and it only takes me about 2 seconds including rotation to insert the tube so maybe have a trial run to see how long it takes you to put the tube in the blank without the glue as this I feel is where your problem is. Gorilla glue I use occasionally but only if the hole is slightly loose. To stop the glue getting into the tube i put blue-tac in each end.

I agree with Peter re the Dewalt extreme 2 drill bits you can get them locally at screwfix the advantage of these bits is there is less blowout at the bottom of the blank apart from the fact that they cut very well. However I would not be put off normal drill bits I used an 8mm one the other day for a seam ripper kit as I did not have a "proper" drill for pen blanks and provided you put a block of wood hard up to the bottom of the blank to stop blow out you should have no problem and the drill did not drift at all as I used a centre drill to start.

90mm stroke that's the longest I've seen...just checked it on Amazon and not a bad price...been having issues being limited to only 60mm so I may just get one of those. Thanks for that link.

The normal drill bits seem to give me issues but it may be different if they are in a press and not a hand drill...time will tell.

Thanks again for the link...

 

[Buckeye]

Try drilling on the lathe, the outlay is quite small and the results excellent.

You don't need any special drill bits, just sharp ones.

Peter

 

[Penpal]

I have liked the concept of the Bosch Drill since I first eyed it on this forum. I keep the lathe for turning, well set up and neat precision as I can get. The thought of chucking etc and unlocking , etc does not appeal to me to drill on the lathe when the drill press is so efficient and separate. I have always had stations or separate functions in my workshop that suit me.Rarely I will use my metal lathe basically to take advantage of special hollowing tools to get that finite size in the holes. I used to drill up to a hundred or two Corian from !/2 inch square easily and well with a cheap drill press well tuned up. I threw out the nasty bearings initially, it had a beaut throw, squared up the functions of all the important squaring rests buried the motor,fitted a 1hp aussie made one, fitted a better chuck . Installed an X and Y function Clamping vice, tuned up the gibs , fitted the vee vice jaws. Having been given a Rolls Royce quality X and Y heavy vice with micro adjustments I now use this, but the same principal applies.

Peter.

 

[chas_41_uk]

Drilling on the league works best for me
I've never had an issue with Jobber drill bits. It's usually been down to technique
Here labours in the UK are you Lee. There's bound to be someone close enough to help you out.

 

[L33]

Having read everyone's suggestions and going through the whole process of success and failure, I think I've finally sussed it all out.

I believe there are many steps to successfully drilling a blank. Skip any one step and you risk failure...stay on the path and you're guaranteed a perfect blank every time. Sometimes a short cut works by shear chance...especially with shorter blanks, but it's not worth the risk.

I've now come up with a way for me to drill the blanks and ensure success every time (wood blanks) which requires patience more than anything, so hopefully no more disasters haha. :)

 

[Penpal]

Having read everyone's suggestions and going through the whole process of success and failure, I think I've finally sussed it all out.

I believe there are many steps to successfully drilling a blank. Skip any one step and you risk failure...stay on the path and you're guaranteed a perfect blank every time. Sometimes a short cut works by shear chance...especially with shorter blanks, but it's not worth the risk.

I've now come up with a way for me to drill the blanks and ensure success every time (wood blanks) which requires patience more than anything, so hopefully no more disasters haha. :)

Pleased its a victory for you.

Peter.