All you penturners....

[Patrick Taylor]

How do you drill your blanks? Drill press or on the lathe with a jacobs chuck? Or some other way?

I'd like to start making some pens but I'm not sure about whether or not I need a drill press.

Thanks.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Patrick I drill mine on my drill press. I can't remember where I read it but I leave my blanks about 1/4" to 1/2" longer so I don't blow the ends out. Every since I started this I haven't lost a blank. Once drilled to within a 1/8" or so of the end (don't go clear thru) take it to the bandsaw and cut it to length and trim it to final length with the barrel trimmer.

[Jason Slutsky]

I do the same as Bernie except I use my scrollsaw for the final trimming. I have a regular ol' drillpress vice that I use to hold the blank and I use a carpenters square to make sure it's perfectly straight.

I imagine that you could use a jacobs on your lathe, though I've never tried it. I guess you'd need a chuck with small jaws. Anyone ever do it this way?

[Patrick Taylor]

Patrick I drill mine on my drill press. I can't remember where I read it but I leave my blanks about 1/4" to 1/2" longer so I don't blow the ends out. Every since I started this I haven't lost a blank. Once drilled to within a 1/8" or so of the end (don't go clear thru) take it to the bandsaw and cut it to length and trim it to final length with the barrel trimmer.

hmmm, I guess I need a drill press AND a bandsaw!

Anyone do it without a drill press and bandsaw? Just checking my options...

[Jeffrey Fusaro]

hmmm, I guess I need a drill press AND a bandsaw!

Anyone do it without a drill press and bandsaw? Just checking my options...

patrick--

i have drilled some pen blanks on my mini lathe, using a drill chuck in the tail stock. the only drawback is the travel on the tail stock quill - less than 2", so i have to stop and move the tail stock toward the head stock in order to finish the hole. not terribly inconvenient, but it can be slow.

lately, i have been using my drill press and a small vice. i like this set-up better. a little quicker and easier.

i've also been using the drill press to trim the blanks after the tubes have been glued in. i was using the barrel trimmer and cordelss drill, before. the drill press is a bit easier, since you have more mechanical advantage with the quill.

i sat down one morning and made a list of steps that i use to make a pen. i was looking for items that were making the job take longer than i wanted.

drilling the hole and trimming the blanks using the drill press has saved some time.

i've switched from using a hacksaw to using my power mitre box cut blanks to lenght - quicker and more accurate. i can cut the blanks much closer to the actual lenght needed, and have less to trim away doing it this way.

i've also started using ca to glue the tubes into the wood. i was using one-part urethane glue that had an overnight dry time.

these few changes have made the job a bit easier and more enjoyable.

one final point.... i use the drill press as an arbor press to assemble the pen components, too. i didn't bother with a dedicated pen press. so, i guess my drill press has become alamost as important as my lathe for making pens...

[Ron Raymond]

Here's a thread from a while back that includes lots of drilling discussion...
p://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=58460

I've always mounted each half-blank in my Pinnacle chuck on the headstock and the drill bit in a Jacobs chuck on the tailstock, but I'm going to try the Jacobs chuck in the headstock like discussed in the referenced thread.

[Patrick Taylor]

Thanks jeffrey! How exactly are you trimming the blanks with the drill press? I'm having trouble visualizing this...

[Jeffrey Fusaro]

Thanks jeffrey! How exactly are you trimming the blanks with the drill press? I'm having trouble visualizing this...

patrick--

i'm using the barrel trimmer head and interchangeable pilot shafts from craft supplies usa.

1 - assemble the head and shaft and install the the shaft into the drill press chuck.

2 - slide the blank/tube assembly up onto the the pilot shaft (drill press not running).

3 - raise the drill press table until it's about 1/2" below the blank.

4 - hold the blank with a pair vice grips to keep my hands clear.

5 - turn on the drill press and advance the the trimmer head very slowly.

6 - retract the trimmer head frequently to check that i haven't cut into the brass tube.

hope this helps.

[Patrick Lane]

I typically use my drill press to drill my blanks but unless it is an expensive or rare blank, I just drill all the way through. If I want to limit my chances of messing up, then I do as others have said.

Also, keep in mind that you can use a hand saw in place of a band saw. I made quite a few pens that way before getting a cheap little band saw. I may end up back using a hand saw for portabilities sake since I no longer have a permanent shop setup and the band saw is a pain to drag out if I'm only going to be doing one pen.

On another forum, a member swears by drilling his blanks on his lathe using a scroll chuck for the blank and a jacobs chuck for the drill bit. My jacobs chuck (craftsman w/ mt2 adaptor) has a lot of play in it so I can't get the accuracy he is getting, as well as the problem of having to move the tailstock in as already stated.

[Phillip H Smith]

Patrick...

Here's a couple of things that I do in making pens.

I've found that for most exotic woods you can find suppliers of pre-drilled blanks. Overall, the cost isn't that much more than the non-drilled blanks, if you need to buy them anyway.

When I do drill the blanks...and that happens a lot with small offcuts...I use my drill press and a homemade vise jig. The vise jig was made from a piece of scrap wood (about 18") that I cut a "V" lengthwise using my router table and a 45 degree bit. I then cut the board into several sections, which I pair up to hold a pen blank inside a larger wood clamp. The whole thing is sort of: []< B >[], where []s are the left & right jaws of the clamp, with the blank "B" held between the "V" blocks. Each of these "V" blocks is sized to support the whole length of a blank. This homemade device automatically centers and supports the blanks for FREE...versus a store bought device costing around $50. (If none of this makes sense, PM me and I'll send you a picture, when I get home.)

Now here's my "problem": My 12" drill press has only a 2.25" quill, which doesn't reach the full length of many blanks used on larger pens. My workaround is to drill as far as I can, then after clearing the hole, I stop the drill and move the blanks up a bit on the shaft of the drill bit. I then place a 1/2" piece of MDF under the whole vice/jig, then finish the hole to its final depth. I've never blown out a blank or had any problem glueing up a tube using this method. I think the key is using my "V" clamps to support the full length of the blanks.

After turning the pens, I usually use a bench vice to press in the pen tip and the clip holder. To insert the twist mechanism (of a pen or pencil), I've made a "press jig" for my lathe. That jig is simply a block of hardwood that is sized to fit over my headstock screw and another to fit over my tailstock tube. I simply clamp the pen mechanism between the two blocks and "press" the part by turning the tailstock screw. I've also used my drill press as an arbor press, but I found using the lathe works better for me. Using the lathe for a press, saved me the cost of a dedicated device costing around $40.

Since I "square" the blanks with a pen mill before turning, I leave the mill in my drill press and "re-square" after turning to remove any finish (or whatever) that may be on the ends of the tubes. Since I generally do several pens at a time, I leave the pen mill on my drill press and press the pen parts together as described above.

If you spend some time surfing the pen making Web sites, you'll find some real deals on pens and production supplies. (Example: one Web site sells a complete multipart pen mill system for only a couple $$s over what others charge for a single mill.)

As for glue to hold the brass tubes inside the blanks, I use a mid-cure epoxy. It's fairly cheap compared to CA glue, but it does require a couple of hours for setup. I usually do glue-ups at the end of a turning session, so they'll be ready for me next time. I don't like CA because it's relatively expensive and I've had trouble getting more that a couple of uses out of a given tube.

I've found that pens are easy and fun to make....and since I use mostly offcut scraps, I don't have much invested. Most of my friends and co-workers have commented on the "really classy pen" that I'm using -- which is almost immediately handed over to them as a gift. So for around $5, I've given a gift that'll come back with interest!

[Patrick Taylor]

WOW! Thanks for all the shared experience, Phil. I really appreciate it.

[Bobby Perry]

I have been making a lot of pens lately. I use the lathe and a chuck to drill all my blanks. I have a mini chuck and a jacobs chuck. I drill almosy all the way through the blank then cut off with mychop saw with a plywood blade. I have both drill press and band saw but I just feel this is easyer for me.

[Ellen Benkin]

Lots of good advice here. My benchtop drill press won't drill through 2" blanks, not to mention the longer ones, so I drill as far as I can using the drill press and then finish up with a cordless drill. This means I have to move the drill bit from the press to the drill, but the system seems to work, I haven't blown anything out, and I didn't have to buy any new equipment. I must say I never thought of using the jacobs chuck in the lathe, but maybe I will try that also.

I use my miter saw to cut the blanks to length plus 1/8" before drilling. This gives me enough extra room so I don't have to fuss too much with inserting the metal tubes, and it also doesn't leave a lot of extra to trim off. I trim using the barrell trimmer in the cordless drill. I probably should figure out a way to use it in the drill press. I like using a barrell trimmer rather than sanding because it also cleans out any glue that has gotten into the tubes.

I use CA glue to glue the tubes into the blanks. I also use the vise on my workbench to assemble them since I found the "pro" assembly device more trouble than it was worth.

I've found that actually turning the pen is a very small part of the labor involved in making a pen. Cutting the blank, drilling the blank, inserting the tubes, trimming the blank to the lenght of the tube, and, finally, assembling the pens takes far more time than actual turning. But they do make great gifts.

[keith zimmerman]

I drill mine on the lathe using a drill chuck in the tailstock. The blank is mounted in my talon w/ #1 jaws.

This works for me.

keithz