Wooden Slimline Pen

A little while ago I put out a video showing how to make an acrylic pen so I decided I should also make one about how to make a wooden pen. Pen turning has been very fun and relaxing for me.Its also very quick which is nice. The shaping of this pen only took 10 minutes and the overall pen from start to finish took only a half hour.

https://amzn.to/2rjWPaU -pen kit

https://amzn.to/2IkCZWC -pen pack

https://amzn.to/2HQOLoo -pen blank

https://amzn.to/2rg4HKD -bushings

https://amzn.to/2rgH6Zo -drill bit

https://amzn.to/2jyoi4B -pen mandrel

https://amzn.to/2HT8C6r -lathe

https://amzn.to/2jsDzUg -CA glue

https://amzn.to/2rk24qg -pen tools

https://amzn.to/2FK660f -sandpaper

I had some maple scrap that I cut to 3/4 inch stock on the table saw. I then took the long blanks over to the miter saw to chop them up to the smaller pieces needed for the pen kit. I used a slimline pen kit.

In the last instructable I did showing how to make an acrylic pen I used a drill press for this step. That would work fine but my drill best in very cheap and the holes werent straight. So I picked up a jacobs chuck to drill the holes in the middle of the blank. If you wanted you could use a hand drill to do this step with a 90 degree angle clamp.

I then scuffed up the brass tubes with 80 grit sandpaper so the ca glue would stick to it. I used medium ca and pushed the brass tube just under the edge of the blank.

You can use a barrel trimmer to do this step but I wanted to try out my disc sander. I just sanded the edge of the blank till it was flush with the brass tube.

I used a square and a round carbide tip tool for this. The carbide tip tools are great for beginners since you don't need to sharpen them and they are easy to use. I used the square one to get the blank relatively round and then used the round one to shape the pen. Once I had the shape I liked I went back to the square tool to flush the ends to the barring.

I sanded the maple wood all the way up to 600 grit. I wanted it to be as smooth as possible. Between each grit I stopped the lathe and sanded in the direction of the wood so there wouldnt be any sanding marks. I then put on a few coats of CA glue and let that dry. Then I used micromesh sanding pads to sand the blank from 1500-12000 grit. Once that was all done I assembled the pen.

I love how the light color of the maple wood contrasts nicely to the copper pen blank. Turning pens is very easy and it is also very relaxing.....and addicting. Let me know in the comments if you make one or have any questions.