Obviously a kit pen, and I needed to make it a bit more oversized (the fittings were wider than the pen was).

I had fun with the lathe at least.

Good job, Deirdre!. Let's go for a FP next!.

I don't know if they offer FP-making classes at the local woodworking store, but we'll be making two more ballpoints tomorrow.

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If you can make a slimline you can make a fountain pen.... just different bushings and assembly.
Once you learn to cut to the bushings properly and develop a finish you like (my preference is nitrocellulose lacquer... generally 5-7 coats allowed to dry for a week then polished) you can start making high end kits...
I DO NOT recommend using the friction polish finishes that most classes teach you to use... they wear off quickly and you are left with raw wood that will pick up hand oils and debris....

BTW, nice job on your first pen...

Congratulations Dierdre, nice work!
You will get "lathe work"addicted in no time& I'm sure you will make your own fountain pen shortly!

I have a lot of practice making bushings, fortunately (or unfortunately). When I was a kid, my stepfather's business made (military) aircraft parts, and there were custom bushings that needed to be made. Since there were only three of us in the company (my stepfather, my mother, and I), we all got a lot of practice at making bushings. I can still smell that nasty cutting oil with the sulfur in it.

I also got very good at making things to very exacting dimensions, as everything had to be within a fraction of a thousanth of an inch, and they were made by hand.

Doesn't it make you all comfy knowing that some of those planes had critical parts made by an 11-year old?

As long as she was conscientious I'm ok with it.

Great job on your first pen. You're a natural!

I think you misunderstook the meaning of my post... I did not mean making the bushings.... you need to purchase the correct bushings for the kit you are assembling... they generally cost about $6.00 a set..
What I meant was that once you learn to cut the pen blank accurately to the diameter of the bushings... that takes a little practice as you need to figure out how much oversize you need to be to then sand the blank to the bushing... we all cut and sand differently.... I only use a skew to cut my blanks and have developed a technique that requires a lot less sanding than some makers...
BTW, one of the best suppliers of good high end hardware is Arizona Silhouette

To be honest... I would take a workforce of 11 year olds that could work within a few thous. than the workforce of people we have now that might not even know how to measure something.


BTW, IF you still have the tooling to make bushings, I and many others have gone to making pens without the mandrels and junky bushings made in China. I make all my own bushings with a 60-degree center hole, and exact tollerances. Dead center in the headstock and a live center in the tailstock and you can begin to have really true pens. There is just too much "slop and slack" in the mandrel and bushings for me. I can take one of my bushings (they do not have thru holes) and just on friction fit alone, displace the bushing on the other end of the tube when the second bushing is put into place. Just air displacement will move the first one in and out like an air piston. This method also helps pull the blank off the lathe faster to measure with calipers than trying to work ont he mandrel and with the bushings in place. If you get a chance, give it a try...

Yeah, you said cut TO the bushings, and I was tired and missed the TO. Oops.

I don't like a lot of the slop and slack I see in lower-end commercial pens (especially when we're talking ballpoints). I no longer have any metalworking equipment, though with a small mill, I'm guessing you could manage to do everything you needed for a pen.

Honestly, I don't see myself making a lot of pens. I like making chairs, which are an odd combination of close tolerances and not-close tolerances. For example, chair rungs are cut five thou over the size of the hole they're going into.

Nice starter - welcome to the club

Griz is absolutely right about using the skew on wood blanks.

Taking it a little bit further - true up a disc of MDF or similar & glue on a disc of thin leather (from an old coat. handbag etc). Use this with buffing compound to hone your skew and you shouldn't have to sand at all, just finish with a handful of shavings (of the same wood) and use the finish of your preference.

Have fun

Cheers,
Ruaidhrí

I have a Tormek, so I do have a nice leather buffing wheel on it.

Nice piece of kit for woodturning tools - I frequently eye it up, but so far have resisted the temptation

Cheers,
R

Yeah, the turning accessories are beyond my current needs. I do hand-tool woodworking, and it's just easier when you've got to regrind an edge. Teak loves to make nicks in A-2 steel.