Red Multi Colored Shimmering Wall Street II Pen

Turnign the bottom of a rough log section.

Here is a video that shows some tips and trick associated with turing an Elm Burl into a Pen.

How to dissasemble a Pen using a Transfer Punch Set.

To remove the Transmission in a Slim Line pen one of the cheapest and easiest ways is to get a transfer punch set from a Tools Store.  Harbor Freight has a set for a reasonable price.

The transfer punch set is a set of all sizes of steel punches from about 1/4 inch down to small.  Once you get the set find the right one and put it through the pen tip and tap on it while holding the pen in your hand.  You may want to get a piece of rubber or and wrap the pen to help hold it while tapping on it.  It will be a bit stubborn but it will come apart, or move the transmission just enough.

Once you have the transmission out you can then turn the pen around and get a bigger punch and remove the tip and the end cap hold the clip.

Here is a simple assembly tip to help with pushing the pen transmission in too far.

For assembling your pen, next time cut a block of wood that is the same length as the pen and transmission at the proper install point.  When pressing the pen together don't press the tranny in farther than the length of the wood block.

www.wasatchpenturners.org

A few good Wood turning books for beginers.

I was just asked the question what is a good book to read for a beginning wood turner. I think back to the first two books I read about turning and must say I got lucky and started with very good resources. I found links to these books on amazon and highly recommend them. The Richard Raffin book is focused on turning bowls, but the first few chapters cover many aspects of turning, grinding and lathes that apply to all turning not just making bowls. Richard Raffin is/was an amazing production wood turner from many many year. This book include lots of insight and tricks he used as a professional turner.

Wall Street II Pen making video

I Just got done making and posting this video of the initial step to making a Wall Street II Pen. It is a simple video that shows how to get started turning a fancy Pen. I got through the first 5 steps and plan to make another video showing the final steps of the process.

Here is a video of someone turning a Pen

This is a video of someone on youtube turning a pen. It is a pretty good video but the only thing you hear is music. So I thought I would add some explanation. This guy uses some techniques that are very different from what I do. He uses the Lathe for both roughing, drilling and turning the pen. These techniques work well if the only thing you have is a lathe. I tend to do all my drilling and cutting on a drill press and a band saw. The other thing worth mentioning is the type of pen he is turning is commonly know as a European style. These kits require more work than shown to fit the band that is epoxied to the top or cap portion of the pen. When I assemble a pen I also use a jig I made and a vise. The way shown in the video works but I have had trouble with the tip and end going in at an angle and breaking the blanks. So check it and enjoy.