I turned my first pen today. Kind of. I had watched the videos and read the books and made my drilling jig. (Click image for larger picture. Same throughout).

My first pen had a problem but I learned some significant things through the process. Here is the process and what I learned from going through the whole process.

To begin with, I used a piece of birdseye maple. I made a mark on it to make sure I could keep the grain between the two pieces, which I made by cutting it in two.



After this, I drilled each half of the blank by placing them in the jig and using the 7 mm drill bit which came with the pen kits (blurry image).


After I drilled the holes I glued the brass tubes inside the holes and then waited for them to dry. Here is where I committed my first wrong came. If you are beginning pen making then here is something you need to know. The blanks need to be the same length as the tubes which are inserted into it. The barrel trimmer which came with the kit are helpful in this arena. I did not do that for this first pen. You will see the results at the end.

I after cleaning the barrels to make sure there was no glue in them, I placed both on the mandrel, making sure the grain mark was on the inside.


I placed the mandrel on the lathe and then turned the pen. After turning, I sanded, and glossed it up.





I pressed it all together. However, I found out at this point that the blank needed to be the same length as the barrel (the books say something like this but I misunderstood. I think they should have been clearer). If I had a grinder, I could have sanded it down. I don't so I tried the barrel trimmer. You can see the results. - Mental note: BAD idea.





One last thing that cannot be seen. When I pressed the pen mechanism into the barrel, I pressed it too far. Thus, it would not retract. This was my second wrong. The pen would only turn out and then farther out. In short, I learned how far to press the pen mechanism into the barrel.

So, overall, a good experience. I had fun and learned quite a bit. Now I am ready for my next pen.