Our new address is 979 York Street, Hanover, PA 17331. Phone 717-646-0102. Fax 717-646-0104.

Turning and Smoothing Wood Blanks

Before turning, trim off any excess adhesive with a pocketknife. Or, if you have access to a vertical disk or belt sander, simply touch up the ends. (BUT, use an appropriate jig or hold-down to be certain that the ends are exactly square when machine sanding. It’s too easy to remove too much, or to angle the ends when machine power is in use!)

Next, load two blanks on the mandrel, sufficient for one pen or one pencil. To load the blanks, loosen the tailstock retaining knob. Grasp the tailstock close to the steel rods, rather than near the top, and slide it to the right, leaving sufficient room to unscrew the knurled nut from the mandrel. Slide two blanks onto the mandrel and replace the knurled nut. Tighten it securely against the blanks (hold the headstock pulley in your left hand to gain some leverage as you tighten the nut) to prevent the blanks from free-wheeling during turning. Move the tailstock to the left so that the needle center engages the recess in the end of the mandrel. Be sure that the spring-loaded center is fully retracted into its housing (about 1/4" [6 - 7mm] will stick out.) Tighten the tailstock in place. (The tailstock has a ball bearing thrust bearing and a needle radial bearing behind the needle center. If the moveable needle center is not pressed tightly all the way in, during turning the ball bearing will not be contacted and the point will rattle in the end of the mandrel.)

After verifying that the cutting tool, when just touching the gage point of the mandrel, is at "0", back the tool away from the mandrel by turning the micrometer dial clockwise from two to four complete turns (depending upon the style of blank being turned. Details later.)

Turn the lathe motor on. On a Model 360 Series lathe, move the saddle drive direction switch to the right and push the red button. The saddle will move to the right making the first cut, when it reaches the tail stock it will stop. Advance the cutting tool for the second pass by turning the micrometer dial counter-clockwise. Move the saddle drive direction switch to the left and push the red button. On the Model 160 Series lathe, you turn the E-Z Glide to move the saddle drive. After making the first pass you stop, advance the cutting tool as described above and turn the E-Z GLIDE in the opposite direction.

Continue as described until the designated number of passes (as detailed in the instructions for each pen or pencil style) is completed. Following the last cutting pass, turn off the lathe motor, back the cutting tool away from the work with one to three clockwise turns of the micrometer dial, to place the tool in the correct position for your next pen or pencil. Move the saddle all the way to the left of the lathe bed to provide some clearance for smoothing and polishing.

CAUTION: With the Model 360 Series, when the saddle drive motor is engaged, the E-Z Glide™ spoked knob at the right of the lathe bed will spin. Keep everything away from the exposed gears. Should anything get caught between the gears, you will "blow" the fuse and the saddle drive motor will stop. Immediately turn off the saddle drive motor, replace the fuse and continue. Then, be more careful the next time, please! Or, as an alternative, remove the handle with your 1/8" Allen wrench.

Turning Wood

After completion of cutting, sand the work smooth with progressively fine grades of abrasive cloth. Tear off about 12" (30cm) of coarse abrasive cloth (280 grit) and thread it behind the wood with the abrasive surface against the wood. You will use only about 2" (5cm) of the abrasive cloth each time you smooth a pair of blanks. Grasp the cloth with both hands, one above and one below the blanks. Turn on the lathe and pull the cloth toward you to make contact with the wood. At the same time, move the cloth left and right, from sided to side. If you do not continually move the abrasive cloth, you will cut concentric lines into your work. Always keep the cloth moving side to side. You must be very careful when final sanding and burnishing very resinous woods as any excess pressure of the sanding cloth will cause them to burn or bring to the surface an inordinate amount of resin. This will darken the wood in the one area of the blank. The most common place this happens is on the far right or far left of the blanks. The only answer to this problem is always keep in mind the undesired result of too much pressure and you will be more careful. Keep the sanding cloth moving, in and out, back and forth, to keep heat from building.

Stop, and check your work. Is it smooth, with no concentric circles? Move on to a finer grit of 400 grit. Repeat the process as you did with the 280. Once the work is smooth, with no visible sanding marks, turn the cloth around so that the non-abrasive side faces the work. Turn on the lathe, and moving the cloth right and left against the wood, "burnish" the wood for further, final, smoothing. (Keep the cloth constantly moving left to right; if you keep it stationary you run the risk of burning the surface of the wood.) Stop and check your work. The wood should be smooth and slightly polished after burnishing. One reason for burnishing is to see if you've polished out all of the scratches. Scratches usually appear as marks which extend around the circumference of the barrel. (Now that the blank is turned, we'll call it a "barrel".) Look closely to be sure you've smoothed out all of the scratches. Did you keep the abrasive cloth moving at all times? If not, you will probably see scratches. You may smooth again with the 400 grit cloth, if necessary. Your last step should be to burnish the barrel with the non-abrasive side of the cloth.

When using a Model 360 Series, you will probably find that it is unnecessary to use the 280 grit abrasive cloth as the controlled, smooth tool movement results in few, if any, cutting grooves that require a coarse abrasive to remove. You may start with 400 grit.

TIP: The high speed of the lathe in combination with abrasive cloth held firmly against the wood will quickly remove wood from the barrels. Don’t overdo it. Take particular care to keep the abrasive cloth moving from side to side to avoid wearing a groove in the work. And, the natural tendency to pause at the ends of the barrels can quickly cause the ends to be reduced in diameter compared to the centers of the barrels. Be alert to these situations, check your work frequently, and, again, don’t overdo the sanding.

After turning, if the ends still need some attention, use the WoodWrite, Ltd. Barrel Trimmer (CN-13). This is simply a block of wood with precision holes drilled in it to enable you to hold the finished barrel exactly perpendicular when trimming the barrel ends on a piece of coarse abrasive cloth or sandpaper. Place a piece of 280 grit abrasive cloth grit side up on a flat surface. Place the barrel in the appropriate hole in the trimmer block, flat edge of block downwards. With your finger on top of the barrel, rub the block and barrel back and forth on the abrasive cloth until any adhesive is cleaned off and the brass and wood are even. Be certain that you don’t tilt the block, but instead keep it vertical, perpendicular to the abrasive cloth, to ensure proper trimming.

Apply a final finish. We recommend Turner’s Magic™ friction drying sealer and polishes. Should you wish to stain or color your barrels, this would be the time to do so, prior to polishing. For coloring or staining barrels, follow the directions for the particular product you intend to use.

Turning Crushed Velvet

Crushed velvet is chemically similar to Lucite or Plexiglas. It is a plastic known as methyl methacrylate, specially treated to color it and give it a swirling, iridescent appearance. You may wish to decrease the depth of cut and increase the number of passes as it will melt if overheated.

Before gluing in the brass cylinders, paint them matte black or a similar color as your material so the brass will not shine through the finished product. In many pens the top barrel is thicker than the bottom barrel, and the reflection of unpainted brass can cause the color to appear different in each. Your finished product will have a truer color by painting the tubes first. When using our CN-01 WoodWrite,Ltd. Adhesive, always dip the blank in water and shake the excess out of the hole, then cement in the painted brass tube. This adhesive cures by absorbing moisture and there is no moisture content in Crushed Velvet as there is with wood. The water will also wash out any dust that may remain following the drilling process.

No polishes are necessary to finish crushed velvet. However, you will use increasingly fine grits of wet/dry sandpaper (used wet only!) followed by a polishing compound. WoodWrite, Ltd. has an assortment pack of sandpaper (CN-18) which contains 200, 400 and 600 grit and polishing compound (CN-19) which is a very fine abrasive compound, similar to those used after painting an automobile. Remember to cover the working parts of the lathe and motor when using these materials. Complete instructions come with each package of crushed velvet blanks.

Turning Polymer Clay

Several of our customers cover pen and pencil cylinders in Polymer Clay, which are then baked in the oven. For a more professional look these barrels can then be turned on a lathe and polished in the same manner as Crushed Velvet, detailed above. Unless you are using a translucent clay, however, you will not need to paint the cylinders first.

Turning Dymondwood and Corian

Heat is the enemy with these products. Excessive heat, caused by high speed drilling, cutting too deeply, chip and dust buildup, etc. may cause Corian® to melt or burn, and Dymondwood to delaminate. When drilling these unique materials, we suggest using a 135E split point, high helix bit at low speed (500 to 600 rpm). Frequently clear the bit of dust and chips. You may wish to dribble some cold water into the Corian® and Dymondwood as you drill to keep it cool. As the drill bit exits the blank it has a tendency to chip around the exit hole. Slow penetration, frequent chip clearing and water cooling will reduce chipout, but, for best performance, cut your blanks slightly oversize, then, after drilling them, trim the chipped end on a sander to the desired length.

Tube stuck on mandrel

Everyone at one time or another has had a blank or brass tube get stuck on the mandrel and seem like it will never come off. What has happened is a little glue was in the brass tube and the heat of turning has re-activated the glue, adhering it to the mandrel. The easiest way to free the stuck brass tube is to hold the blank or bare tube firmly with a pliers and turn the lathe on. Slow the lathe spindle speed by moving the belt to the slowest position. Make sure the tail stock is in place. You should never turn on the lathe with a mandrel attached and the tail stock not firmly in contact. The mandrel will bend. The firmly held brass tube will come free in a matter of seconds. Of course, if this is a completed blank you will have to protect it from the teeth of the pliers. An eighth to quarter inch thick piece of foam rubber works very well. We prefer the quarter inch thickness for best protection. It is very important once you have remove the stuck culprit that you use some 400 grit sand paper to clean the mandrel of the excess glue. If you should destroy the tube or completed blank, remember our policy. If you are using a WoodWrite, Ltd. lathe, WoodWrite, Ltd. Pre-cut/Pre-drilled wood blanks and WoodWrite, Ltd. mechanicals, we will replace any mistakes no questions asked. The only cost to you is the shipping. Put on the side any broken or damaged parts and when you have enough to make it worthwhile, send it to us for replacement. When using our products, we pay for your mistakes.