a writing instrument…
Saturday, April 30th, 2016For a lot of woodturners, pens are their introduction to the craft.
I have made up a few from kits, but it seemed like 90% fussing with assembly, and 10% working on the lathe. Our Club president challenged all of us to bring a writing instrument to the May meeting, so I looked for a way to reverse those percentages. I found ‘stick pens’ that use the guts from a Bic pen. This definitely keeps the parts budget low, and the user can replace the ink cartridge any time with another Bic pen’s parts.
The first challenge is to find a drill bit long enough. Luckily, Dennis Liggett always has the tool that I need for the job. This time, he even drilled the holes.
These three are made from osage orange (‘hedge’ to a mid-westerner). It is a straight, fine-grained wood for turning. Some of the beautiful color mellows to a brown over time. Nature’s improvement on plastics, and now, mine, too.