# Made some new pens **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 11, 2008, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-some-new-pens/459674 "2008-08-11T22:44:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-some-new-pens/459674/1 "2008-08-11T22:44:38Z")
Thought I would make a couple of new pens. One is for me, the other is for a friend of mine. [My pen 1](http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk223/jasoncmccoy/DSC00257.jpg) [my pen 2](http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk223/jasoncmccoy/DSC00264.jpg) I wish I knew what kind of wood it was. The pen itself is a twist-bottom pen with a gel cartridge. The second pen (which is also made out of wood that I can’t identify) is a fountain pen. [Fountain pen 1](http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk223/jasoncmccoy/DSC00279.jpg) [And opened…](http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk223/jasoncmccoy/DSC00280.jpg) [Detail of the wood.](http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk223/jasoncmccoy/DSC00281.jpg) [Lower half of pen.](http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk223/jasoncmccoy/DSC00285.jpg) Just thought I’d share my craftiness with all you dopers. (PS, if this goes in Cafe Society, feel free to move it. I figured it was a little on the mundane side so here it went.) ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-some-new-pens/459674/2 "2008-08-11T22:59:34Z")
Those are beautiful, **feppytweed**! (And as an aside, let me add that, in typing your name, I just figured out that your name is NOT fepptyweed, which is how I’ve been reading it!) ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-some-new-pens/459674/3 "2008-08-11T23:04:41Z")
Those are hella pretty. I want one! ---
**Author:** ![Soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-some-new-pens/459674/4 "2008-08-11T23:06:08Z")
Those are awesome! How long did it take you to learn to do this? ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-some-new-pens/459674/5 "2008-08-11T23:12:41Z")
Absolutely beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-some-new-pens/459674/6 "2008-08-12T00:02:07Z")
I’ve got a metal lathe and have been meaning to try turning wood just for grins…where do you source the mechanical bits? (Yes, I can google, I just wonder if you have any inside secrets) ---
**Author:** ![Harry1945](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Harry1945](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harry1945)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-some-new-pens/459674/7 "2008-08-12T00:11:50Z")
Very nice. The wood for pen #1 looks like kingwood cut at an angle to the grain, instead of parallel. Don’t know about the fountain pen. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-some-new-pens/459674/8 "2008-08-12T00:15:13Z")
Very beautiful. Where did you get the wood, not knowing what kind it is? The wood on the second one, with all those swirly lines and dots, reminds me of the wood on my djembe drum. Of course, I don’t remember what kind of wood that is. :smack: I do know my drum was made in The Ivory Coast with indigenous hardwood which, I think, grows where there’s a lot of water (maybe even in water? Or maybe river or water is part of the name of the tree?). Sorry, not much to go on. But very pretty, both of them. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-some-new-pens/459674/9 "2008-08-12T00:24:30Z")
Those are some goddamn nice pens. Man! Great job. Make enough pens like that, and someday they might let you join the Pen 15 club. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-some-new-pens/459674/10 "2008-08-12T00:28:01Z")
Pretty pens… preeeeeety… no I do not need to go buy more pretty pens, no no no no ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-some-new-pens/459674/11 "2008-08-12T01:13:53Z")
Thanks to everyone for the reviews… pen making is a neat little hobby. [QUOTE=Soul] Those are awesome! How long did it take you to learn to do this? [/QUOTE] My grandfather started it about six months before I did. He made several, then one day, decided to show me how. The first one took a couple of hours, from raw wood to writing instrument. The one I just recently did for myself (being very meticulous with the sanding!) took just over an hour to turn. The prep for the blanks ( drilling a straight hole down the center and gluing brass tubes in) takes about 30 minutes from selecting a pen to dried glue. [QUOTE=Unintentionally Blank] I’ve got a metal lathe and have been meaning to try turning wood just for grins…where do you source the mechanical bits? (Yes, I can google, I just wonder if you have any inside secrets) [/QUOTE] The main site/supplier is [www.pennstateind.com](http://www.pennstateind.com) but [www.woodturnerscatalog.com](http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com) has many good supplies as well. When you order a kit, make sure to get the bushings that go along with it, as well as a drill bit that corresponds to the size of the pen. [QUOTE=WhyNot] Very beautiful. Where did you get the wood, not knowing what kind it is? The wood on the second one, with all those swirly lines and dots, reminds me of the wood on my djembe drum. Of course, I don’t remember what kind of wood that is. I do know my drum was made in The Ivory Coast with indigenous hardwood which, I think, grows where there’s a lot of water (maybe even in water? Or maybe river or water is part of the name of the tree?). Sorry, not much to go on. But very pretty, both of them. [/QUOTE] I got the wood from a plastic bag inside a 5 gallon bucket full of wood blanks. My mother had ordered them for my dad but my dad never got into turning pens (he was more of a bowl guy) so mom gave them to my grandfather. Woodturning magazines have pages and pages of wood to order, many of the varieties are exotic. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the fountain pen was some exotic african wood. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/made-some-new-pens/459674/12 "2008-08-12T03:19:48Z")
Danké **Fep!**