![]() ![]() Remember that all materials drill differently. With a sharp drill, the speed and feed will dictate the final hole quality. A hand held drill will work, but a drill press - or your lathe - will provide more control and usually a better result. The selection of drill type is far less important than drill sharpness and drilling technique. Drilling properly is crucial to achieving a quality hole. A centre punch mark, whether by hand with a prick punch or a spring loaded centre punch, will help the drill start drilling exactly where you wish with much less opportunity to wander at the start of the drillingÄrilling a hole may seem basic and can be thoughtlessly done. While it may seem obvious, many don't mechanically mark the centres of the blank for drilling. If you drill from the other end of the blank, you stand far greater chance of visual mismatch. The variation in the grain match from any drill centre error should be minimal. Mark your drill centres on the interface ends of your blank halves, then drill from those ends. Drilling haphazardly, without accounting for the interface, will not help with your grain alignment. You've gone to the trouble of minimising the kerf and planning for grain match between the top and bottom pieces. Tip 4 - drill the blank from the inside out This will help your orientation, since the outside marks on the surface of the blank material will disappear as you begin turning material away I also recommend marking the interface ends of the tubes after facing the glued-up blanks. It takes little effort and will make a visible difference in your final pen. You may want to adopt this marking procedure as a standard practice even when the blank material doesn't require it, thus becoming a habit for you. This will ensure the best grain match possible as you continue your work. You will need to know which ends are the top-to-bottom interface as you continue. Once you have achieved the best visual layout, take the opportunity to mark the cut line on the blank and also indicate the proper orientation of the interface ends for your subsequent processing. Tip 3 - mark the interface, minimise the kerf You may put the less interesting portion - or a flawed area - of the blank under the clip since it gets much less attention than the nib Plan your layout and process accordingly, so that the most stunning part of the blank material will end up there. The nib end of your pen will get the most visibility. Search for and use the most interesting part of the blank to help make your final result more appealing. Regardless of your selected material for the blank, there often is an interesting portion of the blank and part of lesser interest. Tip 2 - use the most interesting part of the blankÄo not simply divide the blank in half and be content with what you end up with. A stabilised, highly figured blank will usually be worth the investment A cutting from a piece of walnut (Juglans regia) may be in order for practice, but a sharp looking blank will be much more desirable as a gift or in the marketplace. The cost of the kit is a small price considering the value of your time added to the final result. Buy quality kits and components at your best price knowing the meaningful quality differences between the various styles, manufacturers, and retailers. You can pay too much for anything you purchase. Do not confuse paying a high price with getting high quality. When creating a gift or a for sale item in the higher end market, you must start with a kit with highest quality components. If your pen is intended for practice, or perhaps you intend to sell it at a local craft fair, then you can use less expensive kits for economy. The best way to end up with a quality result is to start with quality materials. ![]() These 20 items are certainly not all-inclusive but do cover the most important, most easily implemented to help with your journey in pen turning. While the 7mm (9/32in) kit is used as an example, many of these concepts will also apply to the various other kit styles and freestyle pens. There is not sufficient space here to cover these points exhaustively, but there is enough explanation to help you understand why these items are important and the part they can play in improving results. ![]()
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