Amaze your friends and family by creating a beautiful writing instrument made from wood. Turning wooden pens is a very satisfying and rewarding pastime, needing very little extra equipment and in a short time you will be turning pens to delight and fascinate any lucky recipient. There are many different styles of ball point, Rollerball and fountain pen as well as propelling and click pencil. They are all available in a variety of finishes ranging from gold and silver to chrome plating and when combined with the choice of hundreds of wooden and man made pen blanks, all tastes and styles are accommodated. The equipment needed to start turning pens is very basic and only requires a few specialist items in addition to your normal woodturning tools. These items are available from most good woodturning retail outlets as well as more accessories to help turn quantities of pens when you become more proficient. The following is a brief description of the tools and equipment that will help you create your beautiful writing instruments. The choice of blanks is endless and covers the full spectrum of wood available for turning as well as many varieties of man made materials and natural media such as stone and animal horn. When choosing your pen blanks try to remember that when turned a pen has very little surface area, in comparison to a bowl for example and can look too plain if the material used is too bland. When choosing a wooden pen blank ensure that it has an interesting figuring or if you are going to use a man made material select one with colour contrasting ripples. Also be aware that some woods such as Paduak and Purpleheart have a very vibrant colour when first turned but due to the effects of sunlight and air they become very dull and uninteresting. Pen blanks vary in size from approximately ½" - 1" square and 4 ½" - 6" long, so ensure that you select the correct size blank for the specific pen that you are going to turn. If you have any doubt when you are first learning it would benefit you to use a bigger blank and turn it down, than get a small one only to find it is too small once you have finished turning it. If you are going to use the more exotic woods such as Snakewood, Cocobolo and Kingwood, ensure that the blank is dry and free from any faults or cracks as these will cause you problems when you start to drill and turn them. It is recommended that you turn using a lathe speed of 2500rpm or faster to ensure a clean cut on such a small surface area. Most wood turning lathes have this capability, with small more compact lathes being more suitable to pen turning although pens can be turned on any size of lathe. Pens can be turned using standard woodturning tools, with the size and type of tool used varying with personal choice, although the tools required are normally a combination of a roughing gouge, spindle gouge, skew and a parting tool. There are also specific pen turning tool sets available on the market and the tools in these sets have been chosen for ease of use and suitability for pen turning. There are many different of types of drill available on the market today for drilling wood and can be used for pen making. Unfortunately many of these drills do not drill as accurately as is needed when pen making, so it is recommended a 'Bullet point drill' is used. This type of drill reduces the risk of it wandering while drilling, ensuring it drills centrally and accurately to the size required, which is very important due to the final thickness of the wood once turned leaving very little room for error. Always remember to keep the drill moving and clear any shavings away to reduce any heat build up, as this will damage the wood and will cause it to crack and possibly split. Pen blanks can be drilled either in the lathe using a chuck in the headstock and a standard drill chuck in the tailstock or held vertically in a form a vice/clamp and drilled using a pillar/bench drill. Pen mandrels are a very helpful piece of equipment when turning pens as they ensure the pen runs accurately in the lathe. A pen mandrel is a steel bar machined accurately and is held in the lathe using a chuck or more commonly using a Drill driver (see Drill drivers) although many mandrels already have a drill driver as an integral part. It is recommended you purchase a double pen mandrel, which is long enough to accommodate both parts of the pen. This allows for more accurate turning and consistency in wall thickness, eliminating any problems that may occur when finally building the pen. Due to the different tubes sizes of the many various pens available, there are matching bushing sets to slide over the mandrel and fit accurately into the ends of both tubes to ensure they turn concentrically. When the tubes and bushes are in place the tailstock is brought up into place and holds everything securely in place ready to be turned. A drill driver is used to securely hold the mandrel in place and to drive the mandrel via the lathe spindle. They are available in 1 or 2MT depending on bore of the headstock spindle in your lathe. One end of the pen mandrel fits tightly into the Drill driver and the other normally has a small cup end into which a standard revolving centre fits. It is important to select the correct glue when making pens. Cyanoacrylate or super glue ensures a strong bond but is expensive and inflexible with a quick setting time with little time for adjustment possibly causing problems and ruining the pen. A polyurethane adhesive is much more flexible with a longer setting time and is also a gap filler if required. When using abrasives on turned pens keep the abrasive moving along the tubes at all times and ensure that the wood does not get hot. If the wood becomes hot this will cause damage to the wood by either creating heat checks, small splits in the surface of the wood or in the case of many exotic woods they may crack and split completely. Waxes can be used to give a high shine but due to a pen being handled so much a wax finish will not last very long and also collects duct and dirt and will spoil the finish item. Friction polish is more durable and gives a high gloss finish and is easy to apply while the pen is still on the lathe. As with all woodworking it is essential that a form of dust mask and safety goggles be worn due to the hazards of wood dust and shavings. Also ensure that the glue is used in a well-ventilated area and has set, prior to switching the lathe back on, so as not to flick glue into your face and clothes. There are many good books on the market guiding you from starting out pen turning through to more complex styles and designs as well as dedicated pen turning courses held in good woodturning shops. Pen turning is simple to learn and before long you will be creating some stylish writing instruments admired and coveted by all that see them. So get out into your workshop and start creating and enjoy this wonderful hobby.