Editing The Pen Addict 306/transcript (section)

== Pen Turning ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' No. And I do that with a Leuchton 1917 pen loop in case you're interested in that. So a few weeks ago, we spoke about making pens, like about how you go about making pens. And you mentioned you'd been getting some responses in and we're going to talk about those today. So do you want to go through what we've seen from this?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, so I got several emails on this. I want to bring two of them here to the show. And Brian from Red Dragon Pen Co., also known as Chewbacca in the chat room and on Slack, has started making pens, I guess, in the last year. Maybe a little bit longer. Correct me if I'm wrong, Brian, whenever you get a chance. But he nailed down the high-level overview for what is needed to jump into making custom pens. So this is a list of what he says are the minimum things. And then I have, so I'll read his email. Then I have a second email, a wonderful follow-up from Emmanuel, which we'll piggyback on to Brian's email. But let me go through this first because I know several people were very interested in this topic. And I wanted to make sure, since we got some great responses from people that are getting started in making pens, that we wanted to share these out there with you. So Brian's list, a lathe, which I think that's probably number one on any list for making pens. A wood lathe will be much less expensive than a metalworking lathe, but certain things will be more difficult. So that's something you'd have to shop for, deciding, you know, what type of effort you want to make in there. Something to hold the workpiece, chucks, centers, etc. Something to cut the material with, chisels, carbide tools. Something to bore out the inside of the pens, drill bits. Taps and dies for making threads. At a minimum, you need threads for the nib unit. Section to body threading and body to cap threading. And sanding and polishing stuff. Grits from 120 up through micro mesh for polishing to a high shine. So before I read the rest of his email, I'm going to stop right there. I'm like super intimidated already. I don't know about you.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, there's a lot going on here, right? Like, and there's a lot of terms that I actually don't fully understand.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, like I'm scared. I'm scared of tools. I'm not a handyman. So this would be like a disaster for me to attempt. But I understand all the parts and pieces that he's talking. So, you know, the lathe is going to hold it to turn. And then you're going to have different, basically, parts to, you know, modify the barrel as it's turning. Whether the exterior or the interior of that barrel. Then you're going to have to make threads on that barrel. And then you're going to have to make it look pretty. So, yeah. That's just, and that's the simple stuff. Right? That's just, that's like, I mean, not the simple stuff. But like, that's the main, the majority of the work. So, he also says a good set of calipers is also pretty important. Because a lot of measurements need to be pretty precise. For instance, when cutting the 10 on, which I don't even know what that is. For the section to thread into the body. So, that connection there from your grip section into the body. I need it to be 9.9 millimeters. If you are at 10.1 millimeters and try to cut the threads. You probably won't be able to even get the die to engage and start the threads. If you make it too small and end up with 9.6 millimeters. It'll be too loose. And you might as well start the section all over. Because the threads won't be strong enough to provide a tight seal. So, Brian and I'm sure a lot of people getting into pin turning and starting these things. The amount of practice and the amount of waste that they have in learning their trade has got to be enormous. This is a very time-consuming, detailed work. That we're fascinated by it because it's so impressive. The end result, right? So, we see these things. The end result that you and I are buying. But the process it took to get there is kind of outrageous if you think about it. Right? It's wild. I mean, what do you think about this?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It really seems so hard. It's just so much, right? And I know that, like, with anything, like, because we have no idea. But once you get good at it, it becomes second nature. Like, in the same way that, like, if I tried to explain to you right now all the steps that it takes for me to edit and publish the show. It's like, if you've never done that before, like, what on earth is happening? Right? Because it's, like, it's skills and experience that make it possible. But when you look at it just like this, it's like, well, I have no idea where to begin. You've told me where to begin, but I don't know how to begin.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So, we're going to talk about that in the next email. But I'm working with Brian. I'm in the queue, but I owe him some material to make my pen from. And I told him I was going to look at these couple of pen shows that I had been to since I got on his list. And I haven't found anything that has totally jumped out to me. But he gave me some places online to look at. So, I need to get Brian my rod soon.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mm-hmm.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Mm-hmm. So, I'll be working on that. And I've picked a nice rod out, Myke. It's very pretty. Good. So, I'm going to work on that soon. So, Emmanuel breaks it down a little bit more. And we're going to cut to the chase with Emmanuel's email because he gives me a number. His TLDR is, it's about $1,000 to start out. So, that's our jumping in point if you want to start this out into this event. So, like Brian's email, he says, to make pens, you need a lathe, tools, pen, mandrel, pen kits. Cheap lathe can be had for $300. You can find some used ones there. He gives out some recommendations. If you're wondering, y'all can email me or tweet at me. I'll get you some of the recommendations. You know, he goes through, like, the drill presses and, you know, a few other prices. So, like, $300 for a lathe, $500 to $600 for a drill press. And that's just for, like, a little bit of hardware. Then you have to buy all the blanks, you know, all the nibs, the materials. You know, just the making threads part before you even make these pens to ensure, like Brian said, the tolerances. That just stretches me out even thinking about it, right? Like, I don't understand how the, that you guys make this stuff work. But you clearly do. You're the pros. That's why I'm glad to sort this out. But, so, you know, Emmanuel is saying the custom work. It says, you know, he's buying a lot of acrylics from other people. That gets costly. You know, a lot of people mix aluminite themselves because it's easier to mix. But then you have to have, you know, pressure pots and vacuum chambers to do. If you're making your own acrylics, like, that's why I'm providing materials to Brian to get my, pen made. But, yeah, if you're, if you're getting into this game, it's not, it's not just like a fly by the seat of your pants type of thing. It's, it's definitely something that you really need to consider. Think about, Emmanuel talks about how he, his hobbies were already like construction and tool base. So, he has a lot of stuff. Yeah. Yeah. His, he has a lot of the things to get started. But, you know, it's a, it's an interesting thing. And we're seeing more and more of it for people that are, you know, inclined to work with their hands and work with tools and have that type of detailed work. I think this is a fascinating thing to get into. Honestly, like the, like the getting in point, like dollars wise, doesn't intimidate me, but actually ruining everything I touch for like six months would intimidate me for a while. Right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Oh, for sure.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. So, like at the end of a hard day's pen turning, I need to sleep well. And do you have something that, you know, I could sleep on that would give me a good night's sleep and rested and refreshed to get up and make a whole new batch of pens the next day, Myke? I need my rest. How can I get it?