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Dear
Penn State,
My father was a cabinet maker, but I never had any talent for wood working.
Now that I am an old guy, and have been interested in making pen kits and
other "turning" Projects.
So I took a chance and purchased one of your starter sets. I have to tell
you, my wife just laughed at me. I am not good at wood work. Well, I made
my first pen kit. It was and is beautiful and I can't believe I did it. My
wife was just in disbelief she thought I paid some one to come into our
basement and make the pen.
I have now made several pens and pencils and think this is a great hobby
and business. Oh yes, I messed a couple up, but all in all they are working
out great.
Your pen and pencil kits are great. Every thing fits together and works
well. I look forward to ordering more materials from you.
Thank
you all at Penn State Industries... You are the best.
Sincerely,
Paul J. Arthur
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| If you like the look and feel of
fine polished woods and take pride and satisfaction in creating a beautiful
project — then pencrafting is for you! Pen making with pen kits is easy, requires
a minimum of equipment, and produces a beautiful finished product in minutes.
Just follow our simple guidelines and soon you’ll be turning elegant
wooden pens and pencils using PSI pen and pencil kits. |
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 The
modern mini and midi style lathes are ideal for turning pens and other small
projects.
Variable speed is a plus for fine tuning the lathe speeds when turning and
finishing pen kits. The Carba-Tec™ is a great choice for a full
featured variable speed mini lathe. Consider the TurncrafterPlus™ for
economy in a mini lathe and the TurncrafterPro™ for larger and longer
projects. Click
here for lathe selections. |
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 A
pen kit includes all of the parts, mechanisms, tubes, and refills that get
assembled to make your pen (does not include the wood). The PSI’s Slimline
Pen kit is a favorite with beginners. Exposed pen kit parts have finishes
available in 24kt gold plate, black enamel, and a brushed metallic satin
that give different looks to a finished pen. The pen tubes are central to
the pen assembly and have different diameters to accommodate different style
pen components. The most common tube diameters are 7mm, 3/8”, 8mm and
10mm. |
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 The
most impressive pens use fine grained tropical exotic or burled hard woods
with good color definition. Stabilized, laminated, and acrylic styles are
also a popular choice since they coordinate well with the specific tone
of gold, black, or satin pen components. Pre-cut, pre-turned, and pre-drilled
pen blanks are available to simplify and speed up the glue-up and turning
processes. Drilling the appropriate hole in a pen blank is expedited by
using a drill press and a vise that holds the blank vertically.
Click
here for pen blanks
Click
here for drill centering vise |
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 Two-part
epoxy glue is a good choice for gluing the pen tubes into the drilled wood
blanks (pg 44 ). Make sure the tubes are well covered with glue and dry
completely before turning. The glued-up blanks should be squared with the
appropriate PSI barrel trimmer that gives a nice square surface for a good
fit with your pen kit parts
Click
here for Universal Barrel Trimmer
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 The
pen mandrel mounts between the lathe’s headstock and tailstock. The
pen tubes with glued-up wood are separated and aligned with the pen kit bushings
and slide onto the mandrel. Mandrels
are available for various lathe headstock styles. The pen bushings serve
two purposes. They indicate the final diameter of the wood on the pen tubes
and they have steps to mount larger diameter tubes onto the mandrel. Every
pen kit requires a specific set of appropriate bushings but all pen kits are
turned on the basic pen mandrel. |
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 Start
turning with a spindle gouge at a higher speed to break the corners of
the blank. Reduce the speed and continue turning the blanks down close
to the bushing diameter. Use s skew chisel for final turning to bring
the wood to a nice smooth finish
Click
here for chisel sets
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 Sand
with graduated grits starting at about 150 grit. Continue with 220, 320
etc. up to the finest grit you have available (400 minimum). Specialized
abrasives (EEE
polish and Micro
Mesh) are available for super-fine finishing. The final finishing
brings your pen kit project to a dramatic conclusion with one of PSI’s waxes,
lacquers, or polishes. Select Shellawax™
friction polish for a finish that dries instantly on the lathe and produces
a wonderfully brilliant shine in just seconds.
Click
here for all finishing supplies
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 The
parts from your pen kit will now press and assemble into the turned pen
barrels. The nib, clip, mechanism and band will all press together for
a perfectly finished pen. Every pen kit includes complete instructions
to guide you through the turning, assembly and finishing process.
Click
here for Pen Press
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| Refer to an instructional
book, VHS
tape, DVD,
visit our website or call and speak to one of our pen making expert technicians.
We are committed to making you a successful pen crafter! Want help selling
your pens? use our sales brochure (at right). |
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 Put
your name on the front cover and make this handsome brochure your own
professional sales catalog. Create custom price lists using our optional
Excel spreadsheet template (on 3-1/2" floppy). Call to request a
FREE sample brochure.
#PKSALES4
- 8 Page Color Product Sales Brochure - Packed
25,
#PKPRICE4
(Requires Microsoft Excel Program)
Excel Price List diskette
#FREESALES4
Free sample of sales brochure
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