With Christmas just around the corner, JB's pens seem to be a hit lately.  I always get questions on what goes into making a pen.  Therefore, I thought I'd give you a peak behind the curtain on my pen making process.  So sit back, relax, and settle in.

 Step 1: Select and prepare the blank.
First, I find the perfect blank for the customer.  Some of the wood I have was gifted to me, some was salvaged from my property, and most I buy through various online vendors.  For example, the above blank is a certified piece of oak from a Jack Daniels barrel.  And it smells just like it. :)

The blank is then cut to size on the bandsaw, marked for center, and then I drill the proper size hole to accept the brass tube.

Next, the brass tubes are then glued or epoxied into the blank. 

Then I trim the wood to the level of the brass tube for a perfect fit.  Depending on the type of material, this can be done on a sander or with a barrel trimmer shown below.

Step 2: Turn the blank to size on the lathe.
The blank is then mounted on the lathe.  This can be done either between centers (i.e. between two points..for a single barrel pen) or on a pen mandrel (usually done for two-piece pens). 

Then the blank is turned down to its final shape.  The metal bushings on either end let me know how far to take the wood down so that it fits the pen perfectly. 

Step 3: Sanding and Finishing.
Sometimes, this is the hardest step.  Some wood seems like it was made to sand into a pen.  On the other hand, some are stubborn and refuse to cooperate.  I usually start with 150 grit sandpaper and work my way up through 400-600 grit for wood pens and all the way up to 12,000 grit micro mesh pads for acrylic blanks.

Depending on the material, I have used a variety of finishes on all my products.  Lately, I will start with boiled linseed oil and then follow that up with cyanoacrylate glue (CA glue = "super glue") to get a good base layer established.

I've also been using these two products...Yorkshire Grit (a mixture of mineral oil, beeswax, and grinding powders) and Hampshire Sheen (a mix of danish oil and carnuba wax).  Both are made by our friends across the pond. 

Step 4: Assemble the Pen.
When I can, I will make several pens of the same style.  This cuts down on set up time at the drill press, lathe, and assembly line.  When I do, and unless a customer asked for a specific combo, I usually play around with the finished pens and the available kit finishes to find the perfect match. 

The pens are then ready for assembly on a special pen press.  The parts are very carefully pressed inside the brass tube of the pen blank. 

 Lastly, the various parts of the pen are put together for the finished product.

And voila!  We have a JB custom made pen ready to be packaged and shipped to the customer. 

Thanks for reading along.  If you have any other specific questions, let me know below. 

Take care and God Bless,
-jb

Tools I used for this project:
--Grizzly Lathe
--Grizzly Bandsaw
--Center Finder
--WEN drill press
--Pen Mandrel
--Pen Press
--Easy Wood Turning tools
--Micro Mesh Pads
--Sandpaper

Nothing beats the feeling of creating something.  But when you can make tools and then use those tools to make other things….whoa! 
 
I was given some homemade steel bars with carbide cutters from a friend.  You could make them out of 1/2” stock and buy the carbide tips, or many websites offer just the hardware pre-assembled and handle-ready. 
 
Either way, this “how-to” will show how I made a homemade carbide cutter lathe tool handle out of spalted elm and walnut.  Enjoy!

Step 1:
Cut two blanks to the same size at the table saw (you could use a bandsaw as well). You can use any type of wood (harder species are better). I used some beautiful spalted elm and black walnut from a friend. You can just as easily use one type of wood and skip step 2. I made one out of poplar but wanted the contrasting look of a dark and light wood together. I cut both the spalted elm and the black walnut to 3” square. I cut the elm to 19” long and the walnut to 6”. You can use whatever you have.

Step 2:
Cut the blanks on an angle. I used my miter saw and set it at a 45 deg angle. This was my first time so I guessed on the angle. Looking back, I think a larger angle might have looked better in the handle. I lost some of the length to the 45 cut, so make sure you keep that in mind when you cut the two pieces.

Step 3:
Glue up the blank. This was the most challenging part. I had to get creative with side blocks and my
clamps. Just make sure that you get it nice and tight. I had some “slippage” that I had to trim out at the table saw.

Step 4:
Cut your copper fittings to size. I bought a 2” long, 1” copper coupling and cut it into two 1” ferrules. You can use a dremel tool, hacksaw, or whatever you got. I used a hacksaw and then filed the sharp edges down a little.

Step 5:
Once the blank has dried, cut the blank in half. I was using 1/2” steel stock so I found the center and marked out 1/8” to either side. With the blank marked, I used a 1/2” straight flute bit on my router table to remove a channel that would accept the tool. Only remove to the depth you want the tool to be seated (so you don’t have an empty cavity for the epoxy to gravitate towards). The stock I had was 10” in length. I went 3” into the handle and that left 7” for the final bar length. There is some science behind bar length vs. handle length but I did not dig into the research…just went for it.

Step 6:
Assemble the final blank. Place the bar into the channel you made and put the two pieces together to check the fit. Highly recommend (I forgot on this handle and it caused me a lot of grief) that you sand out the channel to give the bar a smidge of wiggle room when trying to remove it. If it’s a good fit (and you can easily remove it) leave the bar in the blank and glue the two pieces together. Once you have a couple of clamps on the blank remove the bar before it gets stuck. Let it dry overnight.

Step 7:
Chuck the blank and turn to round. I used my barracuda chuck and a live center. If you don’t have a chuck, you could just as easy turn it between two centers.

Step 8:
Measure and mark the blank for the tenon that will fit your ferrule. I used a caliper to measure the copper fitting and then a tenon tool to ease up on the dimension. Make sure you ease up on the size, you can always remove more, but you can’t add it back.

Step 9:
Glue the ferrule onto the tenon. You can see that I turned a couple of rings on the tenon to give the epoxy more surface area to stick to. I also scratched up the inside of the ferrule with 60 grit sandpaper for the same reason. I just used 5 min epoxy and let it dry overnight.

Step 10:
Turn the handle to desired shape. I used another tool handle as a template for the shape of this handle. Otherwise just turn to what feels good in the hand.

Step 11:
Sand and finish. I started with 150 grit and worked up to 400. I also sand/polish the ferrule (up to 1500 grit) to make it look sharp. I use these sanding strips, cut them to length, and mark them on the back. This saves me frustration when I need to step back a few grits. I finished the piece with Danish Oil. It’s a nice finish because it stains and seals the wood.

Step 12:
Remove the handle from the lathe and cut the waste off. I used my bandsaw to remove this piece then took it over to the belt sander to make a flat spot for my “JB” brand.

Step 13:
Epoxy the steel bar in the handle. Again, I used 5 min epoxy to do the job. I put some in the hole itself as well as on the bar. Be sure and measure the bar for the depth with painters tape. Then take a mallet and hammer the bar down to the depth of the tape. Let the epoxy dry overnight.

Step 14:
Enjoy your awesome handmade tool and make something else! I get a lot of pleasure out of making stuff, but it’s really cool when you can make tools from scratch.

Tools I used in this project:
--Table saw or bandsaw
--Miter saw
--Lathe and turning tools
--Lathe chuck or drive centers
--Tape measure
--Router and router table
--1/2” straight flute router bit
--2” long 1” copper coupling (cut in half)
--Hacksaw and file
--Caliper
--Woodglue
--5 min Epoxy

--Sandpaper
--Danish Oil


Thanks for reading. If you have any questions about this project, please let me know.  If you want to stay up to date on my projects, blog and latest offerings, please subscribe to my email listing to the right.

Take care and God Bless,
Jb

Would you believe that you could make something beautiful from someone's trash?  That’s right.  I found this solid door on my way home from work one day on the side of the road being discarded.  At the time I didn’t know what I was going to do with it.  But I’ve watched enough DIY on YouTube, seen all the episodes of Fixer Upper, and I am quite familiar with Jay Bates’ “trash to treasure” series.  With supreme salvage ninja skills, I threw it in the back of my truck, squealed off and took it to my shop.  And there it sat in the workshop for a few weeks collecting dust…

Well, you see my girls are getting older and we coaxed them into giving up their playroom and converting it into a proper guest room.  Bingo.  Time to turn this old door into something beautiful.

We bought a bed and decided that we’d use the door for the headboard.  I measured the new bed and decided to cut the door down to size to fit the bed.  This cutoff provided the needed material to build a shelf (below) to finish out the feng shui. 

Here's how I did it:

1.  Cut door down to size.  I chose 56 3/4” for a full size bed.   I based this off the size of the bed vs the symmetry of the door panels and tried to center the door knob hole in the middle.  I tried to leave equal amounts of spacing on either side of the four panels.  The Kreg Rip Cuts jig made cutting the door easy.

2.  Wash the door with soap and water and let it dry. 

   3.  Attach 1x4.  Glue and pin nail a piece of 1x4 to top of the headboard.  I cut this one to 60 ¼” to leave equal amounts of overhang on each side.
   4.  Attach molding.  Glue and pin nail a piece of trim or chair-rail molding that you like.  I bought this piece at the local big box store.
   5.  Caulk the spaces between the 1x4, trim, and headboard.

6.  Fill holes.  Fill all holes and voids with your choice of filler (caulk, wood filler, or drywall spackling).  I tried all three and my favorite was the drywall spackling.  It is easily sanded and painted over.
7.  Sand everything.  I sanded up to 220 grit. 

8.  Paint.  I started with spray primer.  Let it dry.  Then I used two coats of latex paint.  Make sure that you use a bonding primer.  I had trouble with the latex paint sticking to the door.  The bonding primer will stick to anything (speaking from experience).  You can also apply some kind of polyurethane or lacquer to protect it.  Smarter people recommend specific times between sanding and coats.  I winged it :).

9.  Hang on the wall.  You could use any sort of wall anchor.  I have used DIY plywood French cleats on previous projects, but decided I wanted there to be minimal space between the wall and the headboard.  Therefore, I bought this French cleat system from Amazon.  Recommend having help with hanging the door.

Due to my darling bride's affection for Christmas time, the closet located in the guest room is filled to the rim with jolly ole’ decorations.  So we needed a place for guests to hang their clothes.  I had seen designs on Pinterest showing a combination of wood and iron pipe and loved the rustic combo.  Here's what I did:

5.  Coat with sealer.  BE CAREFUL.  I used a brush-on lacquer and it turned the paint yellow.  Next time I will use a spray polyurethane or a poly-acrylic.  Again, follow directions for sanding between coats and drying time.

6.  Plan your pipe layout and purchase parts.  Below is a list of what I used.  This is the harder (time consuming) part.  I measured to the center of the shelf from the wall and figured I could get close without having to cut the pipes to specific lengths.  I went with ½” pipes and fittings because they seemed to be cheaper.  I took some time piecing this together in the middle of the isle at the big box store but they didn’t seem to mind. 

1. 4x ½” floor flange fittings
2. 2x ½” 8” pipes (braces from wall)
3. 2x ½” 90deg elbows
4. 2x ½” Tee fitting
5. 2x ½” 5 ½ pipes (vertical braces)
6. 2x ½” 1” nipple fittings
7. 1x 24” pipe (or as wide as you want shelf)

7.  Paint pipes/fittings.  Because the fittings/pipes weren’t a perfect match, I decided to paint the whole setup with a glossy black spray paint. I also painted the heads of the screws to match the flanges.

8.  Prepare shelf.  To give it a “floating shelf” kind of feel, I routed out a dado in the back of the shelf and cut a piece of scrap wood that fits inside the dado to attach it to the wall for extra support.  If you don’t have a way to do that, you could always use another way to secure the piece to the wall ("L" brackets, supports, etc.)

9.  Assemble and mount.  Put the two pieces together and mount to the wall.  I used a piece of wood to hold the shelf level while I screwed it (from top down) to the scrap cleat.  I couldn’t decide whether or not to put the two together then mount to the wall or attach them separately and then connect.  I ended up doing a little of both.  It was quite difficult to get everything right.  I think if had done it over again, 1) I would have had help putting it on the wall, and 2) I would have left it all in one piece and put it on the wall all at one time.

Mounting tip.  Make sure that you use good wall anchors or screw it into a stud.  Or in my case, I did both.  I screwed the scrap cleat into the studs and put in drywall anchors for the pipe flanges because they did not match up with the studs.  

10.  Sit back, relax and enjoy your hard work.

Thanks for reading and thanks for the support.  If you would like updates on future posts, please subscribe in the link in the right column or on my contact page.

Also, be sure and leave a comment or feedback.  Let me know what you think. 

Take care and God bless,
-jb

Hey friends, I thought I'd share this blog....about starting my new...blog.  This is where I plan to pay it forward.  I'm looking to pass on to the next guy/gal what someone told me or, better yet, what I wished someone had told me.  This is where I plan on sharing in my journey, my mistakes and my successes. 

I am relatively new to woodworking and extremely "green" to this interwebs stuff.  I've had a lot of help along the way for sure.  The woodworking community is fantastic group of makers that not only share their crafts but also share their time and resources.  It's a very giving community to say the least. 

If you are new to this community or just my parents or siblings stopping by because you feel obligated, I urge you to check out my Instagram feed.  Under the "friends tab" you will find a group of talented artisans with a wealth of knowledge. 

If you are still reading, thanks for the support.  If you would like updates on future posts, please subscribe in the link in the right column.

Also, be sure and leave a comment or feedback.  Let me know what you think. 

Take care and God bless,
-jb