(apologies i am really behind on archiving these here. I shall catch up over the next few weeks)

* Pen Making

So yeah, I did something I am extremely proud of. Something I will quite happily toot my own horn about. I made a demonstrator and it worked. I managed to get it clear and it’s thanks in part to Phil at Beaufort Ink, one of my main suppliers.

It started when he posted up some new pen making lubricant he got ins tock in one of fountain pen facebook groups I am in [this is the stuff](https://www.beaufortink.co.uk/shield-technology/pen-turners-lube/pen-turners-lube-with-corrosion-inhibitor-250ml) not the cheapest thing in the world but you only need a little bit. Literally only put a tiny bit on the end of the drill bits and taps with a paint brush and that was all I needed.

So how to make a demonstrator, well this is combined with me making one of my Baetylus designs so it’s all top secret. Shhhh don’t tell anyone. First things first I turned the square blank of clear resin so it was a cylinder as big as I could make, if I ended up with a slight flat edge or two it didn’t really matter as long as the jaws of the lathe could grip it by the end it was fine. I then made the section but didn’t shape it, I made it slightly thinner than I normally would so it would fit in the cap straight away. I then turned the tenons and drilled everything out so I effectively made an uncomfortably chunky pen. This is when I deviated from the normal procedures.

I sanded the outside of the pen to about 800 grit, this was so I could check how the finish on the inside was going. That gives you a hint of what happens next. The pen barrel goes into the chuck and I used a flag of sand paper on the end of a stick and lots of water and I start sanding the hell out of the inside. I go from 400 grit all the way up to 12000 grit micro mesh. Once that is all done I have a barrel that looks like [this](https://i.imgur.com/CcbQyhA.jpg). I then repeat the process on the cap.

Then guess what… Back in the lathe for the shaping. I attempted to get a lot of diamond shapes in this one. When I start to carve the facets you cannot see the inside at all which is why I did that part first. [See what I mean](https://i.imgur.com/3KuCAL2.jpg)? Believe it or not the cutting of the facets is one of the quicker processes in this particular pen. You will not believe how long the whole thing took.

So after it’s shaped I sanded the hell out of the outside doing up to 1500grit sandpaper, each facet sanded by hand while I sat on the workshop floor listening to music, or horror podcast full cast shows, or brain storming for my book. By the end of it I ended up with something that looks like [this](https://i.imgur.com/PgN5TeH.jpg) and [this](https://i.imgur.com/23tcNVv.jpg). Once this was all done I return to how I would normally do my pens, kind of.

I have a 3 stage polishing setup, the 1^st wheel is quite abrasive so I skipped this one, the last thing I wanted was to introduce scratches into this, I think I would have just broken down if that had happened. So I went straight to the high polish and then the third wheel. Or as I like to call them the oooo shiny wheel and the annoying yellow wheel. What I ended up was the pen you can see in the top image, or if you want to see it again from different angles here it is:

[Cap on](https://i.imgur.com/B5tW9z9.jpg)

[Cap off](https://i.imgur.com/6NjJbwK.jpg)

Overall from square blank to finished pen it took 11 hours. I started at 11am and finished it at 10pm, I pretty much only did that pen and I only had one break for dinner, I don’t tend to eat or drink much when I am pen making. My wife yells at me because of that. Speaking of my wife, she took some pictures of it too. Here are hers:

[Cap on](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WBNhpR_G-LKx9LigbAEglV939mUy4UVK/view?usp=sharing)

[Cap off](https://drive.google.com/file/d/13UPmrhEOI03tV5l8SqI6mNo8i-UmmTGj/view?usp=sharing)

What do you think? Of the quality of the photography? Of the pen? Anything really. As I said I am really happy with this one, it took a long time but I think it was worth it.

As usual, take care of yourselves and your loved ones, stay safe and I will see you around.

Anyways as usual you can follow me on instagram [@denscustompens](https://www.instagram.com/denscustompens/)