Pencils

Ted Calver

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I see beautiful pens being posted frequently...pencils not so much. Here are some mechanical pencils done using a process that's been around for many years. The 'innards' from commonly available Pentel mechanical pencils are used to create custom pencils from materials of your own choosing. A step drill (the one shown is 17/64 with a 1/2" long 'step' down to 1/8") is used to drill the blank, which is slipped over a pen mandrel for turning. The tip screws onto the brass threads which protrude through the 1/8" step drill hole. The rest of the 'innards' bottom out on the shoulder of the step, so screwing on the tip locks the whole thing in place. Shown from left to right are: The Pentel pencil (9mm for my heavy hand, but you can use any lead size--they all work), the step drill, and pencils in Cocobolo, Padouk, Bloodwood and Corian. Not that anyone needed anything else to turn.....

Incidently, these pencils cost an arm and a leg in office supply places. You can find them on line in quantity for much cheaper
 

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Very cool, Ted. I hadn't seen that approach for pencils. I used to use a 0.5mm Pentel all the time when I was taking a lot of handwritten field notes. Yours are nice upgrades. :thumb:
 
Paul...I bought two of these drills years ago from Craft Supplies--which I don't think carries them anymore. I found a couple of places that sell them but I don't know anything about the companies and haven't ordered from them, so caveat emptor.
http://www.theperfectcollection.com/products.php?cat=11&PHPSESSID=5f3563f238383b646ee5b0df32f10819

http://www.wlfuller.com/html/special_drills.html

Also, on another forum, Marvin Hasenak wrote:
"You can do these without the step drill. Drill the blank to the depth with a 17/64", then take the blank and mount it on a 1/4" drill rod. Put the end of the drill rod in a collet chuck and use a drill chuck in the tailstock with the 1/8" bit, not sure I use a 1/8" I think I use a 5/32" The drill rod will line up the holes. You may need to use a little cellophane tape as a shim to get a good fit on the drill rod. Usually the wood swells just enough to give a good fit. "

I found that a plastic drinking straw, split lengthwise took up the slack on my pen turning mandrel.
 
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A good machine shop should be able to make the step drill for you. I had a bunch made by a shop in South Carolina. I can find the web site when I get back to my other computer if any interest.
 
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