Question for pen turners

ed sautter

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Cortland NY
Has anyone used solid surface for pens? I'm new to this idea but have been in the solid surface countertops for years. I have scrap pieces of a solid surface material that is 3cm or 1.125 thick. Wouldn't think you would need to glue this up but may infact need to trim it down. If anyone has used it how were the results? Have any idea if it is any good? I know it will ploish up well as I have to do that for signs and what not. I may have some to try and even share but it's not much and is basic colors. Let me know your opinions on this stuff. I have the 1/2 material as well in scraps but am not planing on making something with that just yet.
 
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Has anyone used solid surface for pens? I'm new to this idea but have been in the solid surface countertops for years. I have scrap pieces of a solid surface material that is 3cm or 1.125 thick. Wouldn't think you would need to glue this up but may infact need to trim it down. If anyone has used it how were the results? Have any idea if it is any good? I know it will ploish up well as I have to do that for signs and what not. I may have some to try and even share but it's not much and is basic colors. Let me know your opinions on this stuff. I have the 1/2 material as well in scraps but am not planing on making something with that just yet.
Hi Ed; I'm somewhat confused by your statement 3 cm or 1.125 thick. 3 cm is approx. .762 in. in thickness. I had some 1/2" Corian that I was able to glue up and turn into pens and razors as well.




I would just like to add if anyone happens to be listening, whoever designed the new picture posting method must have been tripping on something! What was wrong with the way we used to do it. I was always under the impression, If it's not broken, it doesn't need fixing! View attachment 63535
 
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Corian is very popular with many pen turners. I'm not one of them. I gave away a box full to someone on one of my fourms. Not saying I don't do the occasional non-wood pen (mebbe one a year) but my preference is wood.
 
Hi Ed; I'm somewhat confused by your statement 3 cm or 1.125 thick. 3 cm is approx. .762 in. in thickness. I had some 1/2" Corian that I was able to glue up and turn into pens and razors as well.




I would just like to add if anyone happens to be listening, whoever designed the new picture posting method must have been tripping on something! What was wrong with the way we used to do it. I was always under the impression, If it's not broken, it doesn't need fixing! View attachment 63535


Mack, now I am confused I thought 1 inch was approx. 2.54 cm if that is the case 3 cm/2.54= 1.181102 inches, or am I missing something ? :huh:
 
I would just like to add if anyone happens to be listening, whoever designed the new picture posting method must have been tripping on something! What was wrong with the way we used to do it. I was always under the impression, If it's not broken, it doesn't need fixing! ]

Amen Brother, Amen! :thumb:
 
IMG_0015-1.jpgIMG_0017-1.jpgHere's a couple of pictures of some that I turned recently using Corian. The big limitation is that counter tops are usually only 1/2" thick so turning pens is limited to those that do not require a big diameter tube. Most pens with 7 mm tubes are OK but you also should paint/colour the tube before gluing it in the blank.
 
Here's a couple of pictures of some that I turned recently using Corian. The big limitation is that counter tops are usually only 1/2" thick so turning pens is limited to those that do not require a big diameter tube. Most pens with 7 mm tubes are OK but
you also should paint/colour the tube before gluing it in the blank.
While there is nothing wrong with painting the tubes prior to gluing them in the blank, it really isn't necessary on solid surface material if it isn't translucent (able to see through)!
 
While I like the looks of Corian pens, and Glen's are really fantastic, I have one (1) in my inventory that I've shown for 5 years... it's well done, great fit and absolutely of no interest to my customers... I'm not a fan of turning it myself and last year gave away all the Corian blanks I had. To me it is the worst of all the smells I encounter doing pen turning.
 
That'S ok Mack, is we yanks had done what we were supposed to do back in the 70's we wouldn't be having this discussion, BTW IIRC 1 inch is 2 barley corns...:rolleyes:

now how big is a cubit ???

Don,
Back in the day when I was working, and we (the U.S.) was supposed to convert to metric, we started doing shipping in metric tons and rates were in per kilogram... but we still measured boxes in cubic inches, weighed them in pounds and ounces... I had to convert rates to pounds or weights to metric... what a pain... This was all started in the '60's as I remember... by the time the 70's had arrived, it had become habit to just convert one or the other... we found that if we ran one conversion the rate might be a few cents less per lbs or per kgs... so usually I ran the conversion in both to determine where I could get the rate lowest... sometimes $0.01 made a difference in profit or loss... we even marked all of the boxes in both cubic feet & cubic meters, and weights in lbs and kgs....

Since a "cubit" is the length of the forearm, wouldn't the measurement vary somewhat depending on whose forearm...
wouldn't Yao Ming's or Kareem Jammar's forearm be longer than say Billy Dunn's??
 
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