Pen Turning Photo Blog - Clark College Nursing Class 104 Pinning Ceremony Thank You Gifts

This little journey started at the end of my 6th quarter of the Clark College RN program. Deb and I were trying to come up with some gifts that would not only be appreciated by the speakers, but also memorable, special, and unique.

The problem came from the fact that there were 13 speakers and just the supplies alone were going to cost about $19 a pen. Being that the class budget had mostly been committed to the rest of the ceremony, there wasn't a whole lot left over for gifts. I'd finally decided that one way or another, I was going to be stubborn and do them anyways.

I ended up locating an eBay seller who could make me the aluminum plaques I wanted for $1.50 a piece shipped. The best part was this gentleman lived in Idaho. So after some close communications, I had a shipment planned for Monday.

About the same time, when I went to get the blanks, hardware, and boxes for the pens, I found that WoodCraft.com was having a weekend sale! After a Google search for a coupon code, I ended up getting the parts for nearly 30% off before shipping!

The final cost after all the deductions and such was about $16.15 a pen. Not bad.

So as the week went by, the plaques made their way to me, and in an anti-climatic manner, the pen parts arrived the following day.


A box full of titillated , eager pen parts!


Looks like this is going to be a lot of work.


The raw blanks straight from the bag.


Measured, marked, and numbered.


A simple bandsaw makes quick work of the mess.


Try as hard as I might, I could not get the stupid things to drill straight... didn't matter too much so long as I didn't drill too far from center.


Blue Jenga!



Gorilla water-reactive mega glue is used to hold the copper tubes inside the blanks. Without the tubes, there's a high probability that the pens would explode on the lathe.


Close up of the glue as it starts to react.


The next day the glue was cured and the blanks were ready to be turned.




First finished pen.


IMMA BEAST!


Three down, ten to go.


This is what thirteen pens look like side by side.


"Lift" display boxes. Raises the pens up when the lid is opened.


Another view plus necessary fuel sources.


The previously mentioned plaques.


Another view.


Ambient light.


Another view.

Supplies list:
Acrylic "Cobalt" Blank-
http://www.woodcraft.com/Catalog/ProductPage.aspx?prodid=21371&ss=831ad916-f2c9-4dda-870d-7440a9fdf63c

Pen Lift Box-
http://www.woodcraft.com/Catalog/ProductPage.aspx?prodid=7187&ss=9a2ad2ab-72c7-4b31-a07e-c26305d0d6fc

Titanium Euro Pen Hardware-
http://www.woodcraft.com/Catalog/ProductPage.aspx?prodid=5752

Engraved Plaques-
http://stores.ebay.com/TAJAVE-ENGRAVING