Turning Fountain Pens

I have been testing out and refining turning fountain pens. Unlike the slimline ballpoints that I have made these pens are more of a fiddle. The blanks are different sizes quite a bit larger in diameter. The increased diameter is internal and external. This causes some problems with the tool that I use to true up the ends of the blanks. anyone who has turned pens will know the importance of the end being square!

I have a tool with set of interchangeable shafts to accommodate different pen styles. unfortunately the shafts are all smaller in diameter than I require for the fountain pen kits that I use.
I have made some sleeves to get around this using 7mm brass tubes. These are the same brass tubes used in the slimline kits.
I drilled out blanks and fitted the brass tubes glueing them in as I would for pen. I turned them to the required sizes for the pen kit. They were finished with CA glue in order to stabilise the wood. The only problem with this fix is that the city cutter on the end of won’t work. This clears any glue that may end up inside the tube making it impossible to then the pen blanks on the mandrel. I over came this inconvenience by cleaning the inside of the brass tubes with a scalpel.

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