I found this article describing a swirl inlay technique on LumberJocks.com. I figured I’d give it a try. Here’s what I did.
-
- Make a mark on all four sides of the pen blank
-
- Set the table saw blad height to less than half of the blank height
-
- Line up the the center of the blank with a mark on your miter sled
-
- After the first cut, turn the pen blank to the next side and line up the center mark
-
- Contine to cut the next sides keeping the center mark aligned
-
- Here’s what the blank looks like with all four sides cut
-
- Here’s what the blank looks like with all four sides cut on each pen part
-
- Here’s what the blank looks like with all four sides cut on each pen part
-
- Cut the strips to place in the cuts on the pen blank
-
- Cut the extra wood from the pen blank
-
- Sand the pen blank to take off the edges
-
- Cut the pen blank in half
-
- The pen blank cut in half
-
- Drill the pen blank
-
- Mark the 2nd pen blank with a pencil to line up the holes
-
- The mark on the 2nd pen blank to make sure the hole is in the right place
-
- Drill the pen blank
-
- Glue the brass tubes into the pen blank
-
- One of the pen blank halves rough turned
-
- Beginning the sanding and finishing phase
-
- All sanding and finishing is done
-
- The pen tubes and kit parts – ready for assembly
-
- Pen kit layed out ready to press the parts together
-
- Pressing the pen pieces together
-
- Pressing the end cap on the pen
-
- Insert the rollerball and assemble the pen
-
- Line up the to pen pieces before pressing the cap parts on
-
- Pressing the cap pieces together
-
- The assembled pen
Along the way I realized a stop block would be a better method than lining up the center line with a pencil mark. I’ll do that next time. Also, my angle was a perfect 45 degree angle. It looked good, but I think my next miter sled with have an adjustable angle and I will make it a bit steeper.
