Congratulations on your high school graduation Emily!
Your grandmother asked that I make you a pen to commemorate the occasion, and I am honored to do so. She also has a small object including some of the same material, I hope that you two remember each other fondly each time either of you use them. Sorry that we’ve not met, I suppose it goes that way in extended families over the years. Very best to you in all your upcoming adventures, it sounds like you’ve got a very bright future.
~ Bill
P.S. The pen takes a Parker style refill.
Preparing the Blanks
The first and one of the most critical parts is to size the blanks to the pen being assembled. Blanks should be marked and cut a little longer than the finished size.
The blanks can be cut in a variety of methods, I typically use just a hack-saw, the process is quite quick.
Blanks and the tubes are kept together, not only are the tubes different in length on some pens, but may be different diameters as well, such as in this pen.
Matching the tube diameter to an appropriate drill is important, you want just enough gap between the walls of the tubes and the blank material to get adequate, but not excessive glue coverage for a good bond.
Also, drilling acrylic is pretty easy, but heats up quickly which can ruin the hole, or the blank itself. A bunch of slow passes are made until the drill bit penetrates the full length of the blank. Note the cool ribbons of material being removed, if this goes from ribbons to blobs of plastic, you’re drilling too fast!
Acrylic also tends to be a bit brittle, “blowing out” the bottom of the blanks when drilling is very common with acrylic, one of the reasons to make them just a little long.
Gluing Up
Some acrylic blanks are fairly translucent and you can see the brass color of the tube through the material. It is common to either paint the tubes, or “back paint” the hole through the blank black. This tends to make the tube unnoticeable in the final product.
Tubes are glued into the blanks now, in this case using medium thick CA (Cyanoacrylate), or “Super Glue” as it bonds well, fills gaps well and sets reasonably quickly. (You’ve got maybe 5-10 seconds to move the tubes if desired, then you’re stuck with where they are).
The blank ends are then trimmed with a barrel trimmer which provides an extremely flat surface perpendicular to the ben blank. This is required so that the various fitments which make up the total pen seat fully against the blanks.
Another view of the barrel trimmed blank ends.
Ready for the Lathe
A specific set of bushings is used for each pen type. Typically the blank is turned down to the various diameters on each end of the bushings, this so the individual sections align and fit up to their connecting counterparts.
The bushings are placed in a specific order and direction and slid onto a pen turning mandrel with the blanks.
Now mounted into the lathe. The tapered black part on the left side of the mandrel is called a “Morse Taper” and when inserted into the lathe’s headstock, fits very tightly so it will not spin free under normal circumstances. The round part on the right is a “Live Center”, it has a bearing built in and spins freely. It is brought up to the end of the mandrel to provide support and minimize vibration, etc.
Turning has just started, the square corners of the blanks are rounded off, in this case with a gouge.
Acrylic mostly comes off in streamers when cut, very similar to the drill press. If you see streamers, it means your tools are sharp and all is normal.
I typically turn these at around 2500 – 3000 Revolutions Per Minute (RPM). Generally, the faster an item is turned, the smoother the operation, meaning cleaner cuts.
Looking a bit like Barney was massacred here, the blanks are turned down so each end is very close to the diameter of the busings.
Finishing and Assembly
The blanks are wet sanded first with sandpaper to remove any little tooling marks, then with MicroMesh through successively finer grits up to 12,000 Grits/Inch.
The acrylic should now have a surface looking like glass.
The finished blanks are removed from the lathe and laid out in order with the other kit parts.
Several presses can be used, I fashioned a set of tapers inserted into the lathe. I then crank the tailstock down (part on the right that held the live center) which presses the components together.
Finally, a completed pen.
Grandpa, Data Junkie, Woodturner, Electronic Dabbler
Bill Kibby 
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