Custom Wooden Pens

A lot of people really like the unique look and amazing feel of wooden custom pens. There is just something comforting and natural about them that make these pens an instant favorite for many people. How are they made? How do artists turn a block of wood into a beautiful piece of art that can be used every day? Here is a simplified breakdown of how some of these stunning pens are made.

 

The Tools

First of all, it takes some specific tools and components to make these pens. A lot of pen makers don’t make their own pen parts, they just shape the wood and assemble the rest of the pen pieces. Either way, they will end up with a block of wood and the parts for the pen. They also have various tools that they use while shaping the pen, among these a drill, saw, and most notably the lathe, which they use to create the final shape of the pen.

 

Cut and Drill 

The next step will be cutting and drilling the wood. Usually custom pen makers begin by cutting their block of wood in half and then drilling a hole down the center of each block. These will be the two parts of the pen that will later be separable in order to refill the pen’s ink.  Depending on the size of the pen, they might trim the edges to make sure the wood is the right size, but normally more trimming will come later. This is also when they will put a metal casing on the inside of the wood to keep the rest of the parts inside and to keep the inside of the pen protected from rot or other issues.

 

Lathe and Sand

This is the most exciting part. The artist takes two blocks of wood with the metal tubes glued firmly inside. They place them on their lathe and begin smoothing down the edges and then shaping the pens. A lathe works by spinning the wood rapidly, and when the custom pens maker places a tool against it, the tool slowly carves off small pieces of the wood evenly all the way around. This process also gives it a smooth round shape without an enormous amount of painstaking work that it might take using a traditional edged tool. At this time, artists also take a moment to finish trimming the edges of the wood so that they match the inside tubes perfectly.

 

Sand and Wax

While still on the lathe, the pen makers will now use several types of sand paper to give the wood an even smoother finish and take out any marks that their tools might have left on the wood. They start with a more abrasive grain of sand paper and work their way down to a smoother one. After they finish with all of the sanding, and the wood is smooth enough to satisfy them, artists take a piece of wood wax and hold it against the wood while on the lathe. The friction heats up the wax, rubbing it into the wood and filling and sealing the wood, giving it a nice shine. Then the rest of the pen is easy to assemble, giving you a perfect custom pen.