Desk Pen holder

[caretaker]

Hi All,
My daughter has asked me to make her a desk pen holder, now we all know I'm not much good at doing deep cutting so what idea's have anyone else got.
I did think I could convert an earring stand.
May try making a pen as well.

 

[PowerTool]

Hi Reg - do you have a chuck for your tailstock ?
If so,you could drill the timber out with a large sawtooth or Forstner bit.
(If not,you can drill it out using a handheld/cordless drill - may be easier to drill an accurate pilot hole,for the point on the bottom of the Forstner bit to follow)

Andrew

 

[Bodrighy]

A desk tidy or pencil holder is pretty simple in design. Look at the plastic ones that you can get in Staples or Smiths. They consist of several tubes of different legths all stuck into a base which is in itself another round shallow tube. These could be done quickly and easily in almost any wood.

The other type is the ones that you can get kits for. Look in 'Craft supplies' for examples.

If you want to be a bitmore adventurous there is something like this
(If this comes up on the home page look under 'One of a kind items.')

Alternatively a simple pot about 3" high would do.

Pete

 

[TEP]

Mornin' Reg.

One of the easiest ways is to turn a nice piece of timber to a shape and size to the amount of pens you want to hold, with a gently rounded top. Mark the centre of the top with a pencil then concentric rings moving out from the centre. How many you can fit in depends on the size of wood. Mark equal spaces around the rings, then take the piece to the pillar drill and drill holes at all the marks and the centre hole.

If you drill the outer holes deep and the inner rings shallower as you move to the centre you can get at all the pens/pencils as they are at different levels.

Even fancier, tilt the pillar drill table ever so slightly for each ring with the centre hole vertical and the pens will splay out a little.

The actual size and external shape can be anything that fits the amount of pens. My general size to start is approx. 3 1/2" dia. x 5" long, which also includes the spigot for the chuck. Finished size is around max 4 1/2" high x 3" dia. I don't usually measure anything just eyeball the sizes, but set the pillar drill depth stop for each penciled ring so they are equal.

If you haven't got a pillar drill you can use a piece of timber in the banjo in place of the tool rest with a hole at centre height same size as the drill you intend using. Just set up the wood guide at the angle and depth you want and away you go.

Apologies for being so long winded, but have made a few of these using the above methods and they work OK.

 

[Johnboy]

..........

 

[Anonymous]

Nice idea john... pity they don't make round post-its :lol:

 

[Bodrighy]

Nice idea john... pity they don't make round post-its :lol:

Yes they do, I bought some in Lidl along with some shaped like a hand and some like a foot.

Pete

 

[sean.brock]

post it notes come in an amazingly large variety of shapes, especially if like me, you work in pharacy. Drug reps are always dropping in pads with their drugs on. My personal favorite is the viagra one, which is just a huge viagra tablet.

If you need an odly shaped one, let me know nd i'll see if i can get one

 

[CHJ]

Reg, if all you want is a simple pot then you could make them up out of a series of layers glued up in stages, boring out the centre portion as you go, this avoids having to reach deep with a boring tool/gouge.

See here (326-330) for some examples

You use the tailstock for support and apply pressure when glueing each layer.

 

[caretaker]

There have been some good examples and sugestions, I will have a word with my younges and see what she would like or better still let her have a go.
I like the idea of glueing sections of wood together after turning it, will give that a go my self.
Thanks again to everyone, I dont know what I would do with out you all.

 

[CHJ]

Reg in case it helps get a mental picture of how I do them, here's my bucket of oddments awaiting the call.

I face off the end of the piece on the lathe as I go, placing a steel rule across to check for square (if it squeaks it's flat)

I clean up one side (flat) of subsequent pieces before hand and part 2/3rd. of the way through to ease removal of centre when glued on. This way you get more than one pot out of a given piece of wood.

You need to keep the base on the chuck when nearing the finished article to preserve alignment, but as long as the wall thickness has a mm or so to spare you can get away with remounting and a final cleanup if you have to remove it from the lathe.

I usually start them at the end of a session and glue up first ring overnight and follow up the next couple of rings during the next day when I get an odd moment between chores.