So who started it all?

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
M

MedWoodWorx

Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2021
Messages
736
Location
Greece
I often have to explain to friends what penturning is about; in Greece not even wood lathe working isnt that common as a hobby let aside pen turning. And when we keep on talking about who started this as a hobby i reply: well i think its an american thing. But is it really? Does anybody know who turned the first pen? How this hobby/craft evolved? I know that there are many seasoned penturners among us, do you know more about this? Who were/ are the pionneers etc.?
Cheers, Mike
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
First patent for a fountain pen was in 1827 in France.
First patent for a ballpoint pen was in 1888.
Here's an interesting photo....making metal pens I assume.

2792824.jpg
 
 
Here is my two cents:

Jim Heusinger, founder of Berea Hardwoods was one of the first to offer kit pens. You can read his interesting story HERE The Ohio Chapter visited Berea for a meeting once and Jim gave us the whole history of penmaking and it was fascinating. I wish I had thought to take a video.

Hut Products and Craft Supplies were also offering pen kits in the late 80's early 90's

@ed4copies has a great deal of pen business history in his head. I believe he gave a talk at an MPG. The link in JT's post above has some more info from Ed.

As far as people in penmaking goes, you can't find anyone more influential than Dick Sing. Check out this video

Russ Fairfield was also an icon in the penturning world. I learned to turn reading Dick's and Russ's books.

IAP was started by Scott Greaves and me in 2004 with lots of help from many people. If I started to list the people who have been very influential in the history of IAP, I'd be here all night.

I just asked Gemini "who was the first company to offer pen kits" and she says:

I couldn't find a definitive answer on the first company to offer pen kits. However, Berea Hardwoods is often mentioned as a pioneer in the early days of pen kits. They established standards like the "A" mandrel size and played a significant role in the development of the pen kit industry. You might find more specific information on the history of pen kits by reaching out to the International Association of Penturners or researching historical records from woodturning and crafting communities.
 
Woodworkers Supply is now closed, but I remember in the 1980s seeing their catalog with a round jig that held a blank - one jig on each end of the blank and then placed it over a router bit in a table - turning the blank round to make a pen. I never ordered one of those but remember it quite well. I know it was the early '80s because I moved to Japan for work in January 86 and didn't get or read anymore WWS catalogs for a long time - it was maybe the mid-90s that I got online to see their tool line again.

And I don't know what kind of pen kits they offered for that. I know nothing of the construction or if it had tubes or not. I just remember the jig a picture of rotating the wood over a straight router bit on a router table.
 
Last edited:
leehljp said:
Woodworkers Supply is now closed, but I remember in the 1980s seeing their catalog with a round jig that held a blank - one jig on each end of the blank and then placed it over a router bit in a table - turning the blank round to make a pen. I never ordered one of those but remember it quite well. I know it was the early '80s because I moved to Japan for work in January 86 and didn't get or read anymore WWS catalogs for a long time - it was maybe the mid-90s that I got online to see their tool line again.

And I don't know what kind of pen kits they offered for that. I know nothing of the construction or if it had tubes or not. I just remember the jig a picture of rotating the wood over a straight router bit on a router table.
Click to expand...
I was a Woodworkers Supply customer here in Albuquerque from the late 80s until they closed the doors. I remember the jig you are talking about on display there. My wife and I were busy remodeling our house and building furniture, etc. and I didn't have time for pens.
I bought my lathe sometime in the 2000s (can't remember the year) and turned a few other things before getting interested in pens after I saw some at a home show.
I would read any history Dave could can come up with.

Mike
 
leehljp said:
Woodworkers Supply is now closed, but I remember in the 1980s seeing their catalog with a round jig that held a blank - one jig on each end of the blank and then placed it over a router bit in a table - turning the blank round to make a pen. I never ordered one of those but remember it quite well. I know it was the early '80s because I moved to Japan for work in January 86 and didn't get or read anymore WWS catalogs for a long time - it was maybe the mid-90s that I got online to see their tool line again.

And I don't know what kind of pen kits they offered for that. I know nothing of the construction or if it had tubes or not. I just remember the jig a picture of rotating the wood over a straight router bit on a router table.
Click to expand...
it would be nice if we could find a picture of that jig, sounds interesting
 
MedWoodWorx said:
it would be nice if we could find a picture of that jig, sounds interesting
Click to expand...
Paul in OKC describes it better in the following link from 2007, and then Exoticwo posted a picture of it:

Pen blank router jig

Have any of you ever used a router jig to round pen blanks? If so, are you satisfied with the results? I once saw a design for such a device but can no longer find it.
www.penturners.org
Woodlvr mentions getting the jig from Hut.

ITS In Our Old Threads! Way to go IAP/Jeff !

Something tells me that this was not the first, but a different way for people who did not have a lathe. I have seen a couple of pictures of a drill press jig for turning pens. The more I think about it, it "could" have been later than '86. I was back home (USA) from Japan for a few sure months in '89 and again in '92 and could have seen that jig in the woodworking supply catalog at my mom and dad's house while there.

APOLOGIES - My dates and memories are WAY OFF! Here is the link to the patent for the jig in 1997. https://patents.google.com/patent/US5645117A/en

Look Way down the Patents link and you can see a progression of patents from 1944. It appeared in Woodworker's supply catalog in 90-91. (The Woodturners Catalog 1990/91, pp. 26, 46 & 47. *) . . . and the next question is did it come from Hut or did Hut get it from WWS. No matter, It was called a Tompkins Turner.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom