Before, making your barber pole design pen the block needs making. Select two contrasting kinds of material, preference is Sapele and sycamore or maple. Rip on your table saw for 6mm for bands in your design.These will appear larger when cutting at an angle for segmented pen designs.
32mm high, length depends on the size of block required. By making strips 32mm I can use them for pens or razor handles. Ripping stock this way can be wasteful with table saw blades producing a 4mm kerf so either use a thin kerf blade or rip using bandsaw and thickness on a planer thicknesser.
Before glueing strips together line through. Stagger each edge by 5mm from the one above this will cut wastage even further. Do not forget to add triangle marks for alignment when glueing up.
Once dry rip to size on the bandsaw for the size of blank required. It is possible to use hand tools for the rough sizing of the strips and blanks, but power tools are quick for such rough work and save the hand tools for the finer wooden crafts.
With blanks cut to size, and ends squared off, head over to the drill press. In this picture blanks for three barber pole design, pens and razor handles so it’s best to number each side of one pen blank with a pencil line.
>across, the centre of the blank alignment, orientation when on the lathe if not things get confusing fast with which part goes with which. The best pens, have the grain running through the pen across the centre band, this will be even more noticeable on these segmented designs and figured woods.
With the parts drilled and tubes glued in place leave overnight to dry. No point rushing this step or this will just spoil the blank. For pens made with wood, polyurethane glue is preferable, for Corian its super glue and resin pens, a two-part epoxy.
With the blanks mounted between centres with the proper bushes, it’s just a matter of turning to shape and design.
Above is the same handle turned with aCA finish applied. There are other finishes available, but waxes and friction polish will not offer any long-term protection to wood. Warmth from human hands will melt wax within a few hours use so CA the preferred choice for durability even if it takes time to apply.
With barrels turned to shape it’s just a matter of assembling all the components
And finally, the finished segmented barber pole pen.
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.and the handmade Mach 3 razor handle
What do you think? Any suggestions or improvements just leave your comments below.