Rockler has entered the laser cut pen world

In the last year I have started to see some stunning in lay work coming of the lathes of craftsmen around the world. In particular there have been some amazing inlaid pens with all manner of images and exotic woods put together in an intarsia like approach and then turned round and used as a pen blank.

Certainly this process requires great precision but more importantly great patience to get every tiny part perfectly cut and then assembled to make this masterpiece.

Rockler has recently taken a lot of that work out of the equation so the rest of us mere mortals have a shot at creating one of these beauties. In a recent post on Buzz Saw, the Rockler blog, Jim Carroll, the manager a turning at Rockler, said that these while these kits are easier than doing them yourself they are not for the beginning turner due to the light hand you need to size the blanks and the sharp tools need for the cutting. Rockler’s kits are stabilized blanks and with all the CA glue used to assemble them you will need a very sharp edge on your gouges and you will need to keep it that way.

I also recommend definitely wearing a respirator when turning these kits as the resins used during the stabilization and CA can put off some funky stuff. Granted every turner should be wearing a respirator whenever they turn, but I’m not going to lie and say I do it all the time 🙂

So head over the Rockler’s inlay pen kit page and check out their new line of inlay pen kits and pick out your favorite design, make sure you are stocked up on CA glue and make yourself a masterpiece!