An excellent list by Pat Lawson
Laguna Beach, California
Pens By Patricia
I've been making pens for about 5 years now, and here is a list of tools and supplies that I feel are necessary for pen making. I wish I had known about many of these items when I was starting out! Other pen makers may have more or different items to add, but I think this includes all of the most important items.
 1. Free Catalogs from the pen makers supply companies listed below.
Order these and read through them. They are full of information, ideas and the products and tools you will need.
Woodturners Catalog (Craft Supplies USA)
Berea
Hut
Penn State
WoodCraft
 2. Lathe
- There are many to choose from, but I recommentd at least 1/2 hp motor no matter which brand or style you choose.
3. Saw (to cut pen blanks in half or to cut your own)
4. Drill Press for drilling the pen blanks
5. Barrel Trimmer (also called a Pen Mill) This is a very important tool! It is for squaring the ends of the wood barrels to the brass tube inside. Your pen will not fit together right if you do not square the ends of the barrels before turning.
6. Mandrels - small for Cross type pens, large for bigger pen styles. Get "pro" models that fit into a morse taper.
7. Bushings for the type of pen kits you want to turn. (These are available from the pen hardware suppliers for each type of pen kit they sell.)
8. Turning Tools - 1/2 and/or 1/4 inch gouge, 1/2 inch skew chisel, Parting tool. (At least these three to begin with. You will add others as and when you need them.
9. Grinder (For sharpening tools. A cheap one will do to start with.) Or a belt sander, or a disk sander attachment for your lathe.
10. Finger nail jig for your grinder (It's very difficult to get the right angle on gouges without a jig.)
11. CA glue (cyanoacrylate) FLEXIBLE type for gluing in brass tubes, THIN type CA for repairs. Epoxy too.
12. Sandpaper 150 to 1000 grit, plus MicroMesh sheets to at least 3600 (12,000 is better.)
13. Pen hardware kits (7mm slimline are the easiest to start with, then you can progress to European styles, rollerballs and others.)
14. Drill bits - the sizes needed for the type of pen kits you are making. (7mm for slimline, "V" bit for rollerballs, etc.)
15. Drill Center Vise or wood hand screw vice or other vice to hold wood blanks for drilling.
16. Pen press, (from Penn State), or Quick Grip clamps, drill press jig, or something to press pen parts together to assemble your pen.
17. Finishes/Polishes: Hut Crystal Coat polish or Myland's friction polish, or other good pen finishing polish. Also, grain filler for open-grained woods and thin CA glue for porous materials.
18. Soft, lint-free rags (old sheets work great, cotton percale not flannel) for polishing.
19. Pen disassembler for both slimline and larger pens, (for undoing mistakes and rescuing your hardware.)You will need these!
20. Videos, Books and classes, on turning and pen making. Videos are better than books in many ways, because you see a master turner in action and you can replay the "class" over and over. A good source for woodturning books and videos at reasonable prices is The Woodworker's Discount Bookstore
Webmaster note: All of the Pens on this page were created by Pat!
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