After making about 12 pens, I determined my old plain steel lathe tools were not sharp enough for the acrylic or plastic pen blanks.  I still got chipping at the ends of the blanks on the lathe.  I decided to buy a carbide tipped set from Penn State Industries.............

Once I tried out the carbide gouge and skew chisel, it was a night and day improvement over my plain steel chisels.  Now the only question is how long they will last before they become dull.

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