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Knowledge You Can Build On — Est. 1998

Precision you can feel — woodworking perfected with Lee Valley

newbie at pen turning-- RANT

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newbie at pen turning-- RANT

#1

newbie at pen turning-- RANT

eliot feldman

I think I'm furious! (Not really.)

I decided to get back into pen turning, something I did years ago and still had some mandrels,bushings, and pen kits around. Unfortunately, I had forgotten what to do with the old stuff, so I bought a book. Good idea , right? The book is "The Pen Turner's Workbook" by Barry Gross. (The pen turner's forum didn't like it when I tried to register saying that he referred me.)

Anyway, when you finally get to page 60 to see how to assemble the pen, there are two pictures for the orientation of the parts-- picture 38 and picture 40. Unfortunately these pictures show opposite ways of lining up the twist mechanism!!! I used what's shown in picture 38. WRONG! Apparently picture 40 shows the right one.

So the writing part doesn't twist out properly; and the pen won't come apart to put in a refill.

It's not the end of the world; and I should have studied things more carefully. But I believe it's a major screw-up for this sort of error not to have been noticed in a workbook on the subject.

Does anyone have this book? Please take a look at page 60.

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

#2

I would have used the kit instructions instead

Dick Coers

I don't have the book. What kit are you using?

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

#3

Ken Vaughan

You have the 2nd edition?

Ken Vaughan

Berry did a second edition a couple years back. Suspect you have the 1st version, and the corrections went into the 2nd version.

Here is a chance to practice disassembly and reassemble it.

Welcome back to turning.

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

#4

I'm willing to help...

John Kaner

Eliot, I can help. Please email me. I've been a member of International Association of Penturners (IAP) since 2004. I started making pens in 1998. I've made hundreds of pens and had many mistakes... I've fixed them all... You get to be quite creative.

I have a lot of pen books. I like Dick Sings. Many other good ones. My copy of Barry's book is 2003. It doesn't have the picture numbers you referenced.

If you want to send your pen to me, I'll do my best to make it operational.

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

#5

Have you contacted Barry?

Jeff Willaford

Not defending Barry or the book but have you tried to contact Barry about this? I just checked his website and the current book is the third edition so perhaps the issue has been corrected. Either way I'd like to think Barry might offer to help in some manner.

No affiliation with anyone involved here. Just suggesting Barry might like an opportunity to make corrections if they haven't already been made.

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

#6

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

Bill Turpin in WNC mountains

Most pen kits come with printed instructions. Most pen kit suppliers have instructions on their websites. Some of the instructions have pictures on one side and the steps on the other. Make a copy or whatever to have both facing you at the same time. If you are meeting a deadline with multiples have an extra kit available. Manufacturing errors of only .001" can make kits impossible to assemble. Although pen making is relatively easy, cheap, and FUN do not let your brain relax for a minute! The dozens of multiple, simple steps combine for a complex exact process. They can get you if you aren't looking.

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

#7

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

eliot feldman

Everyone has been very kind. I can't take you up on sending it to anyone because I destroyed it. I did try to contact Barry -- not to have him do anything for me; I actually wanted to help him out with the proof reading of the book. Being a mathematician, I can assure everyone that, in the limit as time goes to infinity, the probability of that someone with my edition of his book makes the same mistake is 1.0. My copy reads "Copy right 2003,2006,2013. And, as I said, I tried to get on some kind of pen turners forum and did say that Barry recommended me.I guess the folks there didn't care for my sense of humor because they rejected my application.

At any rate, I'm having fun. I managed to do a so-called "Premier Cigar Pen Black Titanium" (Woodcraft 148749) using some kind of fancy dark brown, burl-like acrylic stuff. It really does look like I know what I'm doing. Beginners luck!

I do have a few question, if you don't mind: is it worth it to purchase a set of barrel trimmers, or is sanding the ends flush on my sanding center good enough? It seems to be, but I have this vague feeling that barrel trimming may be slightly better -- and I see that it has the added advantage of clearing out glue from the tubes.. Also, I found sanding the acrylic kind of weird. I only got a nice shiny polish after using 8000 grit something or other followed by EEE stuff. Is there a better way? And one more thing: is there a reasonably-priced dial caliper that reads in decimal inches or centimeters?

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

#8

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

Dick Coers

Harbor Freight for the caliper, sanding for the barrel length, a piece of 1/4" all- thread rod used like a file to clean out adhesive inside the barrel, and Novus plastic polish or 3M Finesse-It for the final buff on acrylic. You might also consider Micro-Mesh with wet sanding for the plastic. Barrel trimmers always need to be perfectly sharp, and can also tear some soft end grain in wood. Cheap trimmers are horrible. The all-thread rod knocks off the adhesive, but won't remove any brass. Most pens are able to be taken apart. Guys buy the set of transfer punches from Harbor Frieght. You send a small one through the transmission to knock out the end. Then a larger punch through the end to knock out the transmission. Plenty of info on the internet on doing that.

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

#9

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

Bill Turpin in WNC mountains

I use barrel trimmers. Sanding can leave the ends NOT perpendicular to the length. There are so many subtle mini techniques you just have to learn what is best for you. Best finish, how fast, how fine a sandpaper, best kit choice, best kit supplier, which glue, mandrel saver or not, etc. YMMV! I always drop unglued tubes thru the drilled blank before adding glue. Sometimes lively or wet blanks will shrink their holes after they are drilled. This is an ugly surprise as glue is setting. I use thick CA. After a batch of tubes are glued, I always spray each end with accelerator and leave over night. Put your CA bottles away before spraying accelerator. Apply glue to tubes, twist while inserting, pull back a 1/4", insert to proper depth. DAMHIKT. If gluing multiples do only one type of kit at a time. Those brass tubes can all look the same. A few millimeters in some kits make big differences.

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

#10

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

John Kaner

Like Bill said, the barrel trimmer squares the blank to the brass tube. Otherwise, there will be a gap...

On super glue, after roughing tube, wear latex free gloves and wipe tubes with alcohol. Then immediately apply super glue and insert tube. I've had no failures with this method. I always wait overnight to then turn. As super glue will heal at the ends and stay juicy in the center...

On 7mm kits, Russ Fairfield liked using a 9/32" bit with polyurethane glue (Gorilla, etc...). Using a 7mm bit and polyurethane glue would cause hydraulic expansion and you found half the tube glued in and half out... Russ also explained that the foaming of the polyurethane glue and webbing created is not structural... It will however fill the slight void and is handy on some exotic wood. Tubes stay firmly in place...

If you're pushing brass out of super glued (cured) blanks, happens a lot due to some parts being slightly larger and you use some extra force... Also due to wood movement and squeezing tube...

I read an article on Sam Maloof, on his famous rockers, the critical joint between arm rest and support failed, frequently. Thus he went to epoxy and all thread joint. No more failures.

Epoxy is wonderful for Corian and like materials. Polyurethane doesn't work well. Super glue can fail. I believe due to the slick properties.

Just some ideas... Hope they help!

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

#12

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

eliot feldman

I wonder if you would be good enough to rewrite you paragraph about "pushing tubes through cured ...". I can't seem to get a read on it.

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

#13

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

eliot feldman

Do you apply the plastic polish with a paper towel with the lathe going? Lathe fast or slow? How about using a rotating buffing system of some kind? I've read that this method is best.

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

#14

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

Dick Coers

On the lathe, high speed. Separate buffing is good, but a lot more expensive.

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

#15

Re: newbie at pen turning-- RANT

John Kaner

Occasionally, you'll get a tube that breaks the cured super glue bond. You've glued up your blanks, wait overnight and come assembly time. The transmission usually is the one to push out the tube... Why? Oversized transmission, wood squeezing tube, glue in tube, bad glue joint, old glue, inexpensive glue, etc.

Super glue has no tensile strength, thus any shock or force can cause it to fail.

Hope this helps...