Any Shop Tip on getting better blank to hardware fit?

[RKB]

When I first started making pens I used a barrel trimmer to square up my blanks. I now use a sanding disc on the lathe with a punch in the tailstock and this has improved my fit between the pen parts and barrel. I was wondering if anyone does any additional steps to the barrel ends prior to assembly other than sanding the end square? I thought I had seen someone do kinda like an 'indent' in their barrel ends when sanding to help reduce that dreaded 'gap' fit against the pen parts? Thanks.

Rod

 

[jttheclockman]

Never heard that. You should not have to do anything else if you are getting square ends. What kind of sandpaper are you using on the disc. If you are using hook and loop paper you could get round over on the ends because the blank sinks into the paper and it will sand the outside edges more than center. One other thing many pen kits that have twist body parts have a built in gap sort of to prevent blanks rubbing on each other when turned. Sierras are that way .

 

[RKB]

Thanks for your comment John. I use 220 PSA sandpaper on a plywood disc screwed to a face plate. It may be that the small gap is part of the deal with pressed in plated parts. .

 

[mark james]

Hi Rod, I use the same system as you. (I have a Rick Herrell sanding jig). BUT, to keep my out-of-round to a minimum, when I am sanding, every other grit I loosen the tailstock and rotate the blank in the bushings to make sure they are rotating about 1/3" rotated every other grit. I also do this when I do my finish - WOP or Glu Boost. will stop the lathe, rotate the blank (breaking whatever slight finish is present) from the delrin finishing bushings, then proceed.

I do believe whatever 'out-of-round' may be present, will be minimized by rotating the blank during sanding and finishing. However - you may find different .

 

[mmayo]

I flush up the newly glued up blanks with 150 grit and Ricks tail stock jig like you. After turning, sanding and CA I flush the ends very carefully with 220 or 320 grit. I clean the dust and apply thin CA to the raw ends to seal and protect them. My CA covers all wood all the way to the brass tube.

 

[jrista]

Hi Rod, I use the same system as you. (I have a Rick Herrell sanding jig). BUT, to keep my out-of-round to a minimum, when I am sanding, every other grit I loosen the tailstock and rotate the blank in the bushings to make sure they are rotating about 1/3" rotated every other grit. I also do this when I do my finish - WOP or Glu Boost. will stop the lathe, rotate the blank (breaking whatever slight finish is present) from the delrin finishing bushings, then proceed.

I do believe whatever 'out-of-round' may be present, will be minimized by rotating the blank during sanding and finishing. However - you may find different .

I do this as well, rotate the blank. I also find that, once I start to get down to bushing size, if I see out of roundness, then putting the blank directly between centers and finishing turning there, with caliper measurements, will usually get you dead-on. I usually finish with Pens Plus, so I have to make sure its dead-on, and can't under-turn or anything, since I cannot build back up with the finish.

I have found that I get out of round/non-concentric as a result of bushings wearing while between centers. I'm probably going to start replacing all my bushings with TBC bushings that are chamfered at 60 degrees to avoid this problem in the future, and also avoid the growing groove that is starting to appear in my centers. I tried to add my own chamfers to some of my bushings, which has definitely helped, but its hard to do that well and dead-centered itself.

 

[PenPal]

My next step is to use a reamer to ease the joint when the glue is dry and a go--nogo brass piece to check that elusive brass variation.

 

[sorcerertd]

I use Rick's offset sanding jig to square the blanks off prior to turning, then repeat the process without the offset to do a final square-up (very light pressure so I don't ruin the finish on the ends)

I clean the dust and apply thin CA to the raw ends to seal and protect them. My CA covers all wood all the way to the brass tube.

I've tried to do this, but have problems with a bead of CA around the ends. I wonder if the new Gluboost ultra thin will work better? How do you apply the CA on the ends?

 

[mmayo]

I use Rick's offset sanding jig to square the blanks off prior to turning, then repeat the process without the offset to do a final square-up (very light pressure so I don't ruin the finish on the ends)


I've tried to do this, but have problems with a bead of CA around the ends. I wonder if the new Gluboost ultra thin will work better? How do you apply the CA on the ends?

I am the rare fan of Scott's blue towels. I take a white paper towel, fold it many times. I place a small rectangle of blue towel 1/16th of a sheet on it and apply one drop of thin (5cps) CA. I take the blank and gently touch the end to the wet spot. Just a touch. I do this on the other end and return the blank to the drying rack. I might repeat this three times for razors as they get wet. I sand the CA finished blank with 400 grit and buff. There is no ring ever especially after light sanding.

I did not drink the Gluboost koolaid yet as my CA seems perfect to me. No offense to anyone using that technique or pen mills.

 

[Mortalis]

When I just started making pens I was showing another pen maker one of my pens and he noticed the very slight uneven transition from wood barrel to hardware fitment on a pen I showed him. He gave me a tip which I have used ever since.
He told me leave the wood just ever so proud and then slightly round the edges. Then when you finish the pen with CA the person holding the pen will not easily be able to feel the transition and it will feel more like it was supposed to be that way rather to feel the harsh squared edge as it just mismatches the hardware.