Fountain Pen Kits Problem

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Tim in Suisun

Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2009
Messages
7
Location
suisun Calif.
I have bought some fountain pen kits from Rockler. Five, all together. But everytime I assemble one the tubes it does not fit the holes that I have drilled. 31/64 and a 33/64. One tube is to small for the big hole and one tube is large for the small hole. And vis-versa. I have gotten one pen out of five. Is it me or the kits? I have checked the drill bit size. And it is correct. I have even drill just one hole in a scrape piece of wood. And either one tube is to big or one is tube is to small. Could it be a substandard kit. If so where is a good place to buy the fountain pen kits. I don't want to pay an arm an a leg for them. Thanks Tim
 
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Tim -- welcome to dial calipers time.

You apparently do not yet have a set -- so tis time to acquire one. I like the manual style but others like the digital version. Cost varies by source and precision, but even the budget variety works for this.

you measure the outside diameter of the tubes and then check them against the reference list (available in the IAP Library). My bet is that they are within a few thousands of an inch of the reference.

You measure the outside diameter of the drill bit and the inside diameter of the holes (why both -- because drill bits tend to vary in the size of hole they drill depending on alignment and what you are drilling). It is very possible that the bits are off.

I do not know the kits you are using (suspect the magistics on sale at Rockler and the recommended sizes are 15/32 and 37/64 - or 13.3 mm ) but note that one is 1/64th under 1/2 and the other is 1/ 64th over half inch.

Looks like you need to modify the drill sizes -- and ream the tight one. If the spacing is not too large, polyurethane glues will bubble and expand to fill some space. I have also rebuilt some space with CA glue and redrilled. I have epoxy filled the hole and redrilled. All of these presume there is enough "meat" in the blank to give a veneer of original material to the surface.
 
Tim,
I built the El Grande kit from Rockler, and the bits they call for are the wrong size. I looked it up in the list in the library here and used those and all came out fine.

As an aside, I also have a Majestic kit from Rockler which calls for different sizes. I got them on the clearance sale, and the starter kit from PSI with bushings and drills. PSI had the correct sizes by the way.

Mr Fixit
 
Elgrande is Drills- 31/64" and 13.3mm recommended. the 13.3 gives just a bit more room than the 33/64 ths or a touch of sandpaper twisted into a cylinder and you will have a good fit.
 
Yeah, I always end up having to file out the hole for the tubes to fit properly. I have been making pens for 4 years - you can just imagine how many drill bits I have.
 
KenV said:
you measure the outside diameter of the tubes and then check them against the reference list (available in the IAP Library). My bet is that they are within a few thousands of an inch of the reference.
You measure the outside diameter of the drill bit and the inside diameter of the holes (why both -- because drill bits tend to vary in the size of hole they drill depending on alignment and what you are drilling). It is very possible that the bits are off.
Looks like you need to modify the drill sizes -- and ream the tight one. If the spacing is not too large, polyurethane glues will bubble and expand to fill some space. I have also rebuilt some space with CA glue and redrilled. I have epoxy filled the hole and redrilled. All of these presume there is enough "meat" in the blank to give a veneer of original material to the surface.
Click to expand...

Great answer, Ken.

I learned the hard way, that before putting chisel (or drill bit) to wood, to make a quick sketch of the pen I'm making, with the miked sizes written in appropriate places, and tack it to the wall in front of the lathe. I also mike the bushings -- amazing how often they are a bit different than the kit hardware.

My better half and I were in Juneau last summer on an AK cruise -- nice little city. Really liked your museum. Don't the cruise ship tourists drive you friggin' insane in the summer?

Cheers
Steve
 
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