The first pen I'm prepared to post...

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Chrisjan

Chrisjan

Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2012
Messages
111
Location
Pretoria, South Africa
Hi everybody,

Here's the first pen I've turned which I'm prepared to post.... It is not the first pen I have turned myself - I just dont have good enough photos of them, see I'll turn pens and do a lot of other things but photography is not one of my strong points... I had to visit a friend to get it taken - and left the pen with him as gift.

I will apreciate honest constructive criticism, please - I need to know where to focus more attention...?

Wood is Shamfuti, or pod mahogany in English native to Africa and damn hard! Gun Metal finish. Dont particularly like the Patriot very much - I prefer them a bit longer...:)
 

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thanks for sharing! looks fine and im sure the receiving party isnt complaining. Im not a fan of that kit style either, but hey , it was free right!
 
That's a great start. Much better than I did when I started. What finish did you use? Going off the 4th and 5th photos I say your nib end is underturned, meaning that you need to take off a little more material to make the nib and the barrel flush. Its a possiblity that you turned it flush and then when you did your finish, the thickness of the finish caused it to not be flush.
 
By the way, you may want to search for "Stretch Atlas". I know some of the members have modified those type of kits to make them longer.
 
D.Oliver said:
That's a great start. Much better than I did when I started. What finish did you use? Going off the 4th and 5th photos I say your nib end is underturned, meaning that you need to take off a little more material to make the nib and the barrel flush. Its a possiblity that you turned it flush and then when you did your finish, the thickness of the finish caused it to not be flush.
Click to expand...

I agree with Derek. The finish looks good and I like the wood! A little more off the nib end!:)
 
Hi Chris,

There only seem to be 2 issues that I see. 1st, where the blank meets the nib appears to be a little proud. Use you fingernail & go slide it from the nib to the blank. Ideally, it shouldn't catch at all. And if it's perfect, you should barely notice the transition, if you notice it at all. It most noticeable in the 4th picture. It may be slightly that way on the clip side too, but I can't tell. The 2nd thing is more style than anything else. It looks a little fat in the middle. I think that comes from being new. Many of my 1st pens were like that. I noticed that the pen didn't seem that fat when I was turning it, but once assembled, it looked fatter. Kind of like being on TV :rolleyes:. One way to avoid that is to use calipers to measure the thickness of the blank when you are close to finished. Calipers are also a good way to ensure the blank is the same diameter as the pen parts. Many bushings don't match the parts exactly. Plus the parts themselves have tolerances that would be noticeable. These are by no means glaring problems, and the pen is certainly a keeper.

I think you did a good job on the finish. That is always something that gets better with practice, but your way ahead of me when I was starting out.

EDIT: WOW, when I started my post, there were no replies. I guess using more than 2 fingers to type would help.:redface:
 
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I think that alot of us struggle with the photography portion of this hobby.
I agree with the other comments/suggestion you have received so I won't repeat them.
I think your off to a great start!
 
seamus7227 said:
thanks for sharing! looks fine and im sure the receiving party isnt complaining. Im not a fan of that kit style either, but hey , it was free right!
Click to expand...
I do like that kit style in one respect - it shows a lot of wood and doesn't have as much hardware detracting from it as the Le Roi/Sierras. That is a nice piece of wood.
 
Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.

Am I correct in saying that you have to turn the wood smaller than the bushings and the pen components in order to build up the CA to match the exact diameter?

If yes, then I need to know how thick is a single coat of CA and actually count the correct number of coatings plus some extra for sanding...

Else just turn it well below and build up the CA by constantly measuring the diameter at the ends till you hit the jackpot... quickly sand and don't botch it up!

What tolerances become noticeable to the eye? How accurate do you guys measure and please remember I live in a country where we measure in millimeters and not inches - haven't got the foggiest idea what size you talk about (picture in my mind, not calculations) if you say 0.254" or 1/32" or other fractions. Also I would imagine that every other type of CA Glue coats at different thicknesses, right?
 
Chrisjan you are correct that you need to turn your barrel slightly smaller than the diameter you want and then build back up with CA. I would recommend that you use a pair of calipers to measure your component rather than trust your bushings. Bushings aren't always the same size as the matching component. I've found that most times they are a little bigger. As far as the thickness of CA coats that is going to depend on several things. What you used to put the coat on (paper towel, craft foam, plastic baggie), the pressure applied, and the size of the CA puddle you start with will all affect the thickness. You'll have to determine that based on how you do your CA finish. Simply measure the pen barrel before you do your finish. Then do your finish and sand it all out. Measure again. The differnce should tell you how much you need to turn below the diameter of the component. For me, I do 15 coats of CA applied with a paper towel and I leave .005 inches or .127 mm. Yours may be differnt though based on how each of us apply our CA.
 
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As noted earlier, I noticed the bottom end of the body, where it adjoins the nib is slightly larger than the nib itself. Under-turned as they call it. An inexpensive set of calipers would help you out with this, no dial or digital readout necessary. You just want to squeeze them together until then are snug with the adjoining edge of the nib, then as you turn the body on the lathe, stop and check the diameter with the caliper locked in at the nib's diameter. You want it to "just" slip over end with no play, then when you apply the finish, it should match up very close to right-on.

I've made several Polaris pens, which is pretty much the same thing as the Atlas only from a different supplier. Overall the design is nice and the body does a good job of showing off the material used in a small inexpensive kit. The only thing bad about the pen model in general, is they make a clicking sound when you write with them because something inside the nib just is a little too oversized for the ink cartridge. Somebody may have worked out a solution for this, but I haven't stumbled across it yet.
 
No telling how many times I've re-sanded to the wood on those CA finishes(and I would guess it happens more often then others mention).....the important thing is it has a good finish on it now! And the timber still has some character to it too!!

Little proud....were you using bushings or calipers?








Scott
 
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