I messed up BIG

[Jake Byrd]

Hey,

Yesterday I tried to put together my first pen. I had the perfect shape, the one I wanted anyway, and had all parts put the twist mechonism in right. By the way, this was a slimline kit. Of course, with me being a newbee, I thought the mechonism was supposed to be all the wayin the first tupe. So I grabbed the 'ol hammer and banged it in all the way. Then I got everything put togethe, and the refill won't come out. How do I know when I have put it in far enough?

Thanks,

[Mac McAtee]

Hey,
How do I know when I have put it in far enough?


Jake,
On the transmission there is a brass end and a shinny end. Just about 1/4" from the end, on the brass end, there is a groove around the transmission. You push the transmission in to the tube just until that groove is still showing. Put a ink cartridge all the way in the transmission, it screws in, and operate it. If when the ink cartridge is extended it doesn't stick out quite far enough you push the transmission in just a tiny bit more. When the ink cartridge is retracted you want the ball end to be inside the tip or nib of the pen.

If you are going to make very many pens you need to look into a press to assemble them with, baping with a hammer is going to screw something up. You can rig your drill press to use for a pen press or get a press made to assemble pens. There are also some small arbor presses that people are adapting for pen assembly.

Once you have a press to assemble with then you make a V-block out of wood that is the exact length you need to press that transmission in correctly. From then on you hold the pen in the V-block and press the transmission until the press is stopped by the length of the V-block. You get the same length of assembly every time from then on.
Mac

[Jim Ketron]

Don't feel bad I done the same thing with my first pen look at the directions they will tell you how far to push them in. each pen model has diff specs)
the slimline has a groove on it that tells you how far to push it in.
Jim

[Jake Byrd]

Houston, we have another problem. Today, during my second attempt at putting a pen together, I had two problems. One, the glue wasn't dry when I thought it was and the tubes kept getting stuck on my mandrel. Another, I kept splitting the blanks when I was turning them. Any advice? I will be going through a TON of pen kits. It all comes with practice though I guess.

Thanks,

[Jim Ketron]

Jake allow time for the glue to dry.
? kind are you using CA (superglue) or two part epoxy?
Take your time and take lite passes! dont try to hog a bunch off at one pass! Keep you chisels sharp!
make sure you sand your tubes to rough them up.(I use 150 grit sandpaper) then coat the glue on the tubes make sure you cover the whole tube well and twist them in the pen blank as you push them in.
Hope this helps you.
Jim

[Jake Byrd]

Thanks a lot Mr. Ketron

[Peter Liebert]

I will be going through a TON of pen kits.
And don't forget you can get replacement tubes fairly inexpensively so you can use the rest of an "aborted" kit when something goes wrong on the lathe.