Cambridge Hybrid Pen Question

[Brian Brown]

Has anyone ever made a Cambridge Hybrid Pen? I tried one Saturday, and everything went well until the last finishing cuts. I had some chip out at the end of the pen body. :( I was turning Buckeye burl, and it is so soft and fractured, that pen walls that thin just crumble. Is there any leeway on the length of the body portion of this pen, or does the pen have to be the exact length of the brass tubes supplied? I would have to shorten the body (not the cap) by about 1/16 inch to make the chipout go away, and I'm not sure if the pen parts will all fit together correctly if I shorten it. Woodcraft's tech service is closed today, so I turn to the fount of all knowledge, SMC. I saved some dust for a glue sawdust repair, but I think it will look funny. Any thoughts? :confused:

[Bernie Weishapl]

Brian I had some redwood burl that did the same thing you are experiencing. When I got it down close I soaked it with thin CA. That seemed to work pretty good.

[Aaron Wingert]

Brian I've turned one of those but I don't have it here at the house to check that out for you...It is at the office. There might be a little wiggle room in that end of the pen, but not much.

It would be easy for me to check out, because that pen hardly stays together. The pressed end cap backs out of the tube on a regular basis when I post the end cap and go to remove it to put it back on the pen. Drives me nuts. When you assemble yours, I'd suggest some CA at that point. I made mine from black corian and was shocked at how thin the walls are, especially for such a large pen. I was generally unimpressed with the quality level of this pen kit compared to others I have made....For the price it should be nicer.

[David E Keller]

Just a thought... Why not just finish it with the shortened barrel and put it together? If it works, you'll have a finished pen. If it doesn't, you can always take it apart and then buy some replacement tubes. Your other option is to turn the wood off the tubes and pick another blank. Let us know if you figure it out.

[Brian Brown]

Well, I guess I figured it out. I used CA glue and dust to fill the missing section. I hate doing this, because it usually looks like a bad band aid when it is done. I figured if it looked bad, I could still cut the end off and try it. It is amazing how some woods look so bad when you do an emergency fix, and others you cant tell. Fortunately, this is one you can't tell. The good news is I chipped out the end just the same way on a second pen, and fixed it the same way. Can't tell. As crumbly as Buckeye burl is, it is a good thing it fixes well. I will have to start soaking the ends like Bernie says. Thanks for the help all.

[James Combs]

Just a thought... Why not just finish it with the shortened barrel and put it together? If it works, you'll have a finished pen. If it doesn't, you can always take it apart and then buy some replacement tubes. Your other option is to turn the wood off the tubes and pick another blank. Let us know if you figure it out.


Another option if you still have additional blank material is to buy another set of tubes and trash the bad one. I always by a bag of extra tubes for any new style pen I buy. You can typically bet 2 to 5 sets to a bag for $2-4.

On future turnings make it a habit of soaking the last 3/32" or so of turned blank with thin CA before taking the final cuts. I haven't lost one since I started doing that myself.

[Michelle Rich]

The family of pens you have (ligero, etc.) are all very thin on wood. I always hate dealing with them. Do soak the ends in ca..the only prevention I know. No, you cannot leave the wood overhang the tubes..another fix would have been to add another wood to the chipout areas..band of ebony? or even a PR...errors are just design opportunities:o