New Pens and a Question

[Vaughn McMillan]

Here are a couple of recent pens...a yellow heart Xacto knife and a thuya burl Berea American Flattop.

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The Xacto knife is the Berea "tool kit" pen. It's a gift for my sister the graphic artist. Although she doesn't use the Xacto as much as she did years ago before all the computer stuff, she still wields a wicked knife when it comes to old school cut and paste technique. The "tool kit" includes the blade, a pair of little Phillips and slot head screwdriver bits, a shortie ballpoint pen insert, and a pair of Swiss Army knife tweezers. With the exception of the knife blade, the other pieces are more gimmick than tool. Even if she doesn't use it much, my sis will have the only yellw heart Xacto knife on the block.

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The burl pen is the Berea Flattop American double twist pen. Looks-wise, it's definitely my favorite pen so far, but it has the worst pen mechanism of any I've made. It's stiff and "grabby"...not smooth at all. My cheapo 7mm slimlines feel way smoother than this pen.

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So...the question: Have any of you had trouble with the Berea Flattop American pen mechanism? I followed the instructions closely, checked that the twist mechanism moved freely in the barrel before pressing it into place (no glue remnants or any obstructions), and pressed the pieces together gently and smoothly with a good Gross-Stabil clamp, but it still feels like it was run over by a truck. I have one more of these kits, but I want to know if the rough mechanism was my fault or typical of this kit before I commit a nice blank to it. I'm willing to accept the fact that I might have done something wrong in assembling it, but if so, what?

Thanks for any suggestions -

- Vaughn

[Corey Hallagan]

Very nice Vaugn! Great looking pens. On the flat top, it is kind of a trick pen, but I had one that wouldn't work at all. Do as you did, then I run after the center band is pressed on, I run the pen mill down the center of the tube before the clip bushing is installed to widen the tube out as sometimes the pressing of the center band crimps it, even if no glue is there it can still bind. I also sand the brass on the transmission a bit. All tips from Az Sillouhettes website on this kit. Hope this helps and it is a beauty. I hated the kit at first but they are working for me now. Great job Vaughn, what finish did you use on these?

Corey

[Bob Noles]

Vaughn,

Just wanted to comment on how nice your work came out. You have really mastered that lathe in short order. I really do like the xacto kit. I may have to look into one of those.

Thanks for sharing.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Vaugh can't help with the pens but the pen and Xacto look pretty awesome. Nice job.

[Mike Vickery]

The rought trasmission is common with that kit from Berea. As far as I know the problem is always something something in the top portion compressing the transmission. Make sure to make sure that their is no bur on the end of your tube or the tube is not deformed in some way (bent dinged ect.)
Personally I only use CSU's version of that kit though most of my other kits come from Berea.

[Dan Stuewe]

Just wanted to throw in that when I've had this problem I've used a rat-tail file to open up the hole in the tube, but I like the idea of using the pen mill. The trick is that the transmission is pressed into the bottom of the pen (the part with the clip), not into the brass tube like other types of kits.

[Henry C. Gernhardt, III]

I haven't done any pens yet, Vaughn, so I can't comment on the Berea kit action. I can, however, say that your work is absolutely gorgeous. Your sister is going to love that knife.

[Vaughn McMillan]

Thanks for the comments, compliments and suggestions, guys. I don't think at this point I can do much to help the pen, since as has been mentioned the problem is in the top of the pen (which I can't get into to do anything). Even without a pen refill in it, it's rough. I'm guessing something got tweaked in the transmission when I pressed it in.

The more I've handled the Xacto knife, the more I think I'll make another one for my sister's gift. The one in the pic just feels a bit too bulky (especially for female hands), and the pocket clip gets in the way of using the knife. I have another one of the kits, so I think I'll make one that's more slim and without a pocket clip. I can always keep the fatter one for my own use.

Corey, the finish on both pieces is about 5 or 6 coats of wipe-on poly, followed by Johnson paste wax. Still haven't ordered any micro mesh yet, but these were sanded to 1500 grit before finishing.

Thanks again -

- Vaughn

[Corey Hallagan]

Would of never guessed that it was a poly finish Vaughn, you got a nice shine on it! If you sanded thru 1500 it should of been taking on a shine with that. Thuya burl makes a beautiful pen, nice job.

Corey

[Curt Fuller]

That's a very nice pen Vaughn, and the exacto knife is neat too. I've never seen one of those before.
I've never made a Berea kit but had a similar problem with a mechanical pencil kit from Woodcraft. I would guess that the quality control in the lower end kits might be a little lax and you just run into one like that occasionally.

[Barry Stratton]

WOW!!! I always admired your flatwork and I see your attention to detail carried right on over to your round work. VERY impressive pen and knife! Geez, you will be turning perfect NE's and HF's in no time!

[Keith Burns]

Very nice Vaughn :) :) Keep up the work !

[Ernie Nyvall]

Very nice Vaughn.

I had my first one do this too and realized what Corey said about the center band crimping it. You have to recheck after that and I've always had to re-file it. Work the one you have back and forth if you can and it should loosen up after a while.

Ernie