Vaughn McMillan
06-08-2006, 5:22 AM
Here are a couple of recent pens...a yellow heart Xacto knife and a thuya burl Berea American Flattop.
40427
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.
40428
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.
40429
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
40427
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.
40428
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.
40429
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