Flattop Americana - bad, bad, bad, bad, bad

[BoomerangInfo]

Urgh,

What a disaster. My first Flattop Americana. Everyone take note - IT NEEDS A TENON!!!

So, this was my 3rd experiment with Polymer Clay. Nothing too fancy, just trying marbling with a new brand (Ozzle from Ebay) to see how it finishes. I got the kits a while ago from Timberbits. They're about the cheapest fountain pen you can get, and if I'd known it needed a tenon first off, the results would have been better.

I'd finished the blank and tried to part off the required tenon, guess the width based on the ring of the Centre Band. Well, it seems you have to measure to the short side of the black ring, not the long side :- My parting tool is wide than that width, so it was a squeeze to even get that in. I had to tidy up the edge with the skew as it was, but there were still some marks from the process.

Then I fixed the tenon on and found out the tube was sticking too far into the thread. Not realising what would happen, I screwed the nib in, and the extra tube ate into the plastic nib housing. Not content with that mess, I posted the other end too and once again the tube ate into that end as well. Combine that with the few flaws I didn't fill from turning the polymer clay and having either air bubbles or chipping it out, and overall it was pretty much a flop. To top it all off, the picture is crao too. Can't get a good colour definition, but then it is just on sunset and raining.

It'll make a decent sampler for different coloured inks at least, and the Polymer Clay design turned out OK at least if nothing else.

At least next time I'll know what I'm doing.

Russell.

[gawdelpus]

Truth is we all do the occasional "S.U" hehe, looks ok in the piccy and as you said a lot of things learned ,so that's all good :D and may not be a seller but useful for sampling inks as you said , Cheers ~ John :)

[HazzaB]

Hey Russell,

I feel for you man, I have a couple of those in the N.L.R (No Longer Required) Box, they might be cheap, but they are not forgiving, it doesn't take much to have an ARRRRRF#@&it! :o moment, I will be doing Junior Victors from now on.

You did a good save by the way, credit to you.

HazzaB

[Sawdust Maker]

oh bugger
think I've one or two of those somewhere around here - thanks for the warning, I'll be careful with mine:doh:

[Rum Pig]

Russell thanks you for the info I know I bought some of them because of there good price but I have not had a chance to turn them yet. Now I will make sure I'm rum free when I do so:U

Good looking pen:2tsup::2tsup:
Nice job on the clay you are really coming along with it:2tsup:

[ciscokid]

I made a pile of those when I was first getting started turning pens. I found that leaving the tube sticking out the correct amount during the 'gluing in the brass tube' phase worked the best for me. Try it and see if it doesn't work for you. :)

[I_wanna_Shed]

Hi Russell,

I used the skew for the whole tenon as my parting tool was too wide.

My stuff up was that I marked the length of the tenon on the wrong piece of timber. I was just about to bring the skew up to the piece of work when I double-checked what I was doing.

Your end result came out good though, worth the perseverance as its a good kit. Although mine was the Berea Flat Top (Parker refill though), which looks a bit different. The Parker is just a twist style (no cap). Pic here
(http://www.woodworkforums.com/f69/weekends-pens-110212/)


Nathan.

[artme]

Bugger!!!:C:C

[PenTurner]

Russell, I flounder with cutting a Tenon!! :oo: don't tell anyone though, what Cisco said seems a good way to go, even there I flounder:oo:, need a kind experienced gentleman to hold my hand for two or three and maybe I will get the hang of it, meanwhile, I know exactly how you feel, and commisurate with you.:- Amos:)

[dai sensei]

I've made a heap in the past and the tennons are a pain. What makes things worse is that the black plastic extension tip is a bit short, so unless you like holding the pen very close to the tip when writing, you end up holding the pen by the timber which creates too much leverage for the plastic threads and the tips break off.

[ciscokid]

Cut your wooden blank to the exact length it needs to be and then stand it up on a paper towel or something and push the brass tube the whole way in until it hits bottom - you'll still have 5/32" or so sticking out. Let dry overnight and you have an instant tenon. I went to my old pen making drawer and dug up one that I had turned and never assembled. It's a bad photo, but it shows the tenon. There was no fussy tenon to turn because there was never any timber there! I've made a lot of these (a long time ago) and never had any problems. Good luck! :)

[BoomerangInfo]

Cut your wooden blank to the exact length it needs to be and then stand it up on a paper towel or something and push the brass tube the whole way in until it hits bottom - you'll still have 5/32" or so sticking out. Let dry overnight and you have an instant tenon. I went to my old pen making drawer and dug up one that I had turned and never assembled. It's a bad photo, but it shows the tenon. There was no fussy tenon to turn because there was never any timber there! I've made a lot of these (a long time ago) and never had any problems. Good luck! :)

Sounds like a great idea Cisco. Just have to figure out what the right length is :) I picked a bad kit to try Polymer clay on though in that case, as the clay is formed around the tube, so there's nothing to "cut to length". But I can adapt :)

Russell.