Thread: My very 1st attempt

Dodgy,

Make sure the inside of the tubes are clear of glue before you put them on the mandrel. I also use a hand held countersink to put a slight bevel on the inside mouth of the tubes and to clean off any rough edges - makes it easier to mount and easier to locate the fittings during assembly.

If they are still a tight fit on the mandrel, try a thin smear of wax on the inside of the tubes.

If they still wont come off reasonably easily (ie with finger pressure),make sure that you apply pressure through the bushings, not directly to the ends of the barrels - they should transfer any pressure you have to exert through to the brass tube, protecting the timber. Slow and gentle is better than a couple of brutal whallops (tempting though that may be at times).

good luck & let's know how #2 goes.

DM

Now you are on your way, give another one a go,maybe use red gum, and pinch the camera off the wife and let us see the next one, you did ok for a first time, keep going, Amos

It was mentioned in this thread;
https://www.woodworkforums.com/showth...hlight=podcast
#10 reply has a link to the podcast, which is;
http://www.woodworkingonline.com/200...art-to-finish/

Cheers, Steve

Sounds like your barrel trimmer cut to the brass tubes and left a slight lip or burr in the end, which makes it hard to get the blank on and off the madrel shaft....if you had to "screw" the blank onto the mandrel you formed the burr...its ok to stop the barrel trimmer just shy of flush with the tube when squaring up the end of the blank...just shy means a tiny tiny bit before the brass, you know, have to hold it up to your eyes and squint a little to see it close...and take a hobby knife and clean the glue out of the tube ends, and cut the burr away too, it soft brass and the knife will cut it....countersinking the ends can remove any burr that was formed too.

Ok, so now that you have turned a pen, its about time you started on another one...

Its a learing process, and after many many years, I still am learning...thats why I am here on this forum, lots of minds to listen to.

I have a thin round file (called a "bastard"!) for putting twists on my hair sticks. I found that if I had trouble getting pens onto the mandrel I just give a couple of swipes with that and they slid on easily. Usually it's because some glue has got inside and made a little lump. While the little lump is harmless, once it's been spinning on the mandrel it melts and sets TO the mandrel, and that makes it very hard to get it off again.

You didn't do too badly for a first attempt and the slimline is not the easiest pen to make. Most folks start off with them because they are reasonably priced kits. You will find the Sierra is an easier pen to make but having said that, making the slimline is great practice and you will learn a lot from making them. keep at it. For a first attempt, you did pretty good.

Thanks for all the tips and kind words I will be turning another this arvo with a bit of luck.

Good luck with your second pen.
If I feel that a pen blank is tight going on to the mandrel I spend time then to free it up that way can turn off any marks that may have been made. If the blank went on easy but would not come off easy then I would guess you are tightening your locking nut far to tight and your bank is binding up with your bushes.

Please net us know how your second pen turns out. And keep your first as a reminder where you have come from

Can't give you any better advice than that already given Dodgy but you've mad a start and will quickly learn how to go about things. I have no doubt you work will show rapid improvement.

The advice given has been good. The only thing I do is I still use the 1/2' trimmer for slim lines and any of the 7mm tubes seems there is no gap between cutter and shaft. I also have a chamfer tool used in reloading of bullets to give the parts a lead in when assembling.
Cheers
Darren