Thread: Resizing a DoHickey WIP(Work In Progress)

Thought I would experiment changing the decoration on the end cap of Statesman Pens,. I had two red rose DoHickeys and happened to have two Box Elder Burl dyed red.
The photos are in chronological order.
You see the usual end cap decoration that needs removing, it is pressed fit in place and the centre piece sticks out and is slightly larger that the hole(bit like a rivet) so I cut up a leather gardening glove and mounted the cap in a pen vice and drilled the centre piece out, then using a small drill and a pair of pliers I gave it a small tap and off came the decorative end cap.
Next is the resizing of the DoHickey, mounted the DoHickey on a half turned pen blank, dowel would do, used thick CA. Mounted in a Jacobs Chuck and turned to the required size, which I had measured with digital calipers. Parted the DoHickey(DH) and then sanded flat and polished. CA'd to cap and ready for mounting, BEWARE, don't use too much CA like I did and had a job to clean it off, a small amount will do. When putting together in my vice , used a cloth doubled over to protect the DH and easy as it goes.
There it is, hope it may help others, I think this same principle could be used on any piece of wood that you might desire to use on an end cap, example if you make a black centre band from Ebony, you could also make the end cap the same colour and wood.
Amos