Jason and Bob,
The pen goes together well, but the tubes are of such disparate size that I have had problems with them. The upper tube is 37/64 while the lower is 11/32. This leaves the cap material very thin while the body is extra thick (the thickest of any pen I've worked with). If you use acrylics that are partially transparent, the cap will look noticeably different from the body. The only way around this is to paint the inside of the blanks with just the right color. If your paint isn't just right, you're going to have issues.
For this pen I picked a deep royal blue and that seemed to work very well. but using a silver (for example) that I might use on other pen styles to "perk up" a blank, results in a mismatch.
It's not a huge problem, but, remember that I'm still pretty new at this and I have had to learn this one from my mistakes.
Add to this the fact that I see the pen, with it's Hawaiian theme, as a little more novelty oriented than the direction I wish to pursue and you have your answer.
Makes sense.
I always make the Monarchs with curly Koa or Amboyna/Red Mallee burl caps cast in blue. I think both of those options suit the Hawaiian theme of the pen perfectly. If I was going a different route, with either a non-native or non-island themed blank and still wanted that size pen, I'd look at using a Majestic. Jim (Finley - owner of woodpenpro) often makes segmented pens with curly Koa. That allows him to add color to the pen and still have some nice native wood in the pen.
With the cast burl caps I always paint the inside of the blanks
and mix a small amount of paint into the epoxy. With that blank black should work awesome and you'd never know one tube had a thin wall.
It might be that I'm in Hawaii and that's why they sell well here, but that kit has a very specific theme so I try to choose blanks accordingly. I don't want to put pictures in your thread, but here are some links to examples of how I usually make the Monarch kits. I also have some Monarch desk pens to make.
Curly Koa on a Monarch
Monarch with a cast burl blank.
After messing up with acrylic/cast blanks I practiced on slims and turned down to bushing diameter so I had a thin wall to work with. With two tubes per pen and you end up get a good bit of practice and can always turn the blank off if you make an unforgivable mistake. I've done it a few times to get my process down.
I'm new to pen turning as well (started in April) and love it.
I can't tell a difference in the two tube diameters and a difference in color. The fact that you know it's there and it bothers you says a lot, though.
Great work. Keep up the high standard of work.
