Liberty Stainless Pen

[Mike D]

This is the Liberty Stainless Steel kit with an acrylic water blank from Woodcraft. While I like the style and shape of this kit I do have a problem with the twist mechanism. The twist mechanism has a rough feel to it. If I take the finial cap off the roughness disappears. After further inspection the transmission is off to one side in the bore of the clip tube and the twist cap finial seams to be rubbing one side of the clip tube. have any of you come across this problem.

 

[Mike D]

I found some burrs in the finial and after removing them with some emery cloth the twist mechanism works smoothly. The burrs must have been left after the stainless was machined. I assembled another Liberty pen and there were no problems so it must have just been the one kit. I really like these pens and recommend them to anyone interested in buying the kits. The other nice thing about the kit is the bushings. They fit deeper into the brass tube and are machined with a deep counter sink for turning between centers. I wish all bushings were made this well!

 

[rizaydog]

Nice work. I like that color.

 

[Mike D]

Nice work. I like that color.

Thanks, I like the color as well. I also painted the tube and the bore in the blank with light blue enamel paint.
I do need to finish my light box so I can get rid of the shadows and hopefully the pics will get better.

 

[B Wo]

Thanks for addressing this, Mike. I am a big fan of the Liberty, and have made a couple of them w/out issue. But, the one I made this morning felt like grains of sand were lodged in the transmission. I lightly hit the inside of the finial and the cap w/ some 600 grit sandpaper and it lessened it, but it's still not 100%. It's a little disappointing considering how much I like the kit. It being American made is a draw for my customers. It's a little ironic that the quality doesn't seem to be consistent.