Smitty's Le Roi Beta Test

[Martin G]

Smitty was kind enough to let me in on the beta testing of the narrow tube/thicker barrel Le Roi component set and sent me 10 sets in chrome. There was a mixup at the factory and some folks were sent the wrong bushings. I got one Le Roi beta bushing and one standard Le Roi bushing. Replacements are in the mail but I was anxious to start. I looked through what bushings I had on hand and found that PSI Bolt Action bushings are nearly the same. For some reason, once I started I couldn't stop. I've turned 9 pens in the last 3 days, 7 of them Le Roi betas. I know some of you folks turn them out much faster than that but this is probably a record for me. Here's a picture of the 7 Le Roi pens.

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[OZturner]

Wow Martin, they look Fantastic.
It looks like Smitty may have hit another Home Run with this Kit.
They look like they would just walk off the table.
Thanks for taking part in the Beta test and posting yhe results.
Brian.

 

[Mintman]

Martin, they look great! I have blanks glued up and am waiting on bushings.

 

[mikespenturningz]

That is a nice batch of pens you have there.

 

[southernclay]

They look great, I finished prepping a few blanks for the beta test tonight, hoping to turn this weekend a bit.

 

[Quality Pen]

The picture is fairly small, but from what you can see -- they look nice!

 

[kovalcik]

They look great, I can't wait to get going on mine. Thanks for the bolt action bushing tip. Do you have any feedback on whether the extra barrel material was a benefit?

 

[Martin G]

I really like having the extra material on the barrel. I didn't reverse paint the blanks or paint the tubes and none of the brass showed through on the acrylics. That may not be true of all acrylics though. I've only done a couple in wood so far but I would think the extra thickness would help keep the wood from cracking. I've had that happen on the regular kit (not often though).

I'd also like to point out that even though I used the bolt action bushings I still used my calipers to measure when I got close just to make sure. You will probably want to do that too.

 

[Band Saw Box]

Great looking group of pens.

 

[SteveJ]

Nice pens. Do you happen to have a picture of the end of a turned tube next to a regular tube for comparison?

Leroy does seem to make some great offers!

 

[Martin G]

Nice pens. Do you happen to have a picture of the end of a turned tube next to a regular tube for comparison?

Leroy does seem to make some great offers!

I don't but I'll try to remember to take one the next time. Or maybe someone else will post one soon? I've got some family stuff coming up that may keep me out of the shop for a little while.

 

[Charlie69]

Nice pens and I applaud smitty for offering/selling a thicker barrel narrower tube sierra style pen. Seems like a no brainer to me and I can't figure out why the pen component manufacturers are so keen on the fat o.d. tube/thin walled pen body barrel designs. I'd love to see some twist cap RB kits that didn't have the weirdly long front cone that dominates the pen industry.

 

[Mintman]

Here's a shot showing the thicker turned barrel. I think it's a winner!