church hill pen problems need advise

[leatherjunkie]

I went and took the plunge today. I decided to make my first churchhill pen.

I went down to the local woodcraft store and picked up all the materials. bushings, 33/64 (allready have 31/64) pen kit and some black walnut.

Just drilled out the wood blanks and the cap tube(33/64 bit) is way too tight. so i drilled a hole in some scrap wood with same bit and tube would not go in hole.
I checked aronzia sil's site to verfiy the drill size in case woodcraft listed the wrong drill bit size. the drill bit is in fact 33/64.

has anyone ran into this problem and what did you use to fix this problem?

thanks in advance for your help

 

[LanceD]

Order the 13.3 mm sizes bit from AS. iT's a bit larger than the 33/64 recommended for this kit. I just made 20 Churchill and El Grande pens this week and using the 13.3 mm bit saves you a lot of grief.

 

[leatherjunkie]

Thanks for the help LanceD.

I will give woodcraft a call and see if they have one in stock.
I want to turn the pen this weekend. if they dont have one i will order one fron AS

 

[bjackman]

They are tight with the 33/64.
You can clean the hole out a little with a rat tail file until your fit is better. I have not moved to the metric bit mentioned, but have heard from others as well that it works. Just remember how very little material is left on that cap when you finish and don't over do it or you just might be going through your blank.

 

[bgray]

//I will give woodcraft a call and see if they have one in stock.//

Woodcraft won't have it. You have to get them from Bill at Arizona silhouette.

 

[wdcav1952]

FYI, Ernie at Beartoothwoods carries the 13.3 also.

 

[cdcarter]

I had a similar problem with some Gentlemen's pens -- I believe that was 37/64. I've also had problems with holes being tighter on one end than the other, which I assume reflects slop in my drill press.

I've quit using the recommended drills anyway. I just measure the tube with a caliper and choose the closest one from the mega bit set from Harbor Freight.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/html/g3.html

 

[ed4copies]

Originally posted by cdcarter
<br />I had a similar problem with some Gentlemen's pens -- I believe that was 37/64. I've also had problems with holes being tighter on one end than the other, which I assume reflects slop in my drill press.

I've quit using the recommended drills anyway. I just measure the tube with a caliper and choose the closest one from the mega bit set from Harbor Freight.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/html/g3.html

That's a great plan, until you exceed 1/2". Then you need another set or a lot of individual bits.

(I'm also in the "rat tail file" camp!)

 

[ed4copies]

Originally posted by cdcarter
<br />I had a similar problem with some Gentlemen's pens -- I believe that was 37/64. I've also had problems with holes being tighter on one end than the other, which I assume reflects slop in my drill press.
I've quit using the recommended drills anyway. I just measure the tube with a caliper and choose the closest one from the mega bit set from Harbor Freight.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/html/g3.html

IF this is plastic, you may well have a heat problem, which you can solve by putting cold water in the hole as you drill. If it is wood, sorry, I can't help.[8D][8D]

 

[ashaw]

Knock on wood[] I have't had too many problems with the churchill. I one that I did to solve it I put the brass on the lathe and sanded the tube. Fit fine. As Ed said if plastic cool the blank done sometimes wasted from the drilling can be fused to the wall of the blank.

 

[ed4copies]

Sanding the tube is a solution that is NEW to ME!!!

I LIKE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Soon to be added to arsenal of "Tricks" - Thanks ALAN!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[redfishsc]

Ed, I use a 5" random orbit sander to sand the tubes of any "large" number of pens.

I put a 120 grit pad on it, grab the sander in a bench-side vise (with wood jaws on it) and turn it on.

Using an old pen mandrel, I slide the tube (or several) onto the mandrel and ease them onto the rotating orbital pad. You will very quickly get the hang of how the use the pad rotation to "spin" the brass tubes and get an incredible scuffing and, to boot, a slight reduction in the tube thickness.

I can sand 60 tubes in about 10 minutes without having sore hands.