Cigar kit question

[Sev3en]

I'm new to turning and am making my first Cigar pen (kit not realistic) and I mistakenly shaved off a little more than planned when squaring of the lower blank.

My calipers show it is 0.024 in short. How big of an issue is this and what to do about it if it is? Will re do it if I must. I just have very little experience in final fitting and how much if any room for error there is.

Cheers

 

[Fish30114]

I think the answer depends on a couple of things, do you mean that you had the piece (wood or acrylic) turned with the brass tube in it and you trimmed that too short? If that is the case I would just put assemble the pen and see if there is enough tolerance in the kit to allow that much (pretty small) variance, especially if you have the other side turned already.

This may be the time where you learn about the appropriate gripping pliars and transfer punches you need to disassemble a pen! If you don't have the other end of the pen turned, you can measure the parts and see if they would fit together and accommodate the shorter piece--I think most cigar kits I have used would still work with that small of a variance.

On my first few cigar kits, purchased from Rockler, they had tubes that were too short in a couple of them, and I was befuddled when I put them together and had a gap in between the upper and lower tubes!

I don't buy Cigar kits from Rockler anymore either...

Good luck-let us know how it works out.

 

[Sev3en]

I cut the blank, drilled it, glued the tube in, and was squaring off the end of the blank getting it ready to put on the lathe. I use a carbide cutter and reamer set up on my hand held drill. Lost focus for a second and shaved off part of tube. I turned it round to rid the ends of their excess so that I could get an accurate measure. So that is where it sits as of now.

My only hesitation on going ahead with it and just trying it is that I don't currently have a disassembly kit were it to not work.

 

[Fish30114]

well I would try and measure the various parts as they would be oriented when the were together and see what you think it would look like, that is a very small difference like I said, and I'm pretty sure your pen will still be fine.

It's all a learning curve...and oh yeah it is worth the few $ to go ahead and purchase a set of transfer punches and soft grip pair of locking pliars.

I would go ahead and finish turning the parts you have and go for it.

 

[KenV]

If your lower segment is short, the end of the refill will extend that much further.

That difference is a bit less 1/16th of an inch - closer to 3/64th of an inch.

It would bother me -- but I do not like extra protrusion of refills from the nib.

Your call --- It will work

 

[Fish30114]

Ken, I'm not good at doing conversions, but I think .024 is a little less than 1/32, like .00725 less....so I think it will make very little difference in the final assembled pen.

 

[Dan Masshardt]

I don't mind it extended a little bit more then normal but the retracted position is what concerns me. If the tube is too short, the refill could be slightly exposed when retracted.

 

[ed4copies]

Two hundredths is one fiftieth. Just an eensy over 1/64"!! DEFINITELY not going to affect the operation of the pen, IF that is the only problem.

 

[Dale Allen]

You could sand off just that much of the top end of the refill.
Then it would be you personal pen, which would be the one you need to keep as a reminder of how much better the next ones are!

 

[Sev3en]

First of all I wanted to thank everyone who responded. I went ahead and finished the pen. It came out great and the tip of the ink is in good position.

This was my 6th pen and first commission and my client was thrilled with the result.

Thanks again and I cant wait to share my journey here. I have learned so much from everyone already!

 

[Ironwood]

The protrusion looks just right. Its a great looking pen.

 

[Fish30114]

Great that it worked out--I thought it would, that really is a nice looking chunk of wood and it turned out as a very nice pen.

Congrats!

 

[toddlajoie]

Glad it worked out for you, there is a bit of slop in MOST pen kits. The Cross refill (slimline, euro etc 7mm kits) kits can be adjusted by how far you press the transmission in. The Parker refill pens (most other twist pens, cigars, sierras and many others) are a bit more critical on the lower barrel length (tho not a case in the Sierras, as there is no lower barrel) but as you learned, there is still some room for error, but not a lot...

You could sand off just that much of the top end of the refill.
Then it would be you personal pen, which would be the one you need to keep as a reminder of how much better the next ones are!

A more permanent solution (which still keeps it sell-able) would be to sand off that amount on the INSIDE of the Transmission. There is a fairly sizeable plastic plug in there that pushes the refill down. Not that it has ever happened to me wink but I've heard that if the refill on a cigar kit doesn't retract all the way, a transfer punch with a small piece of sandpaper on it can remove some of this plug making the transmission a little deeper to make up for the shorter barrel... Maybe someday I'll make that mistake and be able to say that it works from personal experience....