Custom Centre Bands For Modified Slimline Pens

[William Young]

I read an excellent article (and saved it) by Scott Reaves all about making custom centre bands and I made a whole bunch of them a few months ago. He suggests a 1/4" hole for them. I am finding that when I turn the blanks together with the centreband, everything looks great while the pieces are on the lathe. But when I assemble the pen, the centre bands are loose and can actually be moved slightly sideways so the band does not line up properly with the rest of the pen.
Has anyone else had the same problem ? What size drill are you using for making centre bands. Doeds it require a metric size drill ? I have a large drill index of standard drills but the only meteric ones I have are for drilling for 7 and 8 and 10 mm tubes.

I got an order yesterday from a lady that wants one each of a teak and a purpleheart and a jarrah pen with contrasting bands in a modified slimline design. I would like those bands to fit properly so I am open for suggestions before I go ahead and turn them .

Also. is it customary to glue a centreband on to a blank before drilling and turning or should the centre bands be loose and floating like in the article. ? If so, would I be right in saying it should be glued onto the centre of the upper portion of the pen ? . I would think that glueing it onto the centre of the tip end would make it hard to know how far to press in the mechanism.
W.Y.

 

[Fred in NC]

A size 'D' drill bit is just a bit smaller than 1/4", .246", that might work for you.

One more idea... if you use a longer tube for the lower barrel, and make the centerband part of it, of course it is hard to judge how deep you need to insert the mechanism. One solution is to take one of your finished slimilines and measure from the end of the tip to the top of the mechanism. Then cut a piece of stiff material to that length. Say, a corian rod 1/2" by the proper length. If you put it side by side with the lower barrel when inserting the mechanism it will stop it from going too far in.

 

[William Young]

Thankd Fred.
I have never heard of a 'D' drill bit. Is that a particular size or a type. Is it a metric bit ?
Is there any problem with making the centre band all a part of the upper barrel ? as in glueing it on before turning? It seems that would eliminate the guess work of installing the mechanism in the lower barrel as usual. .
W.Y.

 

[DCBluesman]

William...You should have no problem with glueing the centerband on the top section. I have a slightly different take which others here have used successfully. Drill your center band the same as your blanks, then insert a spare copper tube, cut to length. That will fortify the centerband and shoold eliminate the looseness if you turn all three components together, without a center bushing. Also, I have just glued and tubed a double handful of centerbands from different cutoffs. Since they are all mounted on brass, I will keep them to add as needed. That way I can take my pick along the way. Just a thought. [8D]

 

[Scott]

Hi William,

First of all, in penturning, whatever works for you is best! The method I presented in that article is just one way to approach making your own turned centerbands. There are actually many ways to approach this.

I have found that the 1/4" hole is fine for loose centerbands. They are intended to float to a certain degree. I generally turn these type of centerbands so they have some slight contrasting contour to them - in other words, they aren't intended to be smooth and even with the pen barrels. You could try measuring the mechanism where the barrel will sit with some calipers, and matching a drill bit to that size. Wood is soft, and will tend to "wear larger" over time, so you may want to drill, then treat with CA to harden the inside of the hole, then re-drill. But you will still have some "float".

If you want the turned centerband to be smooth and even with the two pen barrels, I would recommend that you not have it loose, and rather glue it to the upper barrel. You can glue it on the end of the upper barrel (so there is not brass tube inside of it), or you can part off some of the upper barrel and glue the new centerband right on the brass and everything. I would not glue it to the lower barrel because it causes problems there, and it doesn't on the upper barrel.

One other option, like Lou suggested, is to glue brass tube inside your loose centerband. But again, if you're aiming for a smooth, even turned centerband, this will still give you some "float" and you'll be able to feel a small ridge there with your finger. You'll note that the metal centerband that comes with the pen kit has this same "float".

I'm glad you liked my article! But it is just one way to do things. Have fun with this, and let us know what you come up with!

Scott.

 

[William Young]

Thanks Lou and Scott and Fred.;
It was that small ridge that I could feel with my finger (and even see) that I was concerned about and you have made it look very easy to get around it.
I will try your suggestions and I feel certain that you have solved my problem.
W.Y.

 

[Rudy Vey]

Originally posted by William Young
<br />Thankd Fred.
I have never heard of a 'D' drill bit. Is that a particular size or a type. Is it a metric bit ?
Is there any problem with making the centre band all a part of the upper barrel ? as in glueing it on before turning? It seems that would eliminate the guess work of installing the mechanism in the lower barrel as usual. .
W.Y.

There are three types of drill bit sizes, next to the metric system: number (these are the very fine and thin ones), the fractions and then the letter sizes "A" through "Z". As a matter of fact for the Berea line of pens one would use the "J" size for slim lines (or a 7mm bit)and the "O" size for the Flattop American and the European pens (at least for the ball points, Rollerball and fountain pens require a different size). I use instead of the "O" bit sometimes a "P" bit since I found that on some woods the O is too tight. For glue I generally use polyurethane that expands a bit and fills a slight gap. Lately I use mainly a 8.1 or 8.2 mm bit.
Back to your centerbands: the band normally fits loose on the twist mechanism, so I would do either make them with a brass tube or use a smaller hole size (as mentioned earlier) and turn them just on the mandrel with out the brass.

Rudy
Check on the internet for drill bit size charts

 

[DCBluesman]

For a convenient conversion chart of drill bit sizes, check out our own main page under <u>References and Resources</u>, <u>Decimal Equivalents</u>. [8D]

 

[Fred in NC]

Lou: The Berea table does not contain cross references for drill bit sizes. We need a cross table with fractional, letter/number, and metric sizes.

 

[wayneis]

William what I tried and now do whenever I want a custom band is turn the blank as usual to almost the size that intend, then I cut and drill a center band with the same 7mm (or what ever size I'm using) I then part off a little bit of the top blank. Take the blank off the lathe and using CA, glue it on to the upper tube. Give it a mist of aselorator put it back on the lathe and finish turning to what ever diameter you need. I usually round the edge of my new band just slightly, like you do if you make a KC Twist and it will give the impression that the bottom fits inside the upper. The bottom blank has to be just a bit smaller to give this impression. Look at the CSUSA catalog if you don't know what the KC Twist looks like.

Wayne

 

[William Young]

Wayne;
Thanks . I had never seen the KC twist pen bfore and it looks great. It shows it with no centre band but just a decorated upper barrel and the instructions show one barrel longer than the other but unless I missed it, I didn't see any actual lengths listed.
Regardles,, I like your idea of attaching a centre band and rounding it off like that so I would imagine just using two standard length tubes would work fine would't they? I think I would like to add the contrasting band and do it in the manner you described.
I wont do it on my order for these three because my customer has seen my pens with the contrasting band done in the conventional manner and that is what she wants . But I will ceratinly try the KC twist look after I have made those three .
W.Y.

 

[DCBluesman]

I've just emailed a complete drill bit hole size chart to Jeff for posting in our reference section. He will get it posted soon and we won't need to keep giving one sized answers [8D]

Originally posted by Fred in NC
<br />Lou: The Berea table does not contain cross references for drill bit sizes. We need a cross table with fractional, letter/number, and metric sizes.

 

[William Young]

Lou;
Until Jeff gets that one posted, look what I just found with a search
W.Y.

Drill Sizes & Designations
Millimeters Inches Designation
.3429mm .0135" #80
.3683mm .0145" #79
.3969mm .015625" 1/64"
.4064mm .016" #78
.4572mm .018" #77
.5mm .0197"
.508mm .02" #76
.5334mm .021" #75
.5715mm .0225" #74
.6096mm .024" #73
.635mm .025" #72
.6604mm .026" #71
.7112mm .028" #70
.74168mm .0292" #69
.75mm .0295"
.7874mm .031" #68
.7938mm .03125" 1/32"
.8128mm .032" #67
.8382mm .033" #66
.85mm .0335"
.889mm .035" #65
.9144mm .036" #64
.9398mm .037" #63
.95mm .0374"
.9652mm .038" #62
.9906mm .039" #61
1mm .0394"
1.016mm .04" #60
1.0414mm .041" #59
1.0668mm .042" #58
1.0922mm .043" #57
1.1mm .0433"
1.1811mm .0465" #56
1.1906mm .046875" 3/64"
1.25mm .0492"
1.3mm .0512"
1.3208mm .052" #55
1.397mm .055" #54
1.45mm .0571"
1.5mm .0591"
1.5113mm .0595" #53
1.5875mm .0625" 1/16"
1.6mm .063"
1.6129mm .0635" #52
1.7018mm .067" #51
1.75mm .0689"
1.778mm .07" #50
1.8542mm .073" #49
1.9304mm .076" #48
1.9844mm .078125" 5/64"
1.9939mm .0785" #47
2mm .0787"
2.05mm .0807"
2.0574mm .081" #46
2.0828mm .082" #45
2.1844mm .086" #44
2.2606mm .089" #43
2.3749mm .0935" #42
2.3813mm .09375" 3/32"
2.4384mm .096" #41
2.4892mm .098" #40
2.5mm .0984"
2.5273mm .0995" #39
2.5781mm .1015" #38
2.6416mm .104" #37
2.7051mm .1065" #36
2.7781mm .109375" 7/64"
2.794mm .11" #35
2.8194mm .111" #34
2.8702mm .113" #33
2.9mm .1142"
2.9464mm .116" #32
3mm .1181"
3.048mm .12" #31
3.175mm .125" 1/8"
3.2639mm .1285" #30
3.3mm .1299"
3.4544mm .136" #29
3.5mm .1378"
3.5687mm .1405" #28
3.5719mm .140625" 9/64"
3.6mm .1417"
3.6576mm .144" #27
3.7mm .1457"
3.7338mm .147" #26
3.7973mm .1495" #25
3.8608mm .152" #24
3.9116mm .154" #23
3.9688mm .15625" 5/32"
3.9878mm .157" #22
4mm .1575"
4.0386mm .159" #21
4.0894mm .161" #20
4.2mm .1654"
4.2164mm .166" #19
4.3053mm .1695" #18
4.3656mm .171875" 11/64"
4.3942mm .173" #17
4.4958mm .177" #16
4.5mm .1772"
4.572mm .18" #15
4.6228mm .182" #14
4.699mm .185" #13
4.7625mm .1875" 3/16"
4.8006mm .189" #12
4.8514mm .191" #11
4.9149mm .1935" #10
4.9784mm .196" # 9
5mm .1969"
5.0546mm .199" # 8
5.1054mm .201" # 7
5.1594mm .203125" 13/64"
5.1816mm .204" # 6
5.2197mm .2055" # 5
5.25mm .2067"
5.3086mm .209" # 4
5.4102mm .213" # 3
5.5mm .2165"
5.5563mm .21875" 7/32"
5.6134mm .221" # 2
5.7912mm .228" # 1
5.9436mm .234" A
5.9531mm .234375" 15/64"
6mm .2362"
6.0452mm .238" B
6.1468mm .242" C
6.2484mm .246" D
6.25mm .2461"
6.35mm .25" 1/4" & E
6.5mm .2559"
6.5278mm .257" F
6.6294mm .261" G
6.7469mm .265625" 17/64"
6.7564mm .266" H
6.8mm .2677"
6.9088mm .272" I
7mm .2756"
7.0358mm .277" J
7.1374mm .281" K
7.1438mm .28125" 9/32"
7.25mm .2854"
7.366mm .29" L
7.493mm .295" M
7.5mm .2953"
7.5406mm .296875" 19/64"
7.6708mm .302" N
7.8mm .3071"
7.9375mm .3125" 5/16"
8mm .315"
8.0264mm .316" O
8.2042mm .323" P
8.3344mm .328125" 21/64"
8.4328mm .332" Q
8.5mm .3346"
8.6106mm .339" R
8.7313mm .34375" 11/32"
8.8mm .3465"
8.8392mm .348" S
9mm .3543"
9.0932mm .358" T
9.1281mm .359375" 23/64"
9.25mm .3642"
9.3472mm .368" U
9.5mm .374"
9.525mm .375" 3/8"
9.5758mm .377" V
9.8044mm .386" W
9.9219mm .390625" 25/64"
10mm .3937"
10.0838mm .397" X
10.2mm .4016"
10.2616mm .404" Y
10.3188mm .40625" 13/32"
10.4902mm .413" Z
10.5mm .4134"
10.7156mm .421875" 27/64"
11mm .4331"
11.1125mm .4375" 7/16"
11.25mm .4429"
11.5mm .4528"
11.5094mm .453125" 29/64"
11.9063mm .46875" 15/32"
12mm .4724"
12.3031mm .484375" 31/64"
12.5mm .4921"
12.7mm .5" 1/2"
12.8mm .5039"
13mm .5118"
13.0969mm .515625" 33/64"
13.4938mm .53125" 17/32"
13.5mm .5315"
13.8906mm .546875" 35/64"
14mm .5512"
14.2875mm .5625" 9/16"
14.5mm .5709"
14.6844mm .578125" 37/64"
15mm .5906"
15.0813mm .59375" 19/32"
15.4781mm .609375" 39/64"
15.5mm .6102"
15.875mm .625" 5/8"
16mm .6299"
16.2719mm .640625" 41/64"
16.5mm .6496"
16.6688mm .65625" 21/32"
17mm .6693"
17.0656mm .671875" 43/64"
17.4625mm .6875" 11/16"
17.5mm .689"
17.8594mm .703125" 45/64"
18mm .7087"
18.2563mm .71875" 23/32"
18.5mm .7283"
18.6531mm .734375" 47/64"
19mm .748"
19.05mm .75" 3/4"
19.4469mm .765625" 49/64"
19.5mm .7677"
19.8438mm .78125" 25/32"
20mm .7874"
20.2406mm .796875" 51/64"
20.5mm .8071"
20.6375mm .8125" 13/16"
21mm .8268"
21.0344mm .828125" 53/64"
21.4313mm .84375" 27/32"
21.5mm .8465"
21.8281mm .859375" 55/64"
22mm .8661"
22.225mm .875" 7/8"
22.5mm .8858"
22.6219mm .890625" 57/64"
23mm .9055"
23.0188mm .90625" 29/32"
23.4156mm .921875" 59/64"
23.5mm .9252"
23.8125mm .9375" 15/16"
24mm .9449"
24.2094mm .953125" 61/64"
24.5mm .9646"
24.6063mm .96875" 31/32"
25mm .9843"
25.0031mm .984375" 63/64"
25.4mm 1.000" 1"

 

[wayneis]

William you can do it with tubes any leingh you want. I was mainly refering to the KC to show you the look you can get by using a smaller bottom blank and rounding off the top. Now what I was trying to suggest is that if you add the centerband instead of the part on the KC that has been burned you would get what you were talking about. The bottom does not have to be to much smaller, just enough for the effect.

Wayne

 

[William Young]

Thanks Wayne;
I'm anxious to get back to some pen turning. Sure a lot of great info on this site.
W.Y.

 

[PenWorks]

Bill, thank is one hecka of a nice type job. thanks for the info, Anthony