Finish on Black Pens

[scotirish]

I turned my second "Black Finish" pen yesterday, first was the Michigan Road Pen. Both had a problem with the Black plating scraping off when inserting into the tube. Apparently the plating is thick enough to scrap off. This means I need to clean it off prior to slamming the inserted top and bottom's home, otherwise they do not fit as the scraped plating is between them and the blank.

Anyone else have this problem, if so what do you do to prevent it? I thought of scraping the plating off prior to installing it!

 

[THarvey]

I let the tube start removing the finish in the press. Then use a dental pick to remove the chips before completing the insertion.

 

[scotirish]

Thanks! Great idea.

 

[redfishsc]

I use a fingernail or a plastic (credit) card to scrape away the excess paint just prior to closing the gap. Always closes nice and tight.