A Gent but not a Jr

[Steve Busey]

A month or so ago, before some stuff hit the proverbial fan, I was making a new Jr Gent with one of Constant's red dyed burls and a new set of johnnycnc's bushings. Didn't really pay much attention at the time, but in restrospect, there was a little wobble in one of the bushings. When I pulled the finished blanks off the lathe, one of them was visibly out of round (ie - the wood was thicker on one side of the tube than the other). This of course would cause mismatch with the pen kit hardware.

In a panic, I shot off an email to johnnycnc, trying to see if I could get a replacement bushing, since my first thought was that one of the bushings was out of round. (Having used John's bushing before, I should have known better, but for several reasons, I wasn't thinking straight...).

He replied that all his bushings are tested before they head out the door, and suggested I check a couple of other things. He also offered to send a replacement on his dime.

Well, as you might guess, the problem was not the bushings, but the idiot behind the lathe. It started at the drill press, where I couldn't drill straight through the blank, then got exacerbated at the sanding disc, as I squared the ends to the blank, not the tube. So when I plugged in the bushings and tightened up the tailstock, the bushings were forced at an angle into the tube, causing the above mentioned wobble, and the OOR condition.

John showed grace throughout our exchanges, helping me understand the pitfalls of squaring the ends.

I'm still trying to find the best way to square my bigger blanks (to the tube), but at least I know where the problem lies now - and it clearly is NOT johnnycnc!

For all this, John Goodin is a Gent, but (AFAIK) not a Jr!

 

[bitshird]

A month or so ago, before some stuff hit the proverbial fan, I was making a new Jr Gent with one of Constant's red dyed burls and a new set of johnnycnc's bushings. Didn't really pay much attention at the time, but in restrospect, there was a little wobble in one of the bushings. When I pulled the finished blanks off the lathe, one of them was visibly out of round (ie - the wood was thicker on one side of the tube than the other). This of course would cause mismatch with the pen kit hardware.

In a panic, I shot off an email to johnnycnc, trying to see if I could get a replacement bushing, since my first thought was that one of the bushings was out of round. (Having used John's bushing before, I should have known better, but for several reasons, I wasn't thinking straight...).

He replied that all his bushings are tested before they head out the door, and suggested I check a couple of other things. He also offered to send a replacement on his dime.

Well, as you might guess, the problem was not the bushings, but the idiot behind the lathe. It started at the drill press, where I couldn't drill straight through the blank, then got exacerbated at the sanding disc, as I squared the ends to the blank, not the tube. So when I plugged in the bushings and tightened up the tailstock, the bushings were forced at an angle into the tube, causing the above mentioned wobble, and the OOR condition.

John showed grace throughout our exchanges, helping me understand the pitfalls of squaring the ends.

I'm still trying to find the best way to square my bigger blanks (to the tube), but at least I know where the problem lies now - and it clearly is NOT johnnycnc!

For all this, John Goodin is a Gent, but (AFAIK) not a Jr!

Steve, I square all of my blanks in a scroll chuck on my lathe, I also drill all of my blanks on my lathe, I cheat like a bugger though, I turn all my square stock round first,takes about 20 to 30 , seconds to do, then cut close to length, glue up my tubed the back to the lathe and square the ends GENTLY as soon as I see brass I stop. Works perfectly for me, and no dinking around with a blank trimmer or any other strange stuff.

 

[warreng8170]

Steve, I could have (and probably should have) written the exact same post about 3 months ago except mine was with bushings for the long click. And it wasn't with just one pen, it was with several.

John and I also discussed the why's and how's of squaring the blanks properly. John went so far as to loan me his cutter, sleeve's and new bushings to track down the problem. As you can imagine the problem ended up being with my procedure rather than John's product. However, I would have never been able to completely prove that to myself without his willingness to go above and beyond in his commitment to customer service.

We, as a community, are very lucky to have vendors like John (and others) to work with.

 

[Steve Busey]

glue up my tubed the back to the lathe and square the ends GENTLY as soon as I see brass I stop.

Ken, can you elaborate a bit - how are you squaring the tubed blank on the lathe? With a scraper/skew, maybe?

 

[TellicoTurning]

Steve,
I've turned adapters from several pieces of scrap hardwood mounted on 7mm tubes down to various sizes that fit in the bigger tubes.. 10.5mm, 11 mm, 11.5, etc... through 13 mm.... this way I can use the 7mm guide on the pen mill slipped into the 7mm tube in one of the adapters... then mill the ends a usual.