Maxwood 'Geoff' pen kit build

[ninetynein]

Hi Folks,

I just finished making a Geoff pen, and I thought I'd post some thoughts from a noobie here.

First of all, this pen is a monster. I had a really nice piece of rock maple burl that I thought would suit it, so I picked up the kit from KMS Tools in Coquitlam, BC.
https://www.kmstools.com/maxwood-geoff-pen-kit-gold-finish-18982

I also picked up the Geoff bushing set. I can't imagine that they'd be much useful for any other pen.

I cut up the burl on my desktop band saw to about 1"x1". It turns out that was dangerously small, as the finished diameter of this pen is 15/16". But I persevered. Drilling and glueing in the blanks went as expected. The first obstacle I encountered was that my pen mill only has a diameter of 3/4". I poked around on the forums to see if anyone makes a larger diameter, or how others deal with this. At one point I saw that someone was making and selling an aluminum sanding block that fit over the mandrel. I considered this, but I thought there was too much wood to remove by sanding only. In the end, I used the small bushing for the nib on each end. Since the diameter for that bushing was less than 3/4" I was able to get my skew in there and remove the excess to the best of my ability (which isn't that good). I'd like to find another way to do this if I make another one of these. The burl turned quite well and is a beautiful piece of wood.
https://goo.gl/photos/TrXk1huo63HVTy6t9

Then came the polishing. I read through some different approaches in the Library section of the forums. I decided on CA. The first coats of hotstuff (thin CA) went on quite well. Then I used SuperT (thick CA) to try to get a gloss finish. That didn't work at all (my fault). The cloth I was using had some blue dye in it I guess. Anyway, it tinted parts of the pen and I had to sand back to 220 and start again. Then when I got to the SuperT this time, some threads from my new cloth got glued to it. The third time, I melted my 12000 pad. I guess the lathe was spinning too fast? Anyway, I got melted plastic all over it. So by the fourth try, I was pretty gun shy. I ended up stopping before I got the high gloss finish I was looking for.

But undaunted, I started to put the pen together. The burl had a some natural features right where the nib goes that made it look like the end had chipped out a bit. If I had paid a bit more attention, I might have caught this and take a bit more off that end. Anyway, when I put the ring on, I got a huge surprise. Despite turned down flush with the bushing, the ring sits proud by quite a bit (probably 1/64" or so). I was really disappointed!
https://goo.gl/photos/xZeC82zWLChhk5fa9

Then when I was putting the top on, I noticed some serious blemishes in the brass. I'm hoping these will buff out.
https://goo.gl/photos/ALdsoy2nMWPBU7Qv6

And there are some unforgivable scratches in the wood still from running out of patience during the (re)finishing process.


Anyway, I'm not thrilled with the finished product. I'm going to go back to KMS with my calipers and measure a few more of these kits and some bushing sets to see what's up. I really do love this style, but I wouldn't turn another one until I have a system for end milling, and confirmation that the bushings are correct. With regards to the finish, well that's my own lack of knowledge biting me. I may try a coat of urethane on it now even though it's put together. I can spin the top part around to get it all. Bad idea?
https://goo.gl/photos/585gnSKPYGEkDLxb8

Comments are welcome!

 

[Curly]

KMS is about the only company that I know of selling those big pens. Not too many people like pens that fat. You said you turned to the bushings and then sanded and re-sanded several times. That may be the reason the centre band is proud of the surface. I assume you turned, sanded and finished on the pen mandrel. As you sanded you probably reduced the diameter of the bushing, so you may want to check them before you use them to make more.

 

[Woodguy95]

Well this pen surely does look big but it's a style I guess... It still looks nice despite the centerband not beeing flush. I personally use calippers on every pen kit to make sure to get to the right diameter. You could use a punch set to disassemble it and turn the tip if you'd like.

 

[boatemp]

I must say I admire your tenacity with this pen.

 

[JimB]

A small disc sander, as in the disc on a belt/disc sander will remove wood quickly from the ends but try to cut your blanks closer to the final size so you don't need to remove so much wood after gluing in your tubes.

Thick CA is not a good choice for finishing. It doesn't go on very well and will need a lot of sanding. You are better off building up multiple coats of thin CA. For a faster build up use medium.

If you melted your micro mesh pad you are being much too aggressive. Slow down your lathe and lightly touch the pad to the slowly turning blank. This is true for all sanding. Go slow and light contact of sandpaper to material. You can also wet sand with micro mesh.

 

[ninetynein]

Thanks

Thank you all for the advice. I think tonight I'll measure all the bushings to see if they are indeed identical. I don't think I sanded them too much, but it's possible! And yea, apparently I need to relax a bit with those micro mesh pads. I did slow the lathe down after melting the 12000, but I probably was still using too much pressure. Thanks for the tips on cutting the blanks closer to the tube. Makes sense. Also, that's a good tip about using thin CA.

Again, all good points. Thank you.