Modified center band on Perfect Fit?

[wendell]

I like to turn kits that I can personalize by making an alternative center band. I would use Euro's all the time for this purpose but I cannot stand the cross refill. All this leads to the following questions.

1) Can you do an alternative center band on a Perfect Fit kit?
2) Are there other kits that use at least the Parker refills that can use a custom center band?

Regards,
Wendell

 

[rherrell]

Here's one I did using an 8mm Round Top Euro...

I think the 8mm Euro is a nice pen and a good candidate for a CB mod.

 

[alamocdc]

Like Rick said, Berea makes an 8mm Euro and you can easily customize the CB. And yes, the same holds true for the Perfect Fit.

 

[R2]

That's a nice illustration Rick![]

 

[its_virgil]

...and the 8mm euro from Berea uses a Parker refill.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by alamocdc

Like Rick said, Berea makes an 8mm Euro and you can easily customize the CB. And yes, the same holds true for the Perfect Fit.

 

[wendell]

Rick,

Nice looking pen. I had overlooked the Berea 8 mm Euro. I actually have a couple of the round top kits already.

I notice on your pen you've managed to hide the metal piece on the lower barrel where the transmission screws into with your custom center band. I've been struggling with this on my Euro designs. Do you have a method to do this easily?

Wendell

 

[rherrell]

I turn the blank round and slightly oversized and put it in my Beall chuck. Then you can use a 1/8" parting tool to make a recess in the CB which is already glued to the blank. If you don't have a Beall, check out page 14 of my cartridge pen tutorial on the front page. It shows how to do the same thing without using a Beall chuck.

 

[bjackman]

Originally posted by wendell

1) Can you do an alternative center band on a Perfect Fit kit?

No reason you can't modify or completely remove the CB on this kit. You just need to pay attention to the interior length of the upper tube so the tranny will still engage in the upper sleeve.

 

[Sylvanite]

This is a perfect fit pen that doesn't use the kit centerband at all.

One could easily make a perfect fit pen with a thicker upper barrel and a centerband that was counterbored to cover the coupler trim ring.

Regards,
Eric

 

[Hello]

I made a little bandy thing to replace the black ring that goes on a cigar...well, two cigars, husband wanted wood, wife wanted acrylic, and they wanted matching pens
you could try that maybe?