Newbie needs help

[rbh11g]

I took a pen making class recently and made my first pen. Much to my surprise (I have no experience on a lathe) it turned pretty well. Last night I made my first pen without help. It turned out better than the first with one exception, the diameter of the barrel was a little larger than the nib. I can see and feel the diffent diameters. The pen is the Wall St. 2 from Woodcraft. When I finished sanding the barrel it was perfectly flush with the bushings. I applied eight coats of CA for a finish. Should I have applied fewers coats of CA, or should I turn the barrel slightly small than the bushing then build it up with the finish? By the way,I can see why pen making is so addictive, its fun! Thanks for your help.

Dick

 

[LagniappeRob]

CA does build up. So if you're going to use it as a finish you'll want to overturn it a bit, and then build it back up. There's lots of discussion on just how many coats of different CA thicknesses people use. There's a whole thread on just that subject. With just starting that's quite the achievement - some experienced turners have trouble with CA finishes sometimes. Way to go.

And welcome!

 

[Edgar]

Kit diameters do not always match the bushings exactly, so I use a digital caliper to check both the barrel and the kit parts when I want an exact fit. CA buildup does affect the final diameter, so you might need to experiment with a slightly smaller barrel and/or fewer coats of CA until you get a technique that gives you consistent results.

Welcome to the addiction.
Ed

 

[Joe S.]

Getting some digital calipers and measuring the actual diameter of the pen part and the blank will help, much more accurate. As for the finish, measure a test blank before finishing, apply the CA as if you were finishing a pen, measure the new diameter and write down the difference. then when you make a pen, you exactly how much below finished diameter to turn for your CA finish, then you just build up your finish to slightly larger and sand/polish to your exact diameter. Hope this helps.

 

[kovalcik]

My condolences on being taken over by the dark side.

You are correct that you have to turn or sand the blank slightly below the bushings. There are a few mthods you can use to get everything to fit.

The most exact of course is to measure with a micrometer. You would measure the hardware, turn the barrel down a little below the measurement, and build it up with CA to match. This also takes out any error you get from worn or inaccurate bushings, or variances in the kit hardware itself.

If you don't want to measure, use your fingers and try to duplicate that same feel between the freshly turned barrel and the bushings that you get when fingering your finished pen. If you are consistent with your finishing, that should get you pretty close. You can also very slightly round the ends of the barrel with fine sandpaper before and after finishing. The rounded edge is less noticeable than a sharp edge and you can get away with the barrel being a little proud of the hardware. For pens with a sharp transition between the barrel and the hardware, you want to err on the side of the finished barrel being slightly proud as opposed to the hardware being proud because the sharp edge on the hardware will be very noticeable.

Some pen kits have a soft transition between one or both ends of the barrel and the hardware which makes exact sizing less important.

Hope this helps.

 

[rbh11g]

Thanks for the good ideas. On my next pen I will measure the diameter of the blank before and after finishing so I will know the thickness of the finish.
Dick