Replacing CB with wood in a slimline pencil

[rjwolfe3]

I had a customer request a slimline pencil in a style that I had previously done in a pen. I had replaced the metal centerband with a wood one and made the pen a lot thicker. Without thinking about it I told the customer that is would be no problem to make into a pencil. Then after getting started I remembered that the centerband is what holds a slimline pencil together! Any ideas of how to get around that? The only things that I can think of is to drill out a pen transmission and use that or sand down the centerband part of a pencil and make the wood centerband very narrow. What would you all suggest I do?

TIA:bye:

 

[arioux]

Hi,

You can grind down the pencil center band or use a long 7mm tube, insert the bottom part, your center band material and the upper half. Just make sure that the total lenght or your long 7mm tube is equal to the total lenght of both regular tube plus your ergular centerbnand thickness. Hope i'm clear

 

[rjwolfe3]

Alfred,
Thanks, I may try the grinding part. Unfortunately I already glued up the blanks before I realized the problem and the customer doesn't want to wait for me to get new supplies. This whole sale has been a learning experience for me.

 

[hewunch]

I have made centerbandless pencils, just "longwood". You could do the same, just drill your hole through your centerband wood. Then glue all 3 parts together, so you have after it sets up 1 long blank. Then turn and you are there.

 

[ldb2000]

Rob , you can drill a mortise in your CB to fit over the pencil CB if your blanks are thick enough . If the blank is already glued up just drill it to the same size as the pencil CB first then finish drilling with the 7mm bit for the tube and then turn to size . When you are done the new CB will slip right over the pencil CB and the tube will still lock it in place .

 

[rjwolfe3]

Hans,
Is there any danger of the wood possibly breaking at that point where you glue it and is CA or wood glue the better choice?
Thanks

 

[hewunch]

Well anytime you segment there is A danger. But it is not likely. I would use Med CA and make sure you have a smooth surface between them (120- 220 grit sanded). It is not like the cb is acting as a wedge or vice or anything like that. If you are super concerned you could always drill out 1 barrel and then glue in a long tube from a Designer/Euro. and put your CB on it that way so it has brass behind it. But if the CB is going to be a dense wood like Purpleheart or some other hardwood, I would not bother. NOW, if it is something soft like cypress or buckeye burl or prone to splitting, yeah, I would go that extra step if it were me. HTH

One more thing, I would plug the tubes with potato or wax before gluing them up. That way you don't get anything in the tubes.

 

[rjwolfe3]

The centerband is going to be stabilized curly koa. I am going to go down and try a few things and go from there. Thank you all for your help.

 

[mrcook4570]

You can also mount the metal cb in a chuck or carefully between centers and turn it down. A parting tool works well for this.

 

[rjwolfe3]

Well I used a combination of medium CA and drilling a hole and gluing the old centerband inside the new centerband. It turned out ok but I have to wait and see if the customer likes it. This whole sale was very difficult for me. Thanks again for all of your help and suggestions.

 

[its_virgil]

Maybe reading this will help you out. I hope so.
http://www.redriverpens.com/articles Look at #12 in the list

Do a good turn daily!
Don

I had a customer request a slimline pencil in a style that I had previously done in a pen. I had replaced the metal centerband with a wood one and made the pen a lot thicker. Without thinking about it I told the customer that is would be no problem to make into a pencil. Then after getting started I remembered that the centerband is what holds a slimline pencil together! Any ideas of how to get around that? The only things that I can think of is to drill out a pen transmission and use that or sand down the centerband part of a pencil and make the wood centerband very narrow. What would you all suggest I do?

TIA:bye:

 

[rjwolfe3]

TY Don, next time I do this (if there is a next time, lol) I will do it like that. It would have been so much easier than the way I did it. The first thing I noticed about your article is that the length of the tube is the critical part about the pencil. I made mine just a little long but the pencil still works. Nice learning experience for me no matter what.

 

[altaciii]

Lots of advice and a good learning experience for me just looking in from the outside. Everyone had some great advise and believe me, I listened to learn also. But?????
WHERES THE PIC OF THE PEN. I, for one, would like to see the finished product.

 

[rjwolfe3]

Lol, nah my photo skills are worse then my penmaking skills.