Tips for aligning grain on screw cap RB

[Charlie69]

So I turned this pen out of plain jane Walnut last weekend, spent the better part of the week finishing it with poly (wipe on coat in morning & evening) and after pressing the parts in I was very disappointed to see the grain didn't line up. The pen was put together on a drill press and thought I had the grain lined up but i clearly screwed this up. One side isn't too bad but the other side the grain is very noticeably off

Any tips for lining up the grain on screw cap pens? I assembled the barrel 1st and used that to line up the grain on the cap but somewhere somehow I lost it. Suggestions?

Not sure if it matters but I turn between centers so one barrel at a time. Finial grain is a little off also but I'm pretty sure that's because the C clamp I used (to hold it in place while the glue dried) twisted it a little as pressure was applied.

Thanks
Charlie

 

[Krash]

So I turned this pen out of plain jane Walnut last weekend, spent the better part of the week finishing it with poly (wipe on coat in morning & evening) and after pressing the parts in I was very disappointed to see the grain didn't line up. The pen was put together on a drill press and thought I had the grain lined up but i clearly screwed this up. One side isn't too bad but the other side the grain is very noticeably off

Any tips for lining up the grain on screw cap pens? I assembled the barrel 1st and used that to line up the grain on the cap but somewhere somehow I lost it. Suggestions?

Not sure if it matters but I turn between centers so one barrel at a time. Finial grain is a little off also but I'm pretty sure that's because the C clamp I used (to hold it in place while the glue dried) twisted it a little as pressure was applied.

Thanks
Charlie

No tips for you on the grain lineup ..... but what a stunning pen!

 

[JohnU]

Great looking pen! What I do is assemble the body first. Then screw on the cap centerband like it would rest when capped and slightly press it into the upper cap piece after I turn it to line up the grain. Then I unscrew the centerband piece carefully not to turn the upper barrel out of alignment and press into place on the pen press. Works everytime for me. Also, remember there are a couple start places in the threads so if it didn't line up, unscrew it just past the first thread start and try the second. That might be your issue now.

 

[switch62]

Firstly, very beautiful pen.

With regards to lining up the grain I do the same as JohnU . If you lined up the grain the same way and now it doesn't line up, it is due to the triple threaded cap. Since you have 3 thread starting points you have 1 chance in 3 of getting the grain to line up first time.

To find the other thread starting points I unscrew the cap but don't remove it. Then keep turning (unscrewing) the body of the pen while keeping the cap on with light pressure. You will feel the click of the thread start as you pass them. As you pass one start then screw on the cap and see if the grain matches. Repeat until the grain lines up.

TonyO

 

[SteveG]

I do it just as John said, with one slight variation: think ahead from when you are holding the centerband and screwing in the barrel. Once the pen is complete, the one holding the pen will have tha additional leverage of holding the full cap. It is likely the cap will go on a bit tighter, and the grain will be slightly misaligned. So I make it a point to use a bit more force as I seat the barrel into the CB threads during assembly. Result: very good alignment on the finished pen.

Now, I want to acknowledge you pen. Very well done. That is a shape that works really well with the closed end barrel. Keep up the good work!

 

[longbeard]

Good looking pen Charlie, fine job. Finish looks nice.



Harry

 

[Charlie69]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, lightly pressing in the center band/coupler after ligning up the grain is a good idea. I suspect it got out of alignment somewhere between the time it took to go from the work bench to the drill press.

The triple starts are tricky aren't they. The person i give the pen to will have a one in three chance of ligning up the grain and they probably won't pay much attention to it. So it's probably more important to me than the recipient.

Thanks for the nice words, the body is longer than i like and the grain is off but otherwise i like the general look/style of the pen.

Charlie

 

[SteveG]

Whenever I sell a capped pen with either 3- or4- start threads, I show the buyer how that work out. When they see how to determine the start point and appreciate the visual appeal of the nicely aligned grain, plus the quick twist feature, they like the pen even more! Also, it is best that someone NOT "discover" triple start threads on their own. They might even interpret it as being a defect until they are granted understanding.