Amboyna burl Gent

[greenmtnguy]

8 coats of thin CA using accelerator. Wet micro meshed and carefully assembled. Cracked the top on the first try. anyone doing Statesman or full size gent having an extremely tight fit with the finial and clip? I ground the finial and still trashed the cap blank. Keeper?

 

[hewunch]

It looks fine from here. Are you sure your tubes are clear of glue? Because you seem to be having alot of trouble with a kit I have not had the first problem with.

 

[greenmtnguy]

Hans,
The problem is the fit between the clip and the finial. The finial itself goes in easily. I cannot move the clip more that the thickness of the clip upwards on to the cap finial. Not possible to push it up by hand and the pen press meets a large amount of resistance. I ground this and it still was a tight fit. The clip doesn't seat 90 degrees to the cap.

 

[bracky1]

Georgeous finish, I'll need to get a fresh bottle of CA and have another try at that

 

[talbot]

Thats a lovely piece of Amboyna and a very nice pen!
regards, Bill

 

[maxman400]

Great Looking Pen! And Finish. How do you apply your Accelerator? I use to apply mine direct but it would sometimes turn the CA white and bubble up. Now I mist it in the air and let it settle on the spinning blank, since I started doing it this way I have not had any more white spots.

 

[cnirenberg]

Alton,
Sweet finish, you made that piece of Amboyna even better looking.

 

[rjwolfe3]

Looks very nice

 

[hewunch]

Hans,
The problem is the fit between the clip and the finial. The finial itself goes in easily. I cannot move the clip more that the thickness of the clip upwards on to the cap finial. Not possible to push it up by hand and the pen press meets a large amount of resistance. I ground this and it still was a tight fit. The clip doesn't seat 90 degrees to the cap.

I think I understand. And if I do, I have dealt with that too. I usually bend the ring up so that it is closer to 90 degrees before I try to press it in. Also, I really like my arbor press for this too.

 

[YORKGUM]

Beauteous. I need some of that wood.

 

[greenmtnguy]

Maxman, I buy accelerator in 8 oz bottles and pour into 2 oz sprayers that I get at Michaels. I spray accelerator as the lathe is running.
Hans,
I think bending the clip ring up will help. I'm going to reverse the clip direction in the press when I press it into the cap. There is a small indent in the Nylon pushblock of the pen press. Maybe that is contributing to the problem. I like these kits. I just don't want to wrestle with them every I make a higher end pen.

 

[jedgerton]

Alton,

I've seen this problem and the issue is definitely defective pen kits. I've gotten replacement parts when this was an issue and I have also used one of my smaller drum sanders in a dremel tool to resolve the issue.

I haven't seen any cracking yet but I have forced a few and it can't be good to be using that much force.

John

 

[JimMc7]

<snip> anyone doing Statesman or full size gent having an extremely tight fit with the finial and clip? I ground the finial and still trashed the cap blank.
<snip>

1st, beautiful finish on a great pen!

Yes, I've had the same problem with a couple of the Jr Statesman II pens. I've been using a spare tube to 1st press the clip & finial. I knock out the assembled clip/finial with a transfer punch and then press assembled pieces into actual finished blank.

Edit to add: IME, I think it's a faulty clip rather than the finial because the assembled clip/finial presses on just fine.

 

[rpearson]

Very nicely done! Amboyna burl, one of my favorite burls.

 

[NewLondon88]

Yep .. we measured them, and the finial is about 10/1000ths larger than the
opening of the clip.

They could be modified .. sanded, ground etc.. but then you're losing the finish on
that part, and once the plating is compromised, it will flake off of the rest of the part.

Craft Supplies is pretty good about addressing these things. A full sized Statesman
is too expensive to start drilling and grinding a part that is supposed to fit right out
of the package. Sounds like someone fell asleep at the wheel overseas..

 

[Rollerbob]

Sounds like someone fell asleep at the wheel overseas..[/quote]
Is this a knock off group?:biggrin: Great looking pen, Alton. your finish is spot on!!:wink:

 

[desertyellow]

superb finish.
Great picture

 

[NewLondon88]

asleep at the wheel overseas..
Is this a knock off group?

Yes.. their first album was called Greatest Hits

 

[RichW]

I had the same problem with an undersized clip ring. Reamed the inside of the ring slightly and the problem went away. If the clip doesn't slid easily onto the finial, don't attempt to assemble it.

I agree that a kit like the Jr Gent should require "adjustment" to assemble. Let the vendor know about the problem.

 

[greenmtnguy]

The vendor suggested assembling the pen vertically and slitting a tube and using that to seat the clip to the cap before assembling like jimmc7 suggested. I'll give it a go. Got a couple of special blanks in mind for the rest of them.

 

[NewLondon88]

The vendor suggested assembling the pen vertically and slitting a tube and using that to seat the clip to the cap before assembling like jimmc7 suggested. I'll give it a go. Got a couple of special blanks in mind for the rest of them.

I hope they're replacing the kits, though. Using a spare tube still won't do
anything about the 10/1000ths difference in the parts sizes..

 

[greenmtnguy]

I'm on my own. No replacement suggested.

 

[NewLondon88]

I'm on my own. No replacement suggested.

You're kidding???!!! This is CSUSA? Those are clearly defective kits,
no question about it. You tried mine at the shop, and yours definitely don't
fit like they are supposed to..
You're not only out the kits, but some beautiful blanks.. ? That makes no
sense. Did you ask about replacements? Did they go get a kit off of the
shelf and try one of their own kits?

 

[greenmtnguy]

They tried some and they fit just like mine. Tight!. Sounds like you modify a $30 dollar kit to make it correct. I bought some 1.5o slimlines that I had to modify. They now are cannibalized for parts. Probably will be thinking about reordering these kits again. I trashed an Amboyna blank and a Big Leaf Maple blank. Sorry, modify the kit or your process to make them work.

 

[Bree]

All busted up like that... it's a grocery store pen. So why not just send it over to me and I will use it every time I go to the store!

:wink::wink::wink:

 

[NewLondon88]

They tried some and they fit just like mine. Tight!.

They DO NOT FIT!!

Mine fit tight. We measured yours. The clip opening is smaller than the
finial. It's a bad batch of kits. That's a no-brainer in my book.
I'm shocked that they didn't take them back.

Sounds like you modify a $30 dollar kit to make it correct. I bought some 1.5o slimlines that I had to modify. They now are cannibalized for parts. Probably will be thinking about reordering these kits again. I trashed an Amboyna blank and a Big Leaf Maple blank. Sorry, modify the kit or your process to make them work.

I'd be thinking about modifying my vendor list.

 

[Mather323]

nice picture and photo.