RSidetrack
Member
So this pen was a disaster, but I managed to recover it enough to use it as my daily carry pen. I decided to reverse paint black, though I almost wish I went with white or cream to fit the butterscotch blank better. This is an Atrax Rollerball with a Butterscotch Brook's Blank from Exotic.
So the issues - the first thing I had happen was my drill vise wasn't tight enough
It took the blank and spun it right round right round. Anyway, the hole was slightly not round. Not horrible, I used a think coat of paint when reverse painting and thick CA. I let it set up all night. When I went to turn for some reason the CA didn't set right - the blank became free spinning on the tube. I have never had this happen before, but I guess there is a first for everything. I glued it again, waited, and then turned it. Unfortunately I discovered that the cap (clip top side) had cracked in about 5 spots I used thin CA to secure them and I managed to get them to hide very well. The worst crack I covered with the clip. They are all tight and not giving, but you can still see the seams if you look close enough. This immediately made me decide to switch kits (from fountain to regular) and use it as my every day carry.
So then the next issue was, since I don't have the proper bushing set, I use the Majestic Jr bushings to turn it down most of the way, and then the smaller part on the top end of the lower blank I TBC and get it down to size. For some reason I measured wrong and went just slightly too small. That, however, isn't the end of that. I accidentally assembled the pen with the nib end on the smaller side and the end cap coupler on the nib end So I had to disassemble - I do not have a disassemble tool - so I had to improvise Managed to get it apart, reassembled correctly and that is when I discovered I somehow went too small on the cap end. Either way, the pen looks great, I just couldn't sell it with it's issues. Hopefully the next Brook's Blank I turn I don't mess up like this because it is almost a sacrilege on his blanks
Anyway, here goes:
So the issues - the first thing I had happen was my drill vise wasn't tight enough
It took the blank and spun it right round right round. Anyway, the hole was slightly not round. Not horrible, I used a think coat of paint when reverse painting and thick CA. I let it set up all night. When I went to turn for some reason the CA didn't set right - the blank became free spinning on the tube. I have never had this happen before, but I guess there is a first for everything. I glued it again, waited, and then turned it. Unfortunately I discovered that the cap (clip top side) had cracked in about 5 spots I used thin CA to secure them and I managed to get them to hide very well. The worst crack I covered with the clip. They are all tight and not giving, but you can still see the seams if you look close enough. This immediately made me decide to switch kits (from fountain to regular) and use it as my every day carry.So then the next issue was, since I don't have the proper bushing set, I use the Majestic Jr bushings to turn it down most of the way, and then the smaller part on the top end of the lower blank I TBC and get it down to size. For some reason I measured wrong and went just slightly too small. That, however, isn't the end of that. I accidentally assembled the pen with the nib end on the smaller side and the end cap coupler on the nib end
So I had to disassemble - I do not have a disassemble tool - so I had to improvise Managed to get it apart, reassembled correctly and that is when I discovered I somehow went too small on the cap end. Either way, the pen looks great, I just couldn't sell it with it's issues. Hopefully the next Brook's Blank I turn I don't mess up like this because it is almost a sacrilege on his blanks Anyway, here goes:
