Dustin:
I think we have a similar vision and I kluged together an approach that worked for me. If I understand correctly what you were trying to accomplish my experience might give you some more ideas. Hope this isn't too long winded but:
I started with a slimline kit and made my own ferrule for the center. By choosing the appropriate barrel diameters and milling out the end of the ferrule a little I arrived at a look similar to a euro but I can control the diameter / profile to be whatever I want. By making the ferrule integral with the larger diameter barrel I can also eliminate one joint and leave a smoother feel. This is just a take off on some of the ideas I've seen Dick (Father?) Sing show for modification of slimline kits where he uses a plastic material to make a center band. I’m just adding some metal rings to give the appropriate look, and turning the two barrels to different diameters to mimic the euro profile.
To give you the whole picture, I wanted some graduation pen/pencil sets for my son and his girlfriend. My wife and I also think the standard euro pens are unwieldy so wanted something thinner, but still wanted the upscale look and detailing of a typical euro (larger diameter top barrel with bright metal on either side of a contrasting material for a ferrule). His school colors are gold and purple, so I wanted gold bands around a purple center ring.
The bottom blanks were standard (used the stock tube). Turned the tip end to the bushing, and the other end to a "pleasing" diameter (I liked about 1mm larger to give just a hint of taper to the bottom barrel.
The top is more complicated. I cut tubes about 5-6mm longer than stock and assembled the blank by stacking a thin piece of bright brass (about .75mm), a purple acrylic piece (about 3.5mm) and a slightly thicker piece of brass (about 1.5mm) on the end of my standard length wood blank. So my result was a blank slightly longer than standard (by the length of the ferrule I wanted) with an integral ferrule piece on the end. I used epoxy to hold it together because during my trials and my many errors I found CA did not consistently hold up under the next steps. Had to get a little creative to keep everything square and flat while assembling and clamping.
Brass you ask? Am I going to turn that on my wood lathe? What’s that going to do to my tools!!? Someone might have better professional advice here, but I discovered by trial and error in the past that I could indeed turn brass on a wood lathe; either by using carbide and a real short gap, or a file if you have a lot of time and a sure touch. Chatter was a problem initially but I have a carbide cut off tool that I finally found to work very well. My early experiments with filing were OK, but its actually harder to keep from gouging the wood on a pen and initially bringing the assembly down to a true cylinder is a real pain. Either way go at a slooooowwwww speed.
So if that all made sense, I turn the top barrel (including the integral ferrule on the end) to a cylinder just a few thousanths (for final sanding) over the final diameter I wanted for the ferrule. I don't remember the size, but I looked for about the same proportion bigger than the bottom tube as a euro. I did it by eyeball the first time and then used calipers to make the rest to the same size.
The next step was to chuck the barrel up and cut a slight recess in the end of the ferrule. Just a couple thousandths deep for the bottom to fit into and give that same ‘one barrel inside the other†look of a euro. The diameter of the recess just matches the end diameter of the bottom barrel. Then I used a bit of sandpaper to ease the sharp edges to a nice profile.
Put the top back on the mandrel and turn it to final profile (the top end to the standard bushing diameter). Finish. Assemble. Throw away the center band from the kit.
I experimented with different brasses before finding one that (after polishing and finishing) has almost exactly the color and luster of TN gold finish on the kits I started with. Using brass from solid decorator hardware (I drilled and sliced an interior door stop) for the thin bands in my home made ferrules you can’t tell they are not plated exactly the same as the rest of the hardware. Finish everything with CA, and I think they look great. Call ‘em a Mini-euro.
Couple issues/observations.
1) My first attempt came out surprisingly well, though the brass wasn't the right color. Went through 5 more attempts before I got another one to work. While I’ve made about 10 since then with no problems and am starting experiment with other looks, this is not a recipe for sure success. I do hope it gives you some ideas though.
2) I really like having the ferrule turned directly with the top barrel. The feel is perfectly smooth. If I could match the color of any hardware I’d do this for every pen I make and never use the kit center band. If you look at the topic I raised earlier this week you can see I have a fetish about parts aligning perfectly, and this insures at least this joint is perfect.
3) The pencils present another challenge. The connecting piece includes the center band, so I had to reduce its diameter till it was the same as the connecting tube. I mounted the connecting tube on an appropriate size drill for support (to keep it from being crushed) and chucked it up in my lathe (the chuck just gripping the edges of the connecting tube so I could work on the center band area). Then I used a file to reduce the center band to the same diameter as the connection parts so I could put the pencil together. The entire connecting piece is inside the barrels in the completed pencil. Sounds clumsy but works fine.
4) I found I had to take extra care with sanding and final finshing. The brass is obviously much harder than the wood or acrylic, and if you just sand free hand you'll get ridges. I used a block of scrap to back my corser papers and everything came out smooth and flush.
5) Cutting the recess into the end of the ferrule is important to maintain the look of the pen. Do it before you turn the barrel to its final profile: I'm not sure how you could accomplish this detailing without ruining the piece once its turned to final dimensions.
Sorry, I tend to get longwinded. Hope I painted clear enough pictures with my words. If this is along the lines of what you wanted to do but isn’t clear enough feel free to drop me a line.
