Slight accident with a Beaufort Inks Mistral FP

[Chillicamper]

I thought I'd treat myself and try out a the new(ish) Beaufort Ink Mistral kit

I have to say it's a high end kit, beautifully smooth to put together.

The wood is FiddlebackTasmanian Blackwood. Whilst turning it became evident that there was a fault in the wood - drilling it I seemed to hit a softer spot, but I'd not been able to see any obvious issues before gluing the tube.

However the fault turned out to be a section of bark (like you find in a burl) or maybe a small rotten knot? Basically I'd virtually got it down to sanding size and there was a section that was paper thin and flexed lightly. There was no point leaving it to break through when I sanded it, so I carefully excavated out the area of the darker soft and crumbly section and was left with a bigish hole going right through to the tube.

So after a bit of swearing and head scratching I sanded it back and filled it with brass dust and CA glue.

It's a good job that it's a pen meant for me, but it saved the pen from being scrapped and I think it looks quite funky.

The pen is fitted with a Bock nib and I love how it writes.

 

[Sappheiros]

Oh, gosh... I feel for you! Everything else about it turned out beautifully! Glad you were able to make the best out of the situation, though. Cheers!

 

[1080Wayne]

Nice wood . I would have just hardened up the soft part with thin CA .

 

[Chillicamper]

Nice wood . I would have just hardened up the soft part with thin CA .

I'd usually have tried that, but it was not possible in this case. It had crumbled to virtually dust when I drilled the hole for the tube. I hadn't noticed this until it was ready for sanding, There was a skin of 'normal' wood over a void underneath. When I broke through this extremly thin skin of wood, the dust virtally fell out leaving the tube exposed! There was not enough crumbly wood to really stabilise, hence the need to tidy the edges as best as possible and fill the void.

 

[OZturner]

My Heart goes out to you David,
You were really between that "Rock and a Hard Spot",
I initially wondered if you could have Carefully Turned the Broken Segment off, and then Attached a Segmented Section onto the Tube. But when you look closely, that would have Diminished the Beauty of the Blank, so perhaps the action you took, was the best way to go.
Love the Profile, and Proportions of your Pen, Your Original Blank Choice was Fantastic, as is your Fit and Finish.
Congratulations, and Deep Commiserations.
Brian.

 

[Lucky2]

I think that I'd have returned the body piece with a contrasting piece of PR, or another type of wood. I've done that a few times, and I don't even waste the brass tube.
Len