Things I noticed

[jttheclockman]

I just got done with a couple full sized Majestics and a couple Cambridge elites. I have in the past done many jr gents and barons and these type better pens.

On the ones I just finished I noticed that even though these are larger pens and they are, the blank material is actually paper thin after all said and done. It is ashame you use a better grade material and spend top dollar and next thing you know it you are drilling half of it away and the other half you are turning away. Also doing the Cambridge there are so many gosh darn parts. Does it have to be that complicated??? I use a copper colored truestone on one of the Cambridge kits and it was so paper thin that evn though I left the tube brass it actuall showed the scratch marks from sanding the tube. I learned a valuable leasson that I should paint the inside of the blank also, even though I thought truestone was opaque enough. Wrong!!! Leasson learned.

 

[IPD_Mrs]

Another thing we have learned along the way when working with some of these materials is that it will show the bubbles of the glue underneath when it ends up thinner than expected. Seems like the safest bet is most generally to paint the blank inside unless using a very dark material that you know is not going to leave you with these annoyances.

Linda

 

[jttheclockman]

Another thing we have learned along the way when working with some of these materials is that it will show the bubbles of the glue underneath when it ends up thinner than expected. Seems like the safest bet is most generally to paint the blank inside unless using a very dark material that you know is not going to leave you with these annoyances.

Linda

Yes that was also evident with this copper colored blank. Really ashame too because it was going to be good looking. An expensive mistake.

 

[phillywood]

John it's a shame. I have not done many pens as much as you have ,but noticed that even with some of the 7mm tubes most of the materials on the blank is being wasted either with drilling or the turning. I can't imagine how hard it is for some of you guys to pay lots of money for a blank and end up wasting it on the drilling and the turning. most of my blanks are 5/8' or even 7/8" and I just bought some Jr. gents but still think most of the blank materials get wasted.

 

[pianomanpj]

Another thing we have learned along the way when working with some of these materials is that it will show the bubbles of the glue underneath when it ends up thinner than expected. Seems like the safest bet is most generally to paint the blank inside unless using a very dark material that you know is not going to leave you with these annoyances.

Linda

Yes that was also evident with this copper colored blank. Really ashame too because it was going to be good looking. An expensive mistake.

Maybe not a total loss, John. Buy a new blank and some replacement tubes, knock the pen apart and try, try again! You'll only be into for less than ten bucks. A LOT better than the cost of a new Majestic! Or if you're feeling REALLY frugal, turn the existing blanks down to the tubes and start from there. :biggrin:

 

[jttheclockman]

Another thing we have learned along the way when working with some of these materials is that it will show the bubbles of the glue underneath when it ends up thinner than expected. Seems like the safest bet is most generally to paint the blank inside unless using a very dark material that you know is not going to leave you with these annoyances.

Linda

Yes that was also evident with this copper colored blank. Really ashame too because it was going to be good looking. An expensive mistake.

Maybe not a total loss, John. Buy a new blank and some replacement tubes, knock the pen apart and try, try again! You'll only be into for less than ten bucks. A LOT better than the cost of a new Majestic! Or if you're feeling REALLY frugal, turn the existing blanks down to the tubes and start from there. :biggrin:

I definetly intend to do this. They are for the Camridge kit. The blanks were truestone. I think it was some copper color name. I bought them from a member here and the blank look like it had alot of potential. Live and learn as they say. get em on the next one.

 

[its_virgil]

I often wonder why complaints are issued for "wasting" material on a $5 pen blank but not on a $50 bowl blank. If we did not "waste" material we would not be woodturners. Heck, that is part of the fun of turning....let the chips fly!
Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[jttheclockman]

I often wonder why complaints are issued for "wasting" material on a $5 pen blank but not on a $50 bowl blank. If we did not "waste" material we would not be woodturners. Heck, that is part of the fun of turning....let the chips fly!
Do a good turn daily!
Don

I am sure there are those that spend that kind of money on bowl blanks but i am also pretty sure they do know what they are doing. Most bowl turners are turning free wood. This was no $5 blank .

 

[Padre]

Rhetorically speaking, it would be nice if one of the larger pen kit manufacturers would come up with some higher end, larger kits that did not make you turn the blank so thin. For many of the kits, you are still only putting a ballpoint or rollerball cartridge through them, and even on the fountain pens the cartridges, inserts, etc. do not 'fill' the tubes.

So why couldn't the tubes be knocked down a few sizes, the part of the kits that are inserted into the tubes be knocked down and allow the PR, wood or other blank material to give it the depth and heft?

 

[its_virgil]

Seems to me we have 3 choices: turn only free pen blanks, don't turn expensive blanks, or turn expensive blanks and consider the "waste" as an expense just the same as glue, sandpaper, finishing materials, electicity, and the price of pen kits. BTW, you don't ever let me get by with anything.:biggrin::biggrin::wink:
Do a good turn daily!
don

I often wonder why complaints are issued for "wasting" material on a $5 pen blank but not on a $50 bowl blank. If we did not "waste" material we would not be woodturners. Heck, that is part of the fun of turning....let the chips fly!
Do a good turn daily!
Don

I am sure there are those that spend that kind of money on bowl blanks but i am also pretty sure they do know what they are doing. Most bowl turners are turning free wood. This was no $5 blank .

 

[fernhills]

I think the whole point is to get the least amount of material wrapped around a tube so it is light as possible, without blowing up on you... The sign of a crafts-person. Carl

 

[Tanner]

Rhetorically speaking, it would be nice if one of the larger pen kit manufacturers would come up with some higher end, larger kits that did not make you turn the blank so thin. For many of the kits, you are still only putting a ballpoint or rollerball cartridge through them, and even on the fountain pens the cartridges, inserts, etc. do not 'fill' the tubes.

So why couldn't the tubes be knocked down a few sizes, the part of the kits that are inserted into the tubes be knocked down and allow the PR, wood or other blank material to give it the depth and heft?

That's exactly what I was thinking. I've looked at the end of a blank after it's turned down and thought dang it's almost paper thin. It seems like there is plenty of room in the brass tubes for the refill, so why not make the tubes a little smaller. It seems way to easy of a solution. Then we wouldn't have to painstakingly paint the tubes and the inside of the blank. I think we should make our own pen kit with tubes small enough and the outside diameter of the finished blank large enough so you never have to paint again.

 

[spnemo]

Have you ever turned a guardian pen? Less wood wasted but it is a very heavy pen because of more wood and more metal. I prefer a lighter pen with thin walls.

 

[bitshird]

I often wonder why complaints are issued for "wasting" material on a $5 pen blank but not on a $50 bowl blank. If we did not "waste" material we would not be woodturners. Heck, that is part of the fun of turning....let the chips fly!
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Don I just finished turning a Rainbow Poplar Bowl when I started the blank weighed about 12 pounds now it only weighs about 5 or 6 ounces, My heavens I should be ashamed for wasting all of that wood, but I should be rewarded cause the stuff smelled like the inside of an old gym bag.

 

[JerrySambrook]

One of the issues with larger od / smaller id setups would be weight.
How many people have picked up one of your larger size pens and say it is heavy?