Tips for turning Jr. Gents Pens?

[Dominic Greco]

Last night I just drilled my first set of Jr Gentleman's Rollerball and Fountain Pen blanks. Using a 1/2" diameter drill bit on an approx. 3/4" blank is a bit scary. But I just took my time and used some new sharp drill bits and managed NOT to blow through the sides of any of the blanks. I'm so used to drilling a 7mm or 10mm hole that these looked huge to me.

If could bother you, I have some questions.

1.) I was planning on using Gorilla Glue (Elmer's version of it actually. Could you believe it was half the price of the name brand "Gorilla Glue"?) to install the brass tubes into the blank. Do you think that's a good way to go?

2.) What kind of barrel trimmer do you use for these gigantic brass barrels in the blanks? I have the one that PSI sells. And I'm damn sure it doesn't have a 1/2" or 27/64" insert! So either I come up with a shop built solution, or need to buy something else.

3.) Any tips for turning the barrels (other than "carefully") so that I don't ruin a $16 pen kit?

If you can think of anything else I might need to know, I'd appreciate the heads up.

 

[rtjw]

1.) I would use CA glue for the tubes.

2.) I use the TS to trim (yea, you heard it right)

3.) Choose your wood carefully and go slow when turning. Use a good finish that your used to, sand, sand, and sand some more, be watchful when putting the pen together.

 

[ed4copies]

On point 3, remember you are not gambling the kit. You can buy replacement tubes. So, if you screw up or, if the pen doesn't turn out "worthy" of final assembly, put it in "unfinished goods" and start another. Some day (after 10 years it hasn't happened yet, but some day) you will figure out what to do with "unfinished goods". But, if you assemble it and it is not saleable-THEN you have wasted the kit.

If you are using an expensive blank (stabilized, snake skin), "unfinished goods" becomes a more difficult verdict.[:0][:0]

 

[pastorbill1952]

If you presently have a barrel trimmer then use a blank drilled w/ 1/4" hole & turn to size. I have used some of my goofs from SL to do this. Use the turned blank as a shim over the 7mm trimmer shaft. I think I have read that corian is better because the heat is too much for wood.

 

[Joe Melton]

I trim all of my blanks except corian and acrylics with a radial arm saw. Never had a problem doing this, and it is quite accurate. You have to be pretty sure the tube is parallel to the sides of the blank, though.
If you ruin the wood while turning, just turn the rest of the wood off the tube, and reuse it in another blank. This is based on theory, rather than experience, of course.
Joe

 

[Ron in Drums PA]

How the Heck are you doing Dom!

1) I've used the Elmers "Gorilla Glue" also. It works well. If you use CA use the thick stuff.

2) Turn your blanks round then square them on a belt sander using a miter gauge.

3) Say 3 Mail Mary's and two Our Fathers. Turn to the right three times and do the Hokey Pokey.

 

[chigdon]

I really like using CA glue personally -- I honestly use it because I AM that impatient.

Also you can get about any size barrel trimmer from BB. They may not have the exact size for those but they might. You will have to get one of his trimmer heads -- at least it was different from the one I had before.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Johnny said, "...go slow when turning" For clarification, I'm sure he meant to take your time. NOT to run the lathe slowly. Use high speed but be deliberate in your cuts.

 

[vick]

Originally posted by Dominic Greco
<br />Last night I just drilled my first set of Jr Gentleman's Rollerball and Fountain Pen blanks. Using a 1/2" diameter drill bit on an approx. 3/4" blank is a bit scary. But I just took my time and used some new sharp drill bits and managed NOT to blow through the sides of any of the blanks. I'm so used to drilling a 7mm or 10mm hole that these looked huge to me.

If could bother you, I have some questions.

1.) I was planning on using Gorilla Glue (Elmer's version of it actually. Could you believe it was half the price of the name brand "Gorilla Glue"?) to install the brass tubes into the blank. Do you think that's a good way to go?

2.) What kind of barrel trimmer do you use for these gigantic brass barrels in the blanks? I have the one that PSI sells. And I'm damn sure it doesn't have a 1/2" or 27/64" insert! So either I come up with a shop built solution, or need to buy something else.

3.) Any tips for turning the barrels (other than "carefully") so that I don't ruin a $16 pen kit?

If you can think of anything else I might need to know, I'd appreciate the heads up.

1. Personally I think Gorrila or Epoxy are both fine, I rarely use CA but that is a personal preference. I think Gorilla is best but I have switched to epoxy because of the shorter cure time and less clean up.

2. make adapters for your barel trimmer. You can use stable hardwood but I would suggest some type of plastic ( i use PVC blanks). Take your piece and either drill a hole the size of your mandrel or dill a 7mm hole and glue a tube in. The place on mandrel betwean bushings and turn until level with the part of the bushing that fits in the tube. Make sure to test fit inside tube. You then put the adapter on your barrel trimmer to square the blank.

3. Their is nothing special about turning these barrels this is a very easy kit to turn. As stated earlier you cannot waste a kit turning only tubes, if you do mess up you can either turn the wood off the tubed or soak blanks in acetone and the tubes should slide right out (I use acetone).

This is just my opinion multiple ways will give good results. Good luck!

 

[JimGo]

Originally posted by Ron in Drums PA
2) Turn your blanks round then square them on a belt sander using a miter gauge.

Ron, isn't that counterproductive? I mean, he just turned the blanks, why square them up again?

(Sorry...trying to be funny...yes, I DO realize that you meant to square the ENDS of the blanks!)

Dom, I prefer Gorilla Glue, but use thick CA on some occasions. You can make your own adapter for the barrel trimmer using scraps of wood or Corian, and, as others have mentioned, you can get spare tubes for pretty cheap so don't sweat the kit too bad!

 

[Dominic Greco]

Thanks for all of the input! I appreciate all the tips. I especially like the tip on turning the blanks round then squaring up the ends on a disc sander or tablesaw (using a sled, of course).

I should have known about using the insert on the barrel trimmer. It's a good one and it's also in Kip Christensen & Rex Burmingham's book "Turning Pens and Pencils". I use that as a reference most of the time.

 

[Randy_]

Originally posted by Dominic Greco<br />Last night I just drilled my first set of Jr Gentleman's Rollerball and Fountain Pen blanks. Using a 1/2" diameter drill bit on an approx. 3/4" blank is a bit scary. But I just took my time and used some new sharp drill bits and managed NOT to blow through the sides of any of the blanks. I'm so used to drilling a 7mm or 10mm hole that these looked huge to me....

The Jr. Gent kit calls for a 15/32" and a 25/64" so you could help yourself a bit by using the smaller drill.

 

[Old Griz]

Randy the new Jr Gent II calls for a 1/2" & 27/64" bit

 

[epson]

I use the Universal Pen Squaring Jig to square the pen blanks http://www.pennstateind.com/store/pksquare.html
It always gives me a square end on the pen blank regardless of size. I also have the individual barrel triming system from Craft Supply. There are about ten barel trimmer shafts. I can always use the universal squaring Jig when I do not have the right barrel trimmer. It is worth the $18.85.

 

[wayneis]

I agree with epson on this one. I think that the $18.95 that I spent for this jig was money well spent, it is all that I use for any size blank and I get square ends every time.

Wayne

Originally posted by epson
<br />I use the Universal Pen Squaring Jig to square the pen blanks http://www.pennstateind.com/store/pksquare.html
It always gives me a square end on the pen blank regardless of size. I also have the individual barrel triming system from Craft Supply. There are about ten barel trimmer shafts. I can always use the universal squaring Jig when I do not have the right barrel trimmer. It is worth the $18.85.

 

[Randy_]

Originally posted by Old Griz<br />Randy the new Jr Gent II calls for a 1/2" & 27/64" bit

Story of my life.....day late and a dollar short? Tom: I was talking about the original Jr. Gent. Never crossed my mind that the post might be about the new version?? Sorry.

Speaking of that, I wrote Nils a message some time ago and suggested that there would be confusion with pen kits of the same name. Didn't really expect them to do anything since they were already committed; but it obviously was not the best idea to use the same name IMO!!

 

[wdcav1952]

Wayne and Jack,

Can you give me an explanation of how the universal squaring jig works for different sizes of tubes? I like the idea of one, but can't figure that out from the pix or description.

TIA,

 

[Dominic Greco]

Originally posted by epson
<br />I use the Universal Pen Squaring Jig to square the pen blanks http://www.pennstateind.com/store/pksquare.html
It always gives me a square end on the pen blank regardless of size. I also have the individual barrel triming system from Craft Supply. There are about ten barel trimmer shafts. I can always use the universal squaring Jig when I do not have the right barrel trimmer. It is worth the $18.85.

I was actually thinking of just picking one of these up tomorrow (PSI's Showroom is along my way home from work). Heck, for the money how could I go wrong?

But I was reading in the most recent PSI catalog that you need to square one end first. That statement really doesn't make sense to me. I assume that since the jig uses the tube to guide the blank to the face of the disc, you do one side, flip it over and repeat.

 

[Paul Russell]

I've been using the PSI jig for years. It sits on your belt sander clamped to the miter gauge so that the shaft is at 90 degrees to the belt, horizontally and vertically. The barrel to be trimmed slides on the shaft and is pushed into the belt. Check it every few seconds and go slow as you near the brass tube. After you have done it for awhile you can actually hear a sound difference when the belt gets to the brass tube. The shaft is 1/4" for 7mm tubes. To do other sizes simply make an insert that slides over the shaft then the barrel over the insert.

 

[wayneis]

William I couldn't say it any clearer than Paul just did. I laughed when I read about hearing the difference because I had considered writing just that a couple days ago and thought that people would think I was nuts, in fact you can hear the difference and if you are paying attention to what you are doing then you are ready to back it off and you don't shorten the blank or tube at all. If you have the time and tools you could make one of these yourself, its pretty easy. All you need is a piece of aluminum angle material which you cut in half and attaching them to each other. One face, the one that faces the disk needs a 1/4" hole drilled and you incert a piece of mandrel shaft with a nut on each side. You should get the drift just looking at the photo. I wish that Paul from Oaklahoma would also make these along with his drilling jig.

Wayne

 

[Scott]

Well, one thing about showing up late is that I have nothing constructive to add! [8D] But I wanted to say Hi, and I'm glad to see your name pop up!

Scott.

 

[Dominic Greco]

Just an update here. I purchased the <b>PSI barrel sanding jig </b>this past Friday and used it on the same day.

I'm a Mechanical Engineer and a Machine Designer by trade. So I guess I'm always critical of tool design. But to be honest, I was very underwhelmed by the construction. It's just a piece of aluminum angle with a length of rod attached to it via a smaller piece of alum angle. In addition, the length of rod that holds the blanks seemed too thin in diameter and I was sure it would flex under load. But I figured I give it a go and purchased it anyway.

(If before I purchased it, I had more details on it's design, I could have built a similar rig out of something a bit more "robust". Maybe some 2" x 2" angle iron, nuts, and all-thread rod. But that's hindsight for you.)

I decided to give it a test run. So I gathered up some spare (read that as "botched") cigar pen blanks that were laying about in my shop and proceeded to set up my disc sander per the directions. I calibrated the miter gage so that the 90 degree alignment was maintained. I even installed a new 120 grit disk on the sander. Per some tips given to me by a member of PSI's staff, I installed one bushing and used a smalled shimmed (wrapped in masking tape) bushing to hold the blank securely on the rod. Even with using a light touch, I was aware of the bar flexing when placed under load. Upon checking the "trimmed" end of the blank with a square, I found that it was out. I wasn't real happy about that but decided to try it again. The same thing happened.

Maybe it was me, and I didn't use it right. But for $18.99, I expected something that would be more forgiving. At least something that looked better built! Anyway, I cleaned the jig off, boxed it up and will return it next week.

On the advice of Jim Shaver (who turns a lot of these style pens), Friday night I ordered the 3/4" barrel trimmer and pilot drills I needed from CSUSA. Since I already use a similar barrel trimmer (from PSI), I feel much more confident about this method.

Thank you all again for the input. I appreciate you all taking the time to help me out.

 

[scubaman]

Originally posted by Dominic Greco
<br />Just an update here. I purchased the <b>PSI barrel sanding jig </b>this past Friday and used it on the same day.
.
.
.
Thank you all again for the input. I appreciate you all taking the time to help me out.

I agree, like a lot of PSI tools, this jig is underengineered. However, treated properly, it can work. I am totally lost about what on earth you were doing with bushings on this jig. You need shim barrels, that's all. Just turn a piece of wood, drilled D or 1/4" (generally 1/4" will give you a tight fit in wood) so that the tube you're working on just slips over it. Some plastic or scrap corian is better because it's stable, but I have no problem with wood. You can also glue in a 7mm tube if you want. You should never have enough load on this to flex... Just go slower! And trim the barrel before you square it - all these jigs should be used for SQUARING not for trimming! Less that 1/32" - and less is definitely better. Don't press forward very hard! You can listen for the change in sounds as you reach the brass - it's quite obvious. When I first started using the sander I didn't know this, but once someone pointed this out to me, I could hear it very easily. As soon as you hear that you've reached the brass, stop. Before taking the barrel off, rotate it with slight forward pressure - that helps even out any angle you may have introduced because of too much pressure before.

 

[wayneis]

I have used one of these jigs for over a year and have never flexed the shaft, this is not play ground toys its a squaring jig. If you pushed so hard that you flexed the shaft there is no way that you were giving this tool a fair test. Also using a shim wrapped in masking tape is just asking for an uneven result. Like Rich just said you need to turn sleeves that just fit inside the tubes and use a LIGHT touch.

Wayne


I decided to give it a test run. So I gathered up some spare (read that as "botched") cigar pen blanks that were laying about in my shop and proceeded to set up my disc sander per the directions. I calibrated the miter gage so that the 90 degree alignment was maintained. I even installed a new 120 grit disk on the sander. Per some tips given to me by a member of PSI's staff, I installed one bushing and used a smalled shimmed (wrapped in masking tape) bushing to hold the blank securely on the rod. Even with using a light touch, I was aware of the bar flexing when placed under load. Upon checking the "trimmed" end of the blank with a square, I found that it was out. I wasn't real happy about that but decided to try it again. The same thing happened.

 

[Thumbs]

I agree the rod is designed for a standard 7mm slimline tube. If you're going up to a 10mm cigar tube you definitely need a shim barrel that makes up the difference between the 7mm and the 10mm tubes. You need a different shim barrel adapter to match all the different tubes you're going to work on. []