Ancient Mars closed end Gentlemans (Full Pic)

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Very nice pen. I like the gent and jr gent and that is one of my favorite blanks from Dawn. Your pen making skills are way advanced compared to mine. I have tried to make the closed end on the jr gent and can not get the clip on right (like yours). If you wouldn't mind can you give me a hint on how you do it. I've tried turning a tenon on the finial but I guess I can't get the tolerances tight enough to hold the clip down. I've thought about cutting off the finial to the kit piece and gluing the insert part on a blank and then turning it. Can you give me a hint?
 
aggromere said:
... Can you give me a hint?
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I actually drill a shallow receiving hole in the finial piece. Then I create a post that is as close to the tube diameter as I can get without having to press it in. Then I glue it to the finial and use that to turn it, sand it and polish it. Then I glue the finial / clip assembly into the tube with thick CA. I align the grain and center it quickly and then hold it down tight until cured. Then, if necessary, I'll send a little thin CA down from the threaded end to fill any gaps that might be there.
 
Eric,

You're a very BRAVE man!!! Until the "pen" part is OFF the lathe and polished, I would NEVER post HALF a pen.

My buffer would KILL the pen, just to spite me!!!!

Good LUCK and GREAT start!!
 
I like living on the edge. Erm, yeah. It's done. I just need to assemble it, but I've got to run now. Pictures later.

PS: I know it was here, though I don't remember exactly who or where, but whoever suggested using Pam cooking spray to lubricate while drilling, thank you.
 
You are right, There's no angle from which it isn't spectacular. The photos look great, but until you hold it in your hand and look at in the sun light you don't know what you are missing. I have got 6 orders form the guys I work with after they seen mine ( the one that was on the front page). You did one heck of a job with this one.
 
alphageek said:
Dawn may be an artist with the acrylics, but you TRUELY are an artist too! Beautiful!
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Actually Eric is pretty good with acrylics too! The first Mars pens Eric turned had a darker look to them. He suggested that they might look better lighter, and he graciously worked with me to get what you see today.

I think that his efforts paid off here. Thank you Eric! That is truly a beauty of a pen!:worship:
 
pretty for sure...


But i am a bit confused. It appears to me, that there is a bad fit where the nib holder meets the blank. It seems like the material has been left proud to match the lid when closed. I don't own any "pen philosophy" books,so i know nothing about all that. I just know that i try very hard to get the fits as close to "perfect" as possible and two people think my pen is "cool", but you post a pen with what appearsto be a horrid fit and everyone thinks it's the Bee's Knees. Not trying to stir anything up, just trying to improve my game.
 
RAdams said:
pretty for sure...


But i am a bit confused. It appears to me, that there is a bad fit where the nib holder meets the blank. It seems like the material has been left proud to match the lid when closed. I don't own any "pen philosophy" books,so i know nothing about all that. I just know that i try very hard to get the fits as close to "perfect" as possible and two people think my pen is "cool", but you post a pen with what appears to be a horrid fit and everyone thinks it's the Bee's Knees. Not trying to stir anything up, just trying to improve my game.
Click to expand...

The fit isn't necessarily horrid, if it's intended, or at least can't be helped. It was a necessary compromise.

I, too, always try to get the fit as perfect as possible. The fit at the various points of contact everywhere was quite nice actually, about as good as one can get with a wood lathe, except at the nib. As you probably know, on the Gentlemans pen, you have a pen with a narrower diameter, tapering even narrower yet at the finial, and nib coupler that goes up into the centerband, giving you a truncated look. The customer wanted a cigar look which entailed a uniform size at the centerband. So, as you saw, I had to leave it proud in order for the diameters to match (not to mention the grain of the blank.) Yes, this means the fit is "off" on the pen end, but that is how the customer wanted it. I have already done this for another pen (see linked page below) and he was fine with it.

Also, you have to leave it even thicker than usual (which makes the pen side even more "off") since you are going without the reinforcement of the centerband and that is risky, as you can see in my post on this page.

I wrote with it myself and it felt fine. Because it's all acrylic it is very light, and the customer really wanted that thick nib in both his pens.
 
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"I see" Said the blind man.

I like the way it looks, i was just curious of how exactly that worked. I knew it was done on purpose, i just wanted re make sure i was at least close to correct in my thinking. Thank you for sharing with me! I plan to start attempting to do some kitless work soon, and this info will no doubt help alot!
 
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