Adding finish to a finished pen

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad

Jamespz03

Member
Joined
May 8, 2017
Messages
33
Location
San Diego
Apologies if this was asked before but I didn't measure one of the two finished blanks and one end is a little thinner than what's needed. It's big enough to bother me but my wife said to leave it as is. I used a CA finish on the wood blank.

My question is whether I'm better off leaving it as is or trying to add some more CA glue to that area to make it fit better. It's end of the blank that attaches to the nib.

My gut instinct is telling me that I would end up making it worse and have to toss the pen or use it myself. So I'm sure someone has been in this position and can provide some experience to this noob. It is going to be a gift for my daughter.
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad

geoffholden

Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2017
Messages
53
Location
St. John's, NL, Canada
My question is whether I'm better off leaving it as is or trying to add some more CA glue to that area to make it fit better. It's end of the blank that attaches to the nib.
If you can disassemble the pen and put it back on the lathe, there's no reason why you couldn't build it up a bit with more coats of CA.
I know some people intentionally turn the blank smaller than the nib (by a few mil) to account for the thickness of the finish to end with a perfect fit.
 

thewishman

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2006
Messages
8,181
Location
Reynoldsburg, Ohio, USA.
If you decide to work on the barrel, you'll have to disassemble the pen first. Disassembly is relatively easy, but you will need tools. I use transfer punches from Harbor Freight, they are under $10 with a coupon, or you can get PSI's version for around $20.

Which kit are you using?
 

leehljp

Member Liaison
Joined
Feb 6, 2005
Messages
9,314
Location
Tunica, Mississippi,
About the third or fourth pen (slimline) I made 12+ years ago, I decided to practice and picked a piece of white holy that had a small (1/4 inch) dark knot in it. I turned it proud, just playing with it. Finished it with a thick coat of CA for practice. This was before I started using calipers and I didn't want to scrape the bushings.

Guess what! That pen haunts me at least once a week when my wife pulls it out of her purse. I put it together just to check it out, and intended to take it apart and turn it down some more. But I never got the chance.

Take it apart and build up the CA finish on it. In two or three years, you may be glad you did!

IN answer to your last question: No, don't try to add CA on an assembled pen. Several things can and will go wrong; ruin the finish, glue the parts together; glue the transmission to the tube; glue both ends together. Ruins the function of a pen.
 
Last edited:

geoffholden

Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2017
Messages
53
Location
St. John's, NL, Canada
Thanks. I'm guessing it's not advisable to add more CA with the pen assembled?
Not advisable at all. The CA fumes can ruin the plating on the metal parts. Also, it'll be extremely difficult to keep CA off the other pieces, and in trying to remove it, you're probably going to ruin the finish.

I'd say put it aside until you can get it disassembled. The punch set is cheap, and well worth having on hand.
 

magpens

Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2011
Messages
15,913
Location
Canada
In my experience, it is a must to disassemble the pen before attempting to modify the CA finish.

Even after disassembling, your modifications may work and they may not, depending on your level of experience and on your LUCK !!

In fact, I would say that, even after years of experience with CA, I might successfully make an improvement or I might make it worse ... I speak for myself and I never expect a better outcome with certainty.
 
Last edited:

Jamespz03

Member
Joined
May 8, 2017
Messages
33
Location
San Diego
Thanks everyone. I think I'll leave it as is until I can get some punches and practice. I'm seeing her tomorrow and there's just not enough time to fix it properly.
 
Top Bottom