ngeb528
Member
Then he and the dogs took cover.
I was attempting to make a custom checkbook pen for my mom this afternoon, out of a pretty piece of acrylic she picked out.
The acrylic is very light in color so decided to paint the tubes with testors.
Since she wants it for her checkbook, her concern is that the clip wouldn't connect with the loop in the middle, so I decided to move the clip closer towards the middle while still leaving enough room for her to hold the pen comfortably.
Had my hubby drill the acrylic as one long piece, glued in both tubes - butted up against each other (so I thought), squared off the end and cut a little more than 1" down from the top.
Turned it tonight - had to make it thin so it would fit in the loop in her checkbook.
Here's what went wrong:
1. Tubes weren't butted up against each other so the gap between them was showing through before I even got it to size.
2. I painted the little gap between the tubes before I put it together, no biggie. :redface:
3. Had to scrape the testors out of the end of the tube after I painted the gap. :frown:
4. While putting it together I installed the nib, then the cap, then the transmission - of course it slipped at the last second so it was too deep into the tube.
5. Tried to disassemble. The nib came out fine. The transmission didn't. Instead, the tube started to move, which of course tore the paint on the tube. That's when the swearing started.
6. Had to put an extra dimple in the lip of the transmission so the cap would stay on - more swearing here.
7. Had to glue the clip down because it was turning (and scratching the acrylic) when you'd turn the nib out. Yes, you guessed it, even more swearing.
By this time, hubby and the dogs were hiding behind his lathe - guess they figured better safe than sorry.
Needless to say - I'm going to be making a new checkbook pen for my mom and sending it to her because they're leaving for home on Monday.
Here's a picture (of course it's blurry):
I was attempting to make a custom checkbook pen for my mom this afternoon, out of a pretty piece of acrylic she picked out.
The acrylic is very light in color so decided to paint the tubes with testors.
Since she wants it for her checkbook, her concern is that the clip wouldn't connect with the loop in the middle, so I decided to move the clip closer towards the middle while still leaving enough room for her to hold the pen comfortably.
Had my hubby drill the acrylic as one long piece, glued in both tubes - butted up against each other (so I thought), squared off the end and cut a little more than 1" down from the top.
Turned it tonight - had to make it thin so it would fit in the loop in her checkbook.
Here's what went wrong:
1. Tubes weren't butted up against each other so the gap between them was showing through before I even got it to size.
2. I painted the little gap between the tubes before I put it together, no biggie. :redface:
3. Had to scrape the testors out of the end of the tube after I painted the gap. :frown:
4. While putting it together I installed the nib, then the cap, then the transmission - of course it slipped at the last second so it was too deep into the tube.
5. Tried to disassemble. The nib came out fine. The transmission didn't. Instead, the tube started to move, which of course tore the paint on the tube. That's when the swearing started.
6. Had to put an extra dimple in the lip of the transmission so the cap would stay on - more swearing here.
7. Had to glue the clip down because it was turning (and scratching the acrylic) when you'd turn the nib out. Yes, you guessed it, even more swearing.
By this time, hubby and the dogs were hiding behind his lathe - guess they figured better safe than sorry.
Needless to say - I'm going to be making a new checkbook pen for my mom and sending it to her because they're leaving for home on Monday.
Here's a picture (of course it's blurry):
