Kirk,
Beautiful colors! I can hardly tell that the segmentation is off. To me with my bad eyes this jet lagged morning, it looks square.
What I recently learned about segmentation is that it can be done several ways. Many fellows are super good a precise cutting; most have great jigs that aid in the precision. For me, I can't even get it right even with jigs most of the time! [xx(]
Below is how I did this one.
(click here!) I started with a great blank and an out-of-round bushing that I thought I had thrown away. One end ruined and the blank was set aside for several months. Then the idea for segmenting came to mind about a month ago. Below is the procedure that came out of that for some other pens and I am VERY happy with the squared up results.
1. I started with the main body on the blank glued onto the tube, ends milled and put onto the lathe.
2. I turned down the blank to the general size and did the END cutting with the parting knife while on the lathe. It made for a <b>square</b> cut.
3. Next I took the blank off the lathe, added the brass rings and the end pieces, which were intentionally about 1 mm too long.
3. I glued them up and pressed them lightly with a squared vise.
4. Lastly, I milled the ends and put the blank back on the lathe and finished the pen. ALL squared up.
I had to leave "cutting from a squared saw" off of my methods as it don't work for me consistently.