Big ol' crack

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Sev3en

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Nov 7, 2014
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Looking for ideas on repair. I have searched and read, just looking for new ideas and fresh up to date perspectives.

This is a cigar in Black Ti. Blank is Kingwood. Was made in December just before Christmas. Crack appeared last week. Is a commissioned pen so customer really would like to have a repair attempted.

On a side note, has any one else experience significant wear on the black enamel parts? The center band and top band edges are wearing and the underlying material (copper/brass) is now showing. While I'm very happy to know that this pen gets daily carry and use I'm supper disappointed at the wear after just 3 months.

Thanks folks.
cheers
 

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Kingwood is one of those woods that is prone to crack. Maybe you fix this one and another pops up. I would fill the wood with sanding dust and mixture of med CA. If you have any of the wood still around. As far as the wear and tear on the pen parts, again it is normal. Anything that has been colored is going to wear. Good luck. If you want to be the good guy and just make him a whole new pen unless there is sentimental value on his part there so be careful if you are doing that.
 
I'm skeptical that it's wear. I wonder what really happened to cause a crack to suddenly appear and to have the black enamel "wear" like that. It almost looks like it was scraped off.

If it was a pen I made, I'd make a replacement and then suggest that whatever he was doing that caused the wear, he might want to consider not doing. :)
 
Any repair to that crack is going to look like a repaired crack. It just happens on some exotics and poorly dried domestics. Normal wear on the parts if it's a daily user and not an upgrade finish.
 
I'd agree with JT - Kingwood is prone to cracking, doesn't dry easily.

I'd also agree with Rich (Low-48), if you attempt a "fix"...it will look like a fix. Make it obvious - Crushed turquoise, red coral, etc... It will be apparent, but not necessarily a defect. :tongue:

Hope for the best...
 
Well, repairs have been always seen as a challenge to me, I strive by being able to do the almost impossible, that explains why once, I was a very well sourced, old furniture restorer so, it requires the combination of many tricks and bricks learned through the years however, it requires patience, time and effort, most of those I'm lacking in these days.

Repairs can take sometimes, many times the amount of time needed to make a new piece, and in this case, in there is no sentimental value to that piece of wood, making a new pen, seem the most obvious solution. Would I use the same wood, probably but, I would be drying/roasting it in an oven for a couple of days to make sure it is dry and then let the wood acclimatize to the surroundings conditions to minimize the risk of movement after starting working on the new pen.

As far as a possible repairs, sure, a quick solution would be filling the crack with something, would it look OK, probably not.
If you want to try a repair to bring it to its original condition and not be seen as a fix, this would be what I would do.

- Dismantle the pen and remove/drill the brass tube from that barrel, you need to tape the wood to avoid complete separation...!

- Put the barrel in an oven at 70° Celsius for about 6 to 8 hours

- While the wood is hot, put some glue in the crack and clamp it until the crack closes, completely. Careful to not distort its shape.

- The next day remove clamp and re- drill to correct tube size

- Glue the tube back in, making sure the glue is evenly spread through the barrel and in particularly, in the area of the crack.

- Correct/clean/turn/sand any glue or other, on the crack area, re-finish and assemble the pen.

Note: If the barrel has become a little under-size, you may need to apply multiple coast of CA to bring it to correct size, similar finish will need to be done also on the other pen barrel...!

Good luck

Cheers
George
 
Quote Sev3en:On a side note, has any one else experience significant wear on the black enamel parts? The center band and top band edges are wearing and the underlying material (copper/brass) is now showing. While I'm very happy to know that this pen gets daily carry and use I'm supper disappointed at the wear after just 3 months.

I had a similar "revelation" to the brassing that can occur with the standard Cigar kit. The customer had a problem with the pen, asked me to fix it. I noted the brass wear-thru (after only about 6 months). Since that time, I have avoided the standard Cigar. I do happily use the hybrid Cigar, which is all high-end plating instead enamel.
 
That is a temperature crack, there are various ways to fix it. All the ones above will work, you may also use stabilizing, this will stop the problem. Also, what I do is I dismantle the pen, fill the crack with black CA. Once dry I smooth it out on the lathe and apply thin Ca and sock all the wood well this will stabilize the blank. then I apply a few coats of thick Ca to create a nice finish. As for the kit itself, replace it with a black TI kit.
Joey
 
Sorry to hear about your problem, but the information and tips I learned from this conservation are why I joined this organization. Thanks everyone.
 
That is disappointing to hear about the enamel wearing. It sounds like by opting for the pricier Black Ti that you care about durability.

Can you share with us what brand cigar component that is?
 
+100000000 on starting over , especially if the kit parts are showing significant wear.

Otherwise, if you have the some wood scraps of the same material laying around, mount it to the lathe and turn it to get the dust, then use the dust to fill the crack and seal it with CA and finish with a satin sheen.
 
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