Do you have a pen kit that is your nemesis?

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad

Beautys_Beast

Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2017
Messages
161
Location
Wisconsin/
I purchased 5 Apolo Infinity kits a couple months ago. I have attempted to turn the first one three times now. Each time, I have had a blow out. Now this pen is a VERY large pen. 9/16 top tube. I swear I am gonna beat that pen someday. Just couldn't try again today.

Do you have a kit that has your number?
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad

magpens

Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2011
Messages
15,913
Location
Canada
Hmmm ... what is a nemesis ? . Something that forever fights with you ?

I have never tried that pen kit. . If you are using acrylic, try wood.
 

gtriever

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2017
Messages
1,135
Location
Paducah, Kentucky
Yep, the Virage chrome ballpoint. Not in turning the blank, but in assembly, and only with Chrome. Someday I'll figure it out.
 

Beautys_Beast

Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2017
Messages
161
Location
Wisconsin/
Hmmm ... what is a nemesis ? . Something that forever fights with you ?

I have never tried that pen kit. . If you are using acrylic, try wood.

A nemesis is like a villain who is always against you, fighting you at every turn.

Ive tried it in both arcylic, and wood. It beat me both times. I have it glued up in wood again, just couldn't deal with attempting to turn it again today. Maybe tomorrow. Yea, that it. Tomorrow I will defeat it.
 

skiprat

Passed Away Mar 22, 2022
In Memoriam
Joined
Oct 19, 2006
Messages
7,812
Location
In a Skip in Wales
I don't know if it's still made, but the Regency pen that was sold by CSUK was a pretty tough nut to crack for a novice.
I remember when I first joined IAP, there was a tutorial, front and centre home page, by Keith Hertzog on how to make one. It's still in the library.
Another PITA was the digital watch pen. They needed a little window in the cap end to see the watch that was inside the top tube.I did make a couple but the watch itself always crapped out on me. IIRC you had to be a genius to even set the damned time on it. :biggrin:
Making a 360 herringbone blank also turned many people insane..:rolleyes:
 

leehljp

Member Liaison
Joined
Feb 6, 2005
Messages
9,314
Location
Tunica, Mississippi,
There has been a couple of threads over the past 10 years similar to your question, but they were over a specific blank more or less. I have had a couple of blanks that I could not get the correct finish - over a period of 6 months to a year, I would put it on the lathe and attempt to finish it, but something would happen such as white spots, or CA lifting on the end, or in one case old/bad CA that would not harden enough to finish properly, or something else. It was generally something that I had enough experience to overcome, but still it persisted. And the problems that would occasionally arise, all seemed to happen on that one blank. I think I have had this happen twice; I would put the blank aside and wait a few weeks and try again; and then again.


One blank was an ebony blank for a Polaris, (IIRC), the other was a segmented blank for a Sierra.
 

mecompco

Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2015
Messages
1,607
Location
Fairfield, Maine
Haha, I have a Majestic Squire that I am, IIRC, on my fifth blank with. One issue after another, not to mention that I had a defective part on the kit initially and had to deal with PSI to get it replaced. I will finish it one of these days!
 

Beautys_Beast

Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2017
Messages
161
Location
Wisconsin/
I just wanted to say, I finally beat my nemesis. It fought me to the very end, stripped the finish 3 times to get it right. It even gave me a hard time during assembly. Alas, here it is the Nemesis (Apollo Infinity) in Camphor Burl.

As a side note, I don't think I can ever sell this pen. It would be impossible to recoup the time and effort that went into it.
 

Attachments

  • Nemisis2.jpg
    Nemisis2.jpg
    65.5 KB · Views: 181

elyk864

Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2017
Messages
354
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Click Pro here, I have messed up more on assembly than anything else. Just doing stupid things and not paying attention.
 

magpens

Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2011
Messages
15,913
Location
Canada
Slimline Pro with no brass tubes and no center band

Click Pro here, I have messed up more on assembly than anything else. Just doing stupid things and not paying attention.

Kyle,

Do you mean the Slimline Pro ?

I have grown to like that kit very much. . I make it without the center band and recently I have started to make it without any brass tubes. . I drill the center with a "A" drill (0.234" diam) which is just big enough to accept the Parker refill. Then I counterdrill the ends a short amount to "L" drill size to the appropriate depth to accept the nib and the finial. . The outer diameter of the blank is machined to 0.525" and then tapered (tapers 1" long at each end) to match the bushing size (about .425").

So the blank is a total length of about 4.2" with no center band.
I really like the results.

I will be doing a thread shortly.
 

thawkins87

Member
Joined
May 15, 2017
Messages
77
Location
McKinney, TX
The Artisan Americana Rollerball from CSUSA is one of my favorite pens with the snap cap. It was actually one a friend made for me that initially got me into pen turning, but the kit was a colossal pain for me. Turning a portion of the cap down to the barrel without having it blowout or chunkout on the end was... interesting... and the snap cap feature, which I really enjoy, turned out to be incredibly difficult to get just right. I actually have another kit at home that I want to make out of a nicely figured bocote piece but have been putting off for weeks because I'm not sure how I will handle CA buildup on the end with exposed tube.
 
Top Bottom