After making a few slimlines and starting to feel comfortable with my tools and the general process of making pens I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try a Euro.
I got two kits from Rockler, a gold and a chrome. I thought I'd try the gold first with a cheap blank I'd gotten from the budget box.
This was my first time turning a tenon and having different sizes for each end. All of the turning went very well and it was starting to look like a really nice pen.
Then the assembly started and it all went downhill from there. The ring fit on the tenon but was a hair loose so I attempted to glue it. The ring stayed on the tenon with a little CA and some accelerator. This ring had two other rings to go on it as well. Those slid on but also slid off, so again, I attempted to glue it. There must've been some accelerator on the ring though because when I slid the rings on after the glue they wouldn't go on and stuck almost immediately. I managed to get them off and sanded off most of the glue but apparently not enough. I put the first ring on and pressed it on and it stuck. The second ring wouldn't fit so I decided just to leave the one ring on it. I noticed it wasn't completely flat on the center ring though so I attempted to press it. That was another mistake. A little press and the ring pushed past the tenon and into the rest of the pen. Crap. I decided to put the rest of the pen together just for the experience and pressed the rest of it together. Minus the ring mishap it was going well until i pushed the transmission in too far. Trying to back it out caused the glue on the tube to break free and come sliding part way out.
I did eventually manage to get it all together to the point that if you look at it at a glance it looks very nice, but it's completely useless in reality. I chalk it up to experience and know that it won't be the last mishap. I wound up being out about $5 so I can't really complain and I got some more experience for next time. I really do like the Euros even if they are complex to assemble.
I got two kits from Rockler, a gold and a chrome. I thought I'd try the gold first with a cheap blank I'd gotten from the budget box.
This was my first time turning a tenon and having different sizes for each end. All of the turning went very well and it was starting to look like a really nice pen.
Then the assembly started and it all went downhill from there. The ring fit on the tenon but was a hair loose so I attempted to glue it. The ring stayed on the tenon with a little CA and some accelerator. This ring had two other rings to go on it as well. Those slid on but also slid off, so again, I attempted to glue it. There must've been some accelerator on the ring though because when I slid the rings on after the glue they wouldn't go on and stuck almost immediately. I managed to get them off and sanded off most of the glue but apparently not enough. I put the first ring on and pressed it on and it stuck. The second ring wouldn't fit so I decided just to leave the one ring on it. I noticed it wasn't completely flat on the center ring though so I attempted to press it. That was another mistake. A little press and the ring pushed past the tenon and into the rest of the pen. Crap. I decided to put the rest of the pen together just for the experience and pressed the rest of it together. Minus the ring mishap it was going well until i pushed the transmission in too far. Trying to back it out caused the glue on the tube to break free and come sliding part way out.
I did eventually manage to get it all together to the point that if you look at it at a glance it looks very nice, but it's completely useless in reality. I chalk it up to experience and know that it won't be the last mishap. I wound up being out about $5 so I can't really complain and I got some more experience for next time. I really do like the Euros even if they are complex to assemble.