How to (Possibly) Ruin a Blank

[AngryRhino]

Last night I was super excited to turn a piece of spalted tamarind I recently got. Not just any piece of spalted tamarind though, THE NICEST piece of spalted tamarind I personally have ever seen. Crazy patterns etc through it, and not a cheap blank.

So, I go to drill my blanks, and am slightly distracted by my wife talking to me and my toddler running around in the other room. (He's not allowed into the shop.) I am putting it on a Baron kit, and I end up drilling the long blank to 15/32 instead of the short blank!

Frantically, I begin thinking of other kits I can use. The Imperial kit is much longer, so it's a no go there... Turns out the full size Majestic is just about the same length.

Going to order one from Ed & Dawn (Exotic Blanks was a huge help in this dilema,) but given that the smallest dimension of the short blank is 3/4", and the full size Majestic uses a 37/64 drill bit, it's going to be a tiiiiiiight squeeze.

Wish me luck!

 

[jimofsanston]

Been there done that. Makes you want to stop and come back tomorrow.

 

[Jim Burr]

Never done that with a Jr Gent on the nib tube with the big bit...Oh noooo! Watch out for that tamarind...nasty toxic.

 

[Justturnin]

Glad you didn't panic and go nuts because this wont be the last time.

 

[bobjackson]

Good luck on the save. Most of us have done that a time or two. I usually make mistakes several times to see if it's just me or the pen blank faierie being mean.

 

[LagniappeRob]

FYI - the Library has a good reference on pen tube sizes for the various kits: http://content.penturners.org/library/general_reference/bushingsandtubes.pdf

Good save!

 

[Ambidex]

Good luck Michael...step drill and patience...and hopefully we'll get to see pics pf the finished pen. I love spalted tamarind

 

[AngryRhino]

Well, after MANY trials and tribulations, I have finished this pen.

Turns out my blanks that were sized for the navigator were a little shorter than the ones for the majestic. This came in to play big time when I was assembling the pen, as the final wouldn't fit on due to the plastic tube on the center band being too long for the shortened blank.

It took a lot of fiddling and work, and this is the result. Let me know what you think of my "save" project.

 

[woodworkerdan]

Looks like you did it righteous! Good save.

Dan Harriman
Orange Texas

 

[randyrls]

Beautiful!!!

 

[bkersten]

Super grain on that one- rich looking.

 

[OZturner]

Great Job, Well Done.
Blank is beautiful, Great Recovery, and suits the Pen you eventually used.
Congratulations.
Brian