My Turn to Vent

[jttheclockman]

I see alot of people come here and they post threads where they are venting about something. I always laughed and said what good is that going to do. Well I am going to try it. My turn to vent. Going to be long so go get a beer.


I have come to the realiation that penturning is not and never will be an exact science.

Was in the shop today turning a JR Gent rollerball for a customer. He wanted a stainless steel casting on a Rhodium kit. OK no problem I have 2 such kits on hand. Now when I casted the SS blanks I had to cast 2 for another customer and he too wanted them for a JR. Gent. No problem and whenever I cast I always cast at least one other spare in case something goes wrong. So far so good. Customer B emails and asks if I could send him a 3rd set. I said sure no problem figuring I had an extra set anyway. I now went ahead and trimmed them back and set aside to ship customer B.

I figured while I am in the shop I will turn the pen for customer A. I was a little hesitant with using this kit with this casting because I was not sure if there was enough material without it getting too thin but it turns out fine. Beautiful turned both pieces. All polished redady for assembly. Here is where things went terribly wrong. Pressed the lower half in no problem. Pressed the black plastic coupler in no problem. Went to put the clip on the cap portion and it would not fit so I figured too much plating and I proceded to file the clip holeOK fine slides over the cap. Go to push the cap on the blank and a little snug but it went. As soon as I got it all the way on the casting cracked on the end. Evidently the too much plating was on the cap end. Now that blank is shot. I can't get the black coupler out so I will chalk that up to extra parts. But what teed me off is now I have to cast another blank.

All this because quality control could not get it right. It gets quite frustrating when you have to mic every part and every tube to make sure things will fit. There is so many variables in this pen turning hobby and that is why I say it will never be an exact science.

I guess the moral of this story is all you beginners out ther when you come here with a problem there is no season veteran laughing at you because it happens to all of us.

Happy Turning. I need a beer. I am done for the day. :frown:

 

[workinforwood]

yep...I imagine we've all been there before. It sucks to make a new blank. The old kit however will be fine. Punch out the top of the cap. Then take a nib coupler and screw it into the threads of the cap. You need to drill a 12.5 mm hole in a piece of wood for the JR disassembly. You need a dowel the same size OD as the coupler you screw into the plastic thread piece. You set the cap over the hole and you tap with a wood mallet..the idea is to push the plastic insert up through the top of the cap. Once it's 1/2 out, grab it with some needlenose and pull it out. Then take another punch and punch out the centerband. Now you simply push the plastic thread insert back on to the centerband for when you make the next pen.

If you feel the plating on the top of the cap is too thick, don't grind on that. Use a half round file and file the inside of the tube instead..it's much easier. If you file too much and the cap goes in a bit loose, well then mix up some 5 min epoxy and glue the cap into the tube. Better to glue in a loose cap than have one that's too tight it cracks the blank. Hope any of that helps you out.

The tube...forgot to mention..tubes can be irregular too! I'm not saying that was the issue here, but I have seen that a lot as I also do lots of tube casting. So you can get parts that are fine but fit too snug or too lose because the tube is off a hair. Adds to the frustration.