candy1land
Member
So I finally broke down and tried two new things this weekend on my lathe.
I tried making a Sierra Twist Pen with Chrome Finish out of some maple my dear friend Cathy Sue gave me at our local chapter meeting.
I quickly figured out that my 7mm barrel trimmer by itself was not going to work on trimming the blank.
I remember seeing a video or an article about making something (like a spare blank) to fit inside the tube and then using the 7mm to trim with. So I figured since all I had was some scrap wood and extra tubes laying around I would practice turning between centers for the first time while making something to use to trim my Sierra blank.
Well let's just say I learned very quickly that if you tighten the tail stock too much you will flare the tube and split the end of the wood on the blank. Awesome! Good thing it was a scrap piece.
Also while turning between centers I find that the tool I'm using catches the piece often while taking the edges off and it won't spin well until I get the edges off.
Help and advice here would be appreciated as I've never turned between centers before and I have a brand new Live Center and Dead Center from JohnnyCNC that I would like to use. THANKS JOHNNY!
So after turning this scrap piece which I think I turned too small I put it in the Sierra tube and then used my 7mm barrel trimmer to cut the ends of the blank.
Once I was done I noticed that the Sierra pen tube was - how do I explain this? It was jagged not flat like it should be from the pen mill and the tube itself was no longer round either. I had a very hard time getting the bushings into it after using the barrel trimmer.
Once the pen went together in the end you can see the uneven ends on this beautiful wood and I just don't want to go thru that again. I love this kit.
The other problem I encountered was that when I twist the pen open and then closed the tip of the pen itself sticks and I have to push it back in as it won't retract on it's own. I have to do this repeatedly several times before the pen will retract when the transmission is turned back in.
Why is it sticking and what can I do about it?
Also the pen kit slides too easily into the tubes and I'm afraid as others have mentions that the pen will come apart. I didn't even need a pen press to put the kit together because the pieces just slid right on.
So I am quite sure there are some better ways to trim the ends of these Sierra blanks without ruining the tubes and getting an uneven trim and also advice on turning between centers - tricks of the trade if you will.
And how to get this pen kit to perform correctly without the tip of the pen not retracting correctly until I've done it about 20 times.
Thanks - I really love this type of pen so I hope I can get this right.
Candy
I tried making a Sierra Twist Pen with Chrome Finish out of some maple my dear friend Cathy Sue gave me at our local chapter meeting.
I quickly figured out that my 7mm barrel trimmer by itself was not going to work on trimming the blank.
I remember seeing a video or an article about making something (like a spare blank) to fit inside the tube and then using the 7mm to trim with. So I figured since all I had was some scrap wood and extra tubes laying around I would practice turning between centers for the first time while making something to use to trim my Sierra blank.
Well let's just say I learned very quickly that if you tighten the tail stock too much you will flare the tube and split the end of the wood on the blank. Awesome! Good thing it was a scrap piece.
Also while turning between centers I find that the tool I'm using catches the piece often while taking the edges off and it won't spin well until I get the edges off.
Help and advice here would be appreciated as I've never turned between centers before and I have a brand new Live Center and Dead Center from JohnnyCNC that I would like to use. THANKS JOHNNY!
So after turning this scrap piece which I think I turned too small I put it in the Sierra tube and then used my 7mm barrel trimmer to cut the ends of the blank.
Once I was done I noticed that the Sierra pen tube was - how do I explain this? It was jagged not flat like it should be from the pen mill and the tube itself was no longer round either. I had a very hard time getting the bushings into it after using the barrel trimmer.
Once the pen went together in the end you can see the uneven ends on this beautiful wood and I just don't want to go thru that again. I love this kit.
The other problem I encountered was that when I twist the pen open and then closed the tip of the pen itself sticks and I have to push it back in as it won't retract on it's own. I have to do this repeatedly several times before the pen will retract when the transmission is turned back in.
Why is it sticking and what can I do about it?
Also the pen kit slides too easily into the tubes and I'm afraid as others have mentions that the pen will come apart. I didn't even need a pen press to put the kit together because the pieces just slid right on.
So I am quite sure there are some better ways to trim the ends of these Sierra blanks without ruining the tubes and getting an uneven trim and also advice on turning between centers - tricks of the trade if you will.
And how to get this pen kit to perform correctly without the tip of the pen not retracting correctly until I've done it about 20 times.
Thanks - I really love this type of pen so I hope I can get this right.
Candy
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