Thomas1083
Member
I am new to pen turning and trying many different kits. I scored some Rockler Flat Top Pen kits at a highly discounted price on Craigslist. I'm using cheap blanks or domestic woods from the scrap bin and I don't have much invested in the pen, so a failure will not result in much lost. Just planning on making pens to give away anyway.
I clearly do not understand the assembly of the upper tube for the Flat Top pen. The instructions say to turn the blank down to the bushings (12.4mm since I was unable to buy bushings) then remove wood to expose the brass for the center band. The assembly instructions say "... press the (center band) assembly onto the exposed brass of the upper tube. If loose, carefully glue into place with a small amount of CA ...". As the picture shows, the ID of the center ring is much greater than the OD of the upper tube so no amount of CA will fill the gap.
My work-around was to leave the wood on the upper tube and turn it down to the ID of the center ring and then glue the center ring to the pen.
I am hoping that those of you who have built this kit in the past will have some great advice.
Tom
I clearly do not understand the assembly of the upper tube for the Flat Top pen. The instructions say to turn the blank down to the bushings (12.4mm since I was unable to buy bushings) then remove wood to expose the brass for the center band. The assembly instructions say "... press the (center band) assembly onto the exposed brass of the upper tube. If loose, carefully glue into place with a small amount of CA ...". As the picture shows, the ID of the center ring is much greater than the OD of the upper tube so no amount of CA will fill the gap.
My work-around was to leave the wood on the upper tube and turn it down to the ID of the center ring and then glue the center ring to the pen.
I am hoping that those of you who have built this kit in the past will have some great advice.
Tom