Round top european pen (Berea kit 301)

[woodstump]

I have a set of these kits I about to embark upon. Does anybody have better instructions then what is given out by Berea? I'm not a stupid person, but these directions are incredible! I truly believe that they were written in chineese piglatin, translated to italian, then faxed to ireland to be interpreted by an elderly priest into a lost celtic language and then translated into english for our use.
Well, maybe not that bad, but they seem to refer to items that aren't on the parts list, such as....

"CAP- DO NO TURN MID-BODY OF CAP DOWN TO BUSHING. TURN IT TO (.515) TO MATCH CENTER RING MARK THE CAP (.240) INCHES FROM MID-BODY END OF CAP WITH PEN OR PENCIL. FOLLOWING YOUR MARK TURN TENDON ON CAP MEASURING (.412)"

There is no CAP!!! Are they refering to the upper body as a cap? do they mean the tenon is the cap? why do they hate me?

Ok, I feel better now...

seriously, has anyone generated beter instructions for this pen?

Don

 

[ctEaglesc]

As a suggestion, look throught he Woodcraft selection.
Berea supplies many of their kits.
WC's download library is pretty good.
This is just a suggestion.
Other than that call Berea and have them translate.

 

[DCBluesman]

This was the second kit that I made and the instructions frustrated me so much that I quit turning the pen. What all of that gobbledy-gook means is you will need to cut a 1/4" tenon at the bottom of the top blank (where the pen separates) to accept the centerband. Good luck!

 

[wayneis]

Most instructions are written assuming that the person is a seasoned penmaker not a beginner in my opinion. You need to get a handle on all of the terminolgy used in penmaking and that will help. The cap is the upper portion of the pen and the tenon is what you have to turn for the centerband to fit onto. It will help greatly if you get a good caliper and then before turning any pen take the parts out of the baggies and lay them out as they go together to form the pen. Then measure all of the parts and that is what you need to turn the wood to, NOT the bushing. The bushing is only a guide, period. Once you do a couple of the euro's it will come pretty easy as most of them do.

Wayne

 

[jwoodwright]

After the Celtic into English it is <s>borrowed</s> and then translated into Cyrillic, then using <s>borrowed</s> translators becomes Technical English...[}]

 

[adirondyke]

Penn State Industries also has pen kit instructions which you can download. Their "Designer Twist Pen" is very similar (perhaps identical?) to the European pen. You can find it by going to their "Download Library" link. Good luck!

Marilyn
Ocean Park, WA []

 

[Ken Massingale]

That's the same kit as the PennState Designer. They have a sizing sleeve bushing to replace the CB bushing that comes with the kit, and instructions that make the pen much easier to build. It's at http://www.pennstateind.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PSI&Product_Code=PKMONT-BUX&Category_Code=DE7T

 

[Rifleman1776]

Don, don't be embarrassed. I agree completely with you. Some of the instructions are very confusing and sometimes contain errors. You did the right thing by asking. I've been making pens less than a year and faced the same quandry as you, still am. i.e. the famous "7mm" bit isn't even 7mm. Go figger. No, don't, it will make you crazy. Some of the instructions remind me of when I was starting out with computers. The instructions were literal translations from whatever language, written by people who knew what they were doing but didn't know how to tell others, they assumed the reader already knew. But 'duh', if they already know, why would they need instructions? Hand in there and don't be shy to ask. This list has helped me a lot.