Washington Lignum Vitae

[qquake]

This is a Washington screw cap rollerball, in silver, from Rockler. It is the same as the Berea Churchill, I believe. It's big, the center band is 0.59" in diameter. I love big pens, and wanted to like this one, but it feels cheap to me. When I assembled it, it shaved off some of the plastic from the various parts. But it's not a bad pen overall. I do like it with the lignum vitae.

 

[David350]

Jim, very nice blank and finish. I have made the Churchill and I agree with your comments. For me, the pen kit is OK, but it would be IMHO a really nice pen if it had a better quality components as in less / no plastic, even at a higher kit price...

 

[qquake]

Jim, very nice blank and finish. I have made the Churchill and I agree with your comments. For me, the pen kit is OK, but it would be IMHO a really nice pen if it had a better quality components as in less / no plastic, even at a higher kit price...

The kit was $20 at Rockler. I think it should be higher quality at that price. The Citizen I recently made from Crooked Mill was only $18, and much higher quality IMO.

 

[Curly]

Jim you pen looks very good but the belief that it is not a quality kit is flawed. If you offer it to a person that writes a lot with fountain pens, journaling for example, it and the "high quality" kit with lots of metal and bling, they will pick the Washington/Churchill/El Grande type pen every time. The light weight pen is desired for long writing sessions because it doesn't tire the user. The bling pen attracts the casual users that doesn't use it for much more than special occasion signatures, or the Magpie pen buyers that like the shine. You never see the best kitless pens weigh very much as the users like them light.

 

[qquake]

Jim you pen looks very good but the belief that it is not a quality kit is flawed. If you offer it to a person that writes a lot with fountain pens, journaling for example, it and the "high quality" kit with lots of metal and bling, they will pick the Washington/Churchill/El Grande type pen every time. The light weight pen is desired for long writing sessions because it doesn't tire the user. The bling pen attracts the casual users that doesn't use it for much more than special occasion signatures, or the Magpie pen buyers that like the shine. You never see the best kitless pens weigh very much as the users like them light.

"Magpie pen buyers." LOL

 

[eteska]

I love the Churchill. It's one of the first pens that I made. Still use them almost every day.

 

[Bats]

When I assembled it, it shaved off some of the plastic from the various parts.

I just put together my first Jr (a Jr. George) last night with some gorgeous Indian rosewood from @wood128 (I was terribly proud of the way it was turning out, too... right up until it was time for assembly, when I discovered I'd turned the body tube backwards) and noticed that Ed's directions on Exotic Blanks actually addresses this issue:

...press the cap onto the black plastic and metal centerband DO NOT PUSH ALL THE WAY DOWN!!!!

Clean the "shavings" off that are between the metal centerband and the piece you turned for the cap– Once this is completely clean THEN continue to seat your cap into the centerband until flush.

Mine was a loose enough fit - possibly because TBC ended up chamfering the ends of the tubes - that I didn't get any shavings. Should I feel cheated?