Turning was a bust today....literally!

[sachbvn]

So.... I had blanks cut and drilled/glued for three pens. Birdseye maple - Honduras Rosewood, and Bolivian Rosewood.

I was turning my merry little way.... - got both Bolivian Rosewood blanks turned and finished - both Birdseye Maple blanks turned and finished..... got the first Honduras Rosewood blank turned and finished, and on the last friggin' blank - crack..... it tore apart while turning. Chit.... well.... the other day I was turning a pen from Honduras rose wood and split half the blank - but kept the other half.... so I started to turn that one even though they wouldn't match 100%...... crack - I split that one too!!

So... for the mathematicians here.... that is THREE blanks of Honduras Rosewood cracked on the lathe.

Hmm.... so - I started to investigate (and yes, the gouge was sharp the whole time, and I was going slow - they all happened when the blank was turned down quite a ways) I realized that there is a fair amount of the brass tube that was dry - didn't have any CA glue on it. So... I'm thinking that is my problem. I was putting it on, thought I was covering everything, but trying not to have too much excess.... next time I'm just going to make sure the whole blank is covered - all the excess turns off anyways.

So...yeah - that sucked - but two pens to put together right?

Well.... I started to assemble the Bolivian Rosewood pen - what do you know? I shove the twist mechanism too far in - pen won't work.... chit chit chit - F-it.... I pull the tip off and will use the kit another time. That pen junked..... So... I started the Birdseye Maple pen...which IMO looked pretty snazzy.... what do you know - I shove the damn twist mechanism in too far again.... holy moley I can't believe it. I'm almost embarrassed to admit all of this.....

The thing is..... I wasn't even really rushing around much..... *sigh* sometimes we have those days huh? I'm done in the shop for today - unless I drill a couple of blanks for later in the week.


Zac

[dicklaxt]

Graduations almost here my friend,,,,,,,,,LOL

Its all part of the big picture,,,,,,,,,smile, you will live to turn again.

dick

[Doug B]

Time to get a pen disassembly kit Zac. Or the Harbor Freight punches. You can salvage those pens with the transmission put in too far.

I never put the tranny in as far as the line on a slim - then make sure to go slowly checking the fit of the ink refill each little bit. It is heck to get the tranny back out

Now, if you only pushed it in a little too much, you can just not screw the refill in all the way and the pen still works.

[TDHofstetter]

We all have days like those, Zac - I've fought out overpushed transmissions myself. Heck, a long long time ago Limey gave me a pen (the first wooden pen I ever saw or heard of) with the upper tube about 1/4" shorter than it was supposed to be.

[sachbvn]

Doug,

I thought about the pen disassembly kit - the punches would work too. I was way too far, I did think about the - leaving the pen unscrewed just a bit - but honestly, it would bug me too much to give the pen out like that.

Tim... yeah - days like that..... it happens. The sucky part - I ran out of spare pen tubes so.... gotta waits until my order arrives.... I could cannibalize some of my other kits for parts until the new ones come in.... pry won't though - the next order should be here soon. (I went with "fancy" kits this time from woodturningz)

The really crappy part about the whole thing - I could have prevented two of the failed pens easily... the busted blanks... well - those happen - I will try and see if more glue helps next time, but jamming the tranny to far..... dumb dumb!

Zac

[TDHofstetter]

So... take a block of 2x4. Drill a 7mm hole through it. Bandsaw or handsaw through the hole. Stick the transmission through the hole & clamp it with a 4" c-clamp. Grip the tube with your hand and pull straight out from the 2x4 - pull HARD. If you have to, drill another hole (sized to suit) though another 2x4, saw through THAT hole, and use it to clamp the pen's body. You CAN PULL those transmissions back out.

[mapleman]

Zac,
I have not turned a pen yet. I have my new get up I just bought still sitting in the car!!!

I remember that many guys will sand the tube to give the glue purchase --- rough it up with 120G, say... that way the epoxy or CA has something to grad. and those little grooves will also help prevent that would just "squeegying" the glue up the tube as you slide it in...

maybe i should go turn one, eh?

john

[TDHofstetter]

I ALWAYS ALWAYS go over the surface of EVERY tube with 220. That seems to be a very good grit for the purpose. I use garnet paper for it, and throw it away often so I don't accidentally grab it up for use on wood & smear brass powder all over the wood.

[Doug B]

Zac, some days just do not go well, whether from equipment or materials or state of mind or all of the above.

Almost always, the next day is a good one

[sachbvn]

Thanks Dough,

John - yep - gotcha covered. I've been roughing up the tube with sandpaper.... but - maybe I could go over it a lil more.

We'll try it again soon....

Zac

[monty]

Zac,
S'it happens to all of us. Last night I want to do a few quick (that was the problem) slims to replenish my stock for a show this weekend. To begin with, I tore out a good Canadian Blue wood with the barrel trimmer, threw that out. . Next up was a tulipwood blank. Turned beautifully.....but couldn't get the CA to ship like I wanted, always had a dull spot, even after 3 attempts. Gave up for the time being on it and will go back to it later. Went on to a diamond wood blank. Almost finished turning it, had a catch and blew it out. Tried regluing but just didn't match up right. Called it a night and went in.
Next up

[sawduster]

Zac,
I made a very simple "jig" for those trannies. I very carefully got a trannie into a pen so that it was just right. Then I laid it down onto a scrap about 1/4" thick and one inch wide with the tip of the bottom part of the pin at one end of the scrap and marked the other end onto the scrap and added a hair or three. I labeled it as twist pen gauge and stick it into the pipe clamp I use to assemble pens once I get a trannie started to prevent the clamp from closing any tighter. It still needs just a hair more insertion once I get to the length of the gauge but it gets me darn close real quick. Then it is just a matter of cranking the clamp down a minuscule amount after the gauge is pulled out.

[sachbvn]

That's a pretty slick idea Jerry!

I kinda forgot you mentioned you use pipe clamps to press pens together - I like that idea!


Zac

[Doug B]

Just so you know that those kind of things happen to everyone Zac, here is one that blew up on me today. Required a very large "oops" band on one end. Oh well, some days you are the windshield, some days you are the bug

Walnut burl Gatsby with a Bloodwood oops band...


P.S. I absolutely hate these pen kits that have a huge tube and leave a very, very thin layer of wood outside that large tube

[boodrow]

Zac I have had the same problem with the wood blow out. Mostly with spalted wood. Cody turned me on to this , if its a weak wood use 2 part epoxy instead of ca glue on the tubes. Let set overnite. Has worked like a charm for me. When twisting the tube in with ca glue u dont get a total bond. IE there will be small spaces that have no glue and thats where the blowout.
Also I would never sell a pen that wasnt screwed down tite in the trans. I bought a pen disass. kit from pen state fairly cheap and it works like a champ
Boodrow