Pen assembly

[flexi]

Hi all,
I was asked by a fellow member how I assemble my fountains. Sorry if this is old hat to some, it may be of use to others... Or I could be completely wrong and someone has a better idea!!
Well here goes!
I turn my blanks separately and store on a rack to aid orientation (this time a pencil). When everything is done I use a flue brush to clear the tubes of any polish/ dust and use the snail countersink to debur the ends
Next attach the nib to the coupler to find the best orientation (what you want to see with the pen in the hand) then press home, on this I am using an arbour press. I have a leather washer on the end of the press and a large nut to avoid crushing the thread( it happened on some early Omegas and I have just continued)
Next I line the cap grain and body up, so I have a reference, then carefully screw the connecter on to the body and locate the black bush, unscrew and push home
There are two school's of thought for the next part, the clip. Personally I put this on the blandest part of the blank, I use the possition of the screw on the body to align the clip uppermost when it's posted. Others will say it should align with the grain, but as its reversed I can't see how you can

Well feel free to comment

 

[alan morrison]

Thanks for posting this, Mark. It's always good to see other people's process and to pick up tips.
I like your arbor press. I'm still using the bench vice.

Alan

 

[flexi]

Thanks Alan, I also have an Axi pen press.... Might help if I took it out the box

 

[Penpal]

I follow your reasoning and execution,so many ways to do this,like your methods and result.