Frankie, I place the numbers on to the blanks once i have made a build without gluing, so when i come to glue them they are in the same order that i marked them. What i do is cut the blanks and go thru them choosing the best match. The art of pen segmenting is forget what the outer looks like, its the center that counts ..
Try to line centers the best you can for the best results ...
I'll have to try it one day!!!!
Sounds a lot like me Terry ...