# Modified Jr Gent in Pearl White



## BigShed (Aug 5, 2008)

Finished turning another of my home brew PR blanks. This time a Pearl White on a Jr Gent II FP in Gold. Initially had planned this as a closed end pen but when I saw how good (IMHO) the Gold looked with the Pearl White I decided to turn another barrel for the gold end trim. 

This gold kit comes with a black finial and a black centreband, both of which didn't look good with the Pearl White, so I drilled out the black finial cap (to my surprise that was black plated or painted brass, not plastic as expected) and separated the 2 centrebands, 1 black and 1 gold, from the centre fitting. I followed some instructions on the iAP forum (thanks rherrel, you're a champ!) 

Turning a new finial cap in Pearl White was finicky, but doable. 

Making a new centreband from the Pearl White was another story altogether, the one you see on the pen is the third attempt. This centreband has an OD of 14.5mm, an ID of 12.5mm and is 2mm wide. Needed all my patience for that job. Next time I will make a special mandrel for this job.

By that time I hope to have the metal lathe set up (picking it up tomorrow), should be easier to control than on the wood lathe.

This is my first Jr Gent II and I must say I am impressed with both the look and quality of this. It is available with both the threaded end for posting the cap and the straight end shown here, which I prefer. Not a fan of the threaded ends on pens, one of the main reasons I have bought the closed end mandrels.This pen is a bit thicker and heavier than the Baron I have been doing, and of a better quality I feel.


----------



## rherrell (Aug 5, 2008)

Great job Fred! I especially like the way you did the CB. 
I've been making mine flat but I like the way you kept the original profile with the slight bulge. If you don't mind I'm gonna have to try that!:wink:


----------



## BigShed (Aug 5, 2008)

rherrell said:


> Great job Fred! I especially like the way you did the CB.
> I've been making mine flat but I like the way you kept the original profile with the slight bulge. If you don't mind I'm gonna have to try that!:wink:



Be my guest mate, as I said it was your very clear pictures about removing the CB that set me going on this path. I have to find an easier way to turn that small CB though, that is a real pain!


----------



## fernhills (Aug 5, 2008)

Great work,,Carl


----------



## reddwil (Aug 5, 2008)

Looks good from Georgia Carl, Sweet


----------



## rjwolfe3 (Aug 5, 2008)

wow very different but i like it


----------



## Skye (Aug 5, 2008)

Normally I wouldn't have thought a gold kit would work with a white blank, but it looks pretty good. Especially like the mods. I'm going to have attempt that someday.


----------



## Gary Max (Aug 5, 2008)

Yup---you did good---looks perfect from over here.


----------



## Ligget (Aug 5, 2008)

Perfect from over here too! Well done!


----------



## TBone (Aug 5, 2008)

Love the center band and the finial.  Great touches.


----------



## devowoodworking (Aug 5, 2008)

Very nice work, I think it would look nice as a closed end as well


----------



## marcruby (Aug 5, 2008)

Looks very good!  I don't know what you did for the centerband but I'd drill out the center of a blank to 12.5 mm (I think this is one of the bits used for the stateman) for about 1", mount the blank in a four jaw chuck, with a large live center at the drilled end.  Then turn down to abd 15mm and cut in some beads.  Polish andcut the bead rings off.  That way you will never risk losing center.

On the other hand I'd be tempted to turn the cap longer and throw out the centerband and retaining ring.  But that's personal taste.

Marc


----------



## Jim15 (Aug 5, 2008)

Great looking pen.


----------



## brycej (Aug 5, 2008)

Those extra touches puts the pen over the top. Great job.


----------



## BigShed (Aug 5, 2008)

Skye said:


> Normally I wouldn't have thought a gold kit would work with a white blank, but it looks pretty good. Especially like the mods. I'm going to have attempt that someday.



Skye, it doesn't really show up in the photo, but the colour is closer to ivory than white, that's why I called my brew Pearl White. It is a combination of white pigment and Pearlex 651 pigment.



marcruby said:


> Looks very good!  I don't know what you did for the centerband but I'd drill out the center of a blank to 12.5 mm (I think this is one of the bits used for the stateman) for about 1", mount the blank in a four jaw chuck, with a large live center at the drilled end.  Then turn down to abd 15mm and cut in some beads.  Polish andcut the bead rings off.  That way you will never risk losing center.
> 
> On the other hand I'd be tempted to turn the cap longer and throw out the centerband and retaining ring.  But that's personal taste.
> 
> Marc



I did that between centres, will try your method, thanks.

I did have a look at not using the extra gold CB, but decided it wouldn't look as good, but maybe it would have. Next one perhaps?



devowoodworking said:


> Very nice work, I think it would look nice as a closed end as well



As I said, I did turn up a closed end barrel first, and yes it looked good, but IMHO not as good as the gold end that came with the kit. I now have to turn a cap for the closed end barrel.


Thanks everyone for your kind comments, this pen turning caper (obsession?) sure is fun!


----------



## papaturner (Aug 5, 2008)

Very nice pen.


----------



## desertyellow (Aug 5, 2008)

The center band takes it over the top.
Great work.


----------



## toolcrazy (Aug 6, 2008)

That is a really cool pen. I gotta try that. Nice work.


----------



## Dalecamino (Aug 6, 2008)

Beautiful work as usual Fred . I will bet the new lathe will make things much easier for your creations .


----------



## Darley (Aug 6, 2008)

Nice work Fred like the pen and the CB


----------



## steve_mcloon (Aug 6, 2008)

What a fantastic pen! I usually prefer to minimize the 'kit' as much as possible. However, I agree that the gold end post works well with the white. Replacing the black finial and centerband really made this an exceptional pen.


----------



## JayDevin (Aug 8, 2008)

VERY SWEET PEN!


----------



## VisExp (Aug 9, 2008)

Beautiful looking pen!  The extra time and effort you put into the custom finial and center band raises the pen to the next level!


----------

