# newbie at FP



## doohboy24 (Nov 21, 2007)

okay got my fp kit in yesterday. all excited now. went down this morning measured wood cut wood glued in tubes then came the thought " how the hell to square them?" i dont have pen mill shaft anywhere near that big and cant seem to find one. do they make them that size??  tks for he help


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## CrazyBear (Nov 21, 2007)

Maybe I was Lucky. I have just turned my first couple of FP's and had the same problem. 

I put me blanks in the chuck on the lathe and then inserted the bushings which are designed to go on a mandrel. This let me insert the pen mill( set in my drill MT2 drill chuck in my tail stock)  into the bushing to line the Pen mill up with the centre of the blank. 

I then drew the pen mill back using the tail stock wheel to allow me to remove the bushing ans used the tail stock wheel to move the pen mill forward to make the cut. 

Maybe some of the more experienced guys will have another idea


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## wdcav1952 (Nov 21, 2007)

Chuck, I use Corian.  Drill a 1/4" hole in the corian, which will let it slide onto a "A" mandrel.  Turn it down until it will just slide in the tube of the kit you are using.  LABEL it!   You can turn sleeves like this for every pen kit you use.  Slide the sleeve over the 7mm guide on your pen mill and it will fit in the tube.  Mill away and enjoy your new fountain pen.


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## gerryr (Nov 21, 2007)

Or wrap 1-1/4" masking tape around the shaft until it just barely fits into the tube.


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## Firefyter-emt (Nov 21, 2007)

Just turn the slimline tubes and make sleeves. This will work perfectly and last as long as you keep them. I store mine on one of those flat tackle boxes and have each compartment labled for what it's used for.  Although I never make one from the same type of material. This helps keep them sorted, in fact I can tell them apart just by what they are made from. Once you have some made you will find that other sleeves will fit other kits, like the lower barrel of a Jr.Gent will fit the sierra with one strip of masking tape added lengthwise. (One day I will turn a proper one for that kit!)


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