Hi Turning Friends, I though the pen press was working again, however, I wasn’t able to lower the handle. It is in the drawer, but malfunctioning:
Also, I accidentally got gold acryllic paint on the pen mandrill and one of the centers. I couldn’t get it off with what I had with me. I can come back with acetone tomorrow if it won’t damage the equipment:
Apologies for the inconvenience.
I believe we will need to order a whole new pen press. Just fyi though, you can use a trigger clamp in a pinch to manually press your pen parts together, just make sure you use a block of wood on either side so as to not damage the soft pads of the clamp.
Re: getting paint or super glue, or anything on a pen mandrel. Something light like paint shouldn’t really hurt it, but a fast way to remove it is install the mandrel without anything on it, and use a 600 or higher grit sand paper to very gently take the foreign materials off.
The pen press is not repairable - The casting attached to the wooden base is cracked. I’ll be looking at the a previous recommendation for a replacement.
Steve - is correct in advising high grit sandpaper - if you choose to use acetone or another solvent I’d suggest using it sparingly with a nylon scrubber type pad.
Hmmm. That sounds like a challenge.
Do you accept the challenge?
I’d be glad to hand it over to you! My metal skills end with JB weld unfortunately! If you’d have the time to take a look I’ll put it in the annex outside the wood shop with your name on it. Many thanks!
Just whack the pens together with Molly Mallet. That’s how I’ve done my last 30 or so.
Guys, slight change of plans. I am not able to be there tonight, but I WILL deal with the gold paint as soon as I’m able to go (this week).
I will have the press repaired tomorrow. I happened to have a very similar part in my personal storage. The only difference is mine was moonwalker version vs the non-moonwalker version. M8x1.25 vs 5/16 18. I’m going to pick up some 5/16 threaded rod tomorrow. I would have single point threaded some but I couldn’t find any 3/8 rod to do so.
Wow! Thanks Tim!
That’s awesome Tim, thank you!
