pens

[dubdrvrkev]

Those look good. Are they hard to finish?
I have wanted to try some but haven't came across any cobbs yet. I guess if I cooked some they'd be dry pretty quick here in AZ.

[darbytee]

Kevin, I got some from the borg. It was a package of 15 ears or so marked as "varmint food". Just strip the kernels and you're ready to go.
-Fred

[Cody Colston]

Quart, those are great but next time use European corn cobs and the mechanism will work right. }>

They do look good, though. :)

Cody

What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

[Old Griz]

Bob, you did a nice job on those.. the finish looks real good.. and that is the worst part of doing a cob pen... lots of CA and sanding in the finish... a real PIA...
As for the mechanism being tight.. one of the thinks that you really need to look out for in doing a DT Euro is the fit of the mechanism in the upper tube... The upper tube length has to be really dead on.. if you trimmed the upper tube too much you will get that hard feeling when you press it together... it is hard to see at the angle you took the pics, but on the right pen it looks like the bottom gold mechanism section is showing.. that means the upper barrel is too short and the mechanism is extending below the tube.. it is not explained at all in the directions and something we learn from experiance... lots of experiance.. LOL..
You really need to just trim the upper barrel of this type of pen until you barely touch the tube... I also ream the upper tube a bit with emery paper to make the mechanism move smoother...
OK, here is something I do on each and every DT Euro I make.. after the pen blanks have been trimmed, I measure them... I have all my mechanisms pressed into the finial and know that measurement.. I want the mechanism and finial to be about .005-.010 shorter than the tube length... sounds like a lot of work, but actually not... give it a try..
Also if the bottom barrel is larger than the press fit section of that the mechanism screws into you will get a tight feeling...
The DT Euro is one of my better selling pens, and having made a whole lot of them in the last year, I learned a couple of valuable lessons...
I hope this all helps you..

[Sonny Edmonds]

Europian cobs.....
LMAO!

Quartlow,
Something I do as a part of routine is to run a 1/4" drill through the glued in barrels before trimming/turning.
That step assures me there isn't any glue inside to interfer with assembly.
I just have a cordless drill set up with a bit and do this step before using my pen mill.
Might hep Ya out. ;)

:D

[link:www.sonnyedmonds.com | Sonny Edmonds]
"Precision Firewood Specialist"
God Bless America !
One Nation Under God!
"Lurkimus turdius orifus"

[quartlow]

>Bob, you did a nice job on those.. the finish looks real
>good.. and that is the worst part of doing a cob pen... lots
>of CA and sanding in the finish... a real PIA...

Learned that the first time I did one LOL

>As for the mechanism being tight.. one of the thinks that
>you really need to look out for in doing a DT Euro is the
>fit of the mechanism in the upper tube... The upper tube
>length has to be really dead on.. if you trimmed the upper
>tube too much you will get that hard feeling when you press
>it together... it is hard to see at the angle you took the
>pics, but on the right pen it looks like the bottom gold
>mechanism section is showing.. that means the upper barrel
>is too short and the mechanism is extending below the tube..
>it is not explained at all in the directions and something
>we learn from experiance... lots of experiance.. LOL..

Yeah I definatly scrwed that one up.

>You really need to just trim the upper barrel of this type
>of pen until you barely touch the tube... I also ream the
>upper tube a bit with emery paper to make the mechanism move
>smoother...
>OK, here is something I do on each and every DT Euro I
>make.. after the pen blanks have been trimmed, I measure
>them... I have all my mechanisms pressed into the finial
>and know that measurement.. I want the mechanism and finial
>to be about .005-.010 shorter than the tube length... sounds
>like a lot of work, but actually not... give it a try..

I may be back picking your brain more But i think I understand


>Also if the bottom barrel is larger than the press fit
>section of that the mechanism screws into you will get a
>tight feeling...

I think the problem with the other one is the blackwood trim ring I put on is dragging on the gold piece of the upper barrel, agin my boo boo

[quartlow]

I turned 2 corn cob ones last nite, weird part is they pressed together hard. harder than usual and now htey twist hard. They where europeon round tops From Berea. The tops went together fine just the last little bit they where hard to press, almost like the top tube was short. I'll call berea monday and see what they say. Heck I may even drive up its a good excuse right?

They look goood to bad they don't work right

Left one they cob was kind of ragged so I trimmed it with some scrap african black wood

[Old Griz]

DO NOT... I repeat DO NOT, use cobs that you cooked for dinner... boiling or steaming the cobs destroys them for pen turning.. not only that by eating corn is different from the field corn we use for corn cob pens...
You can find squirrel food corn cobs in 5lb bags at WalMart or your local pet supply company.. not only are they dry, but they make nice bait for squirrel stew.. LOL... if you are not into squirrel stew, just shuck them and use them for pens... you want the pith area to be just about the same size as the tubes you are using, so you are not really going to get all usable cobs... if the pith is too big, you end up turning into it and losing the kernel effect of the cob.. on a nice thin pithed cob the kernel effect can almost look like snakeskin.. .
Here is an old pic of a couple of my early cob pens.. you can see on the bottom one that I got into the pith more than on the upper two... it really makes a big difference in the look of the pen...