Hi Gillian,
I had seen your thread earlier and welcome to the forum and I hope you always find assistance with further queries. I hadn't replied to the thread yet because I have been thinking about the best way of helping out.
Anyway, I'm no teacher so please bear with me and I'll do my best.
My pen was completed, but out of the 5 sets I had, only one turned out to be a 'watch' pen as it was such a pig to sort out. When it was finished, I'm afraid I was a little disappointed in it anyway. The watch display seems to be very deep and with not much light it's difficult to read. I gave my brother a set to attempt as he's been turning pens for years and his ended up in the bin, that's how good the kits are!
In the attached picture, the pen kit is laid out as it goes together. The watch tube goes into the largest diameter tube which is the top of the pen, the clip end. The two nibs slot into the recesses in the mechanism and this goes in the bottom tube. When inserting the twist mechanism, trial and error is used to position the mechanism at the correct depth so that the nibs protrude and retract correctly when the nib section is screwed into the nib insert which is pressed into the nib end of the bottom tube. The little brass tube presses into the waist end of the top tube and positions the watch tube correctly for the clip cap with the contact buttons on. The watch is inserted into the top tube with the batteries towards the nib end or waist of the top tube.
Now for the good bit. The top tube needs a slot cutting into it for the watch display to show through. I used the dimensions as in the little drawing on the photo. Rightly or wrongly, I cut the slot in the brass tube first, then applied the blank and finished. I then used a 'Dremel' to cut the slot through the blank using the slot in the brass tube as a guide, this was really fiddly. The slot was trimmed to allow the little plastic window to just sit in the slot, the knobbly bits of the plastic window are to the outside of the pen to cover the bit of blank edges exposed by cutting the slot in the blank. The watch tube obviously needs to be aligned with the slot when it's inserted. So to recap the assembly of the top half of the pen, first press in the clip cap. Then slide in the watch tube and then press in the short brass tube and hopefully, everything lines up, fingers crossed.
Well, good luck Gillian and don't forget to post pictures when you've finished. I thought I had but I can't find them on here so I must have forgot. If you need any further assistance, please don't hesitate to ask.
Dave
I had seen your thread earlier and welcome to the forum and I hope you always find assistance with further queries. I hadn't replied to the thread yet because I have been thinking about the best way of helping out.
Anyway, I'm no teacher so please bear with me and I'll do my best.
My pen was completed, but out of the 5 sets I had, only one turned out to be a 'watch' pen as it was such a pig to sort out. When it was finished, I'm afraid I was a little disappointed in it anyway. The watch display seems to be very deep and with not much light it's difficult to read. I gave my brother a set to attempt as he's been turning pens for years and his ended up in the bin, that's how good the kits are!
In the attached picture, the pen kit is laid out as it goes together. The watch tube goes into the largest diameter tube which is the top of the pen, the clip end. The two nibs slot into the recesses in the mechanism and this goes in the bottom tube. When inserting the twist mechanism, trial and error is used to position the mechanism at the correct depth so that the nibs protrude and retract correctly when the nib section is screwed into the nib insert which is pressed into the nib end of the bottom tube. The little brass tube presses into the waist end of the top tube and positions the watch tube correctly for the clip cap with the contact buttons on. The watch is inserted into the top tube with the batteries towards the nib end or waist of the top tube.
Now for the good bit. The top tube needs a slot cutting into it for the watch display to show through. I used the dimensions as in the little drawing on the photo. Rightly or wrongly, I cut the slot in the brass tube first, then applied the blank and finished. I then used a 'Dremel' to cut the slot through the blank using the slot in the brass tube as a guide, this was really fiddly. The slot was trimmed to allow the little plastic window to just sit in the slot, the knobbly bits of the plastic window are to the outside of the pen to cover the bit of blank edges exposed by cutting the slot in the blank. The watch tube obviously needs to be aligned with the slot when it's inserted. So to recap the assembly of the top half of the pen, first press in the clip cap. Then slide in the watch tube and then press in the short brass tube and hopefully, everything lines up, fingers crossed.
Well, good luck Gillian and don't forget to post pictures when you've finished. I thought I had but I can't find them on here so I must have forgot. If you need any further assistance, please don't hesitate to ask.
Dave
