# Fails



## Chris S. (Sep 17, 2015)

Well I was hoping to post a beautiful rosewood pen I was making for a friend but instead it is now a post in celebration of my failure. In my haste to turn I reversed the top and bottoms of the pen and sadly didn't notice until assembled pen and went to install ink cartridge, which of course won't fit. I not only wasted a beautiful piece of rosewood but now the pen kit is useless. Tried to disassemble but just ended up starting to damage finish on pen. Snapped a couple of pics before went any further.









Well this is my fail, lets see what you have failed at. I say celebrate the failure as sometimes ones failure is the best lesson one can learn from.

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 2


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## Sirfishalot (Sep 18, 2015)

Hey Chris,
What did you use to try disassembling? There is a punch set availabile from Woodcraft for $20 that works really great. It has various diameter punches that make it really easy to take them apart. 

JayT


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## norman vandyke (Sep 18, 2015)

How about putting it back on the lathe and carving/sanding it away from the tubes? (Never turned a pen, so might be talking out of my butt)

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Chris S. (Sep 18, 2015)

Just tried pulling apart with pliers covered with rubber to protect finish. Will be stopping by woodcraft soon see what they got to disassemble. Once apart yes I can turn down to tubes and start over. Thanks for heads up about woodcraft.


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## JR Custom Calls (Sep 18, 2015)

I've used vice grips with rubber and Allen wrenches to take them apart. If the punch set isn't available, might be worth a shot. I have Allen wrenches in tons of sizes (and lots of them in the same sizes), so finding one that fits the tube well is fairly easy


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## TimR (Sep 18, 2015)

Yep, I've done that, more than once. Recently with my first Snap Cap Kit from @Schroedc . Realized before starting to put pieces together, so just turned the little bit of material off the tubes and started over. Was a nice chunk of wood, if I recall, too.
If the parts went together pretty easy on your press or vice, you might even be able to just take a screwdriver of appropriate size or even a dowel to help push it out. I would try to avoid holding the tube section with pliers...recipe for disaster. Better to use a pair of nitrile or equivalent gloves and just grip it really tight with your hand while trying to drive the part out. Clean the area around you where you do it...when the piece comes out, it may go flying!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## duncsuss (Sep 21, 2015)

Here's the best-value pen disassembly kit I know of -- the HarborFright transfer punch set. I use a piece of non-slip kitchen shelf liner (off-white grippy foam rubber sheet) to hold the barrel, slip the punch down the tube and tap very gently with a sledge hammer till the parts come out.

PennState Industries (and others) sell "non-marring" plastic-coated visegrips and such, but I prefer to hold the barrel in my hands. Too much squeeze and it's all over.

oh -- and if it's not too late to recover, you did a great job on this pen ...


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## keepanionme (Sep 25, 2015)

I've done this on a few pens as well. If it's just going to a friend, you can take out the refill, remove the plastic cap from the top and grind the metal tube away until it fits correctly. You have to remember to do this whenever you need a refill though.


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## woodman6415 (Sep 25, 2015)

No fails in woodworking just learning experiences.... Just saying

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 3


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## VotTak (Sep 27, 2015)

I would not even bother with disassemble. Save it as it. All you have to do is use small cartridge (probably different mechanism, but I doubt you'll need it). PSI sell those for mini kits.


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