Continental™ Ball Point Pen (Mont Blanc© Style Pen)

Wood Blank Preparation

1) The two wood blanks required for this pen should be 5/8" [16mm] square. The blank top must be 1.77" [45mm] long and the blank bottom should be 2.36" [59.9mm] long.

2) Once these blanks are cut they both require a hole drilled in the center with a letter "O" or 8mm drill. Be very careful in your wood blank preparation, as you are making a precision writing instrument, if the blanks are not prepared to specifications, your results will neither look good or function properly.

NOTE: you can forgo the first two steps by contacting us, as WoodWrite, Ltd. can provide you with pre-cut, pre-drilled, wood blanks in over 30 varieties of standard, exotic, and rare woods, as well as six colors of crushed velvet.

3) Glue the short brass cylinder into the blank prepared for the pen top. The brass cylinder is supposed to protrude .24 in. (6mm) beyond the top of the wood blank; this is required for the proper assembly of the pen top.

4) Glue the long brass cylinder into the blank prepared for the pen bottom.

NOTE: The best glue for steps 3 and 4 and all brass cylinder gluing is WoodWrite, Ltd. CN-01 Adhesive. This is an expanding adhesive that requires 24 hours to dry, but assures you of a tight unbreakable bond. The cyanoacrylate (CA) glues work much faster, but they lack the "sheer" strength required for this work and will separate if the pen is dropped. There is also the danger of the brass tube separating from the wood while you are turning the pen, due to vibrations.

Barrel Production

1) You should use your KT-22 8mm mandrel for the Continental™ pen.

2) Due to the style of this pen, you will have to taper both the top and bottom ends of the barrels. We have found the best way to get your tapers accomplished is to turn the barrels almost to the specified sizes, then bring them to the finished size by sanding and creating the taper while sanding. Proceed to turn and sand the blanks to the following specifications.

TOP: 0.553" [13.83mm] with the top end gently tapered to 0.390" [9.75mm]

BOTTOM: 0.472" [11.80mm] with the bottom end gently tapered to 0.376" [9.36mm]

3) Polish the finished blanks.

NOTE: You can get a far superior and the longest lasting finish on all your turnings by using WoodWrite, Ltd.’s Turners Magic™, Semi and Super Gloss polishes and sealer. These dry on the lathe in seconds. See the label for exact instructions

Pen Assembly

The WoodWrite, Ltd. KT-07 Assembly Press is by far the safest method of press fitting components without misalignment and breakage.

Top Pen Barrel

1) Press fit the Center Ring on the exposed brass tube with the flat side toward the top of the pen.

2) Press fit the Cap assembly, to include, from the top down, the Cap, Cap Ring (taper towards the Cap) and the Clip into the top of the pen.

3) Place the top aside and assemble the bottom.

Bottom Pen Barrel

1) Press fit in the Nib at the tapered end.

2) Press fit the Twist Holder into the other end.

3) Place Spring onto Ink Cartridge and insert into lower barrel.

4) Screw Twist Mechanism onto Twist Holder.

5) Test Twist mechanism function by holding the brass end and turning the top portion of the mechanism. If functioning properly, retract the pen point and proceed. If not functioning properly remove from Twist Holder and place on a new mechanism. Return defective part.

Pen Assembly

1) Place completed top over Twist Mechanism and press top and bottom together.

2) Pen is now complete.

Hints

Some of you making Continental pens have complained about having difficulty assembling the finished product, especially the double twist mechanism. We have revised our assembly instructions to alleviate these problems, but feet it would be helpful to explained it here as well.

Assemble the top barrel first: Press fit the decorative ring on the exposed brass tube with the flat portion towards the top. You will now fit the cap and clip portion with the parts as follows: on the black cap place the tapered ring, with the taper towards the black cap ( be sure you have the tapered portion correctly placed, or else the transition will not be proper ) then place on the clip. Press fit this into the top of the pen. DO NOT PUT THE MECHANISM ON THE BLACK CAP AT THIS TIME.

Now assemble the bottom barrel: Press fit the nib and twist holder into the bottom barrel with the nib going into the narrow end of the bottom barrel. Place a spring on an ink refill and insert it into the bottom barrel. Screw on a twist mechanism and test it for proper function by holding the brass colored portion and twisting left and right. The point should come out when you twist it in either direction, returning each time. If the mechanism is functioning properly, retract the point and you are prepared for the final assembly step. If the mechanism does not work properly, place it aside and we will replace it. Now place the completed top barrel on the twist mechanism and press until the pen is assembled.

By assembling your Continental pens in the above manner, you will not have any problems and the results will be exactly what you desire.

1/12/05