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Continental™ Pencil Instructions (Mont Blanc© Style Pencil)

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) There are four (4) brass tubes provided with this kit. Make sure you use the two largest diameter tubes for this and the next step. Glue the short brass cylinder into the blank prepared for the pencil top. The brass cylinder is supposed to protrude beyond the top of the wood blank - .24in.; this is required for the proper assembly of the pencil top.

4) Glue the long brass cylinder into the blank prepared for the pencil 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 glues work much faster, but they lack the "sheer" strength required for this work and will separate if the pencil is dropped. There is also the danger of the brass tube separating from the wood while you are turning the pencil, due to vibrations.

Barrel Production

1) You should use your 8mm mandrel for the Continental™ pencil.

2) Due to the style of this pencil, 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: 0.47" [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

Pencil Assembly

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

1) Press fit the mechanism stop into the end of the longer inner brass tube, beveled end first.

2) Press fit this into the finished lower barrel with the mechanism stop at the tapered end.

3) Insert the pencil mechanism and screw on the nib tightly.

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

2) On the Finial, slide the Finial Ring, taper towards the top, then the Clip.

3) Press fit this clip assembly into the shorter of the two inner brass tubes.

4) Press fit all of this into the tapered end of the pencil top. Place a small amount of glue in the tapered end of the top before press fitting. The best glue for this is WoodWrite CN-12.

5) Slide the completed top assembly over the pencil mechanism.