I've been assembling pens for several years and recently have developed a
problem that I cannot figure out. When pressing the top portion of the pen
onto the bottom, if I go so far as to have the decorative ring of the top
part cover the screw mechanism of the bottom part, the mechanism binds and
will not turn. The decorative part on the bottom side of the top appears to
be centered properly, but binds nevertheless. I buy my pen parts from Craft
supplies, so assume they should be good. My lathe -- a Jet mini -- appears
to be centered properly, but with the close tolerance we're talking about,
it would be hard to see if it were off a hair. As I said, looking at the
finished product, the decorative ring does seem to be centered. If I press
the top only to where it just touches the screw portion located on the
bottom part it works OK, just does not look good. Would appreciate any
suggestions.