Burnt Copper Closed End Gent

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maxman400

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Very Very Nice, I have one of her blanks, Great to see what one looks like when it's finished. You did a great job on it.
 
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Wow! Beautiful.

How hard was it to make the closed end as well as the finial? I wish I could make pens like this and I might just have to give it a go after seeing that.

Great work?
 

Kaspar

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Wow! Beautiful.

How hard was it to make the closed end as well as the finial? I wish I could make pens like this and I might just have to give it a go after seeing that.

Great work?

The closed end part isn't hard at all. I use the Arizona Silhouette closed end mandrels.

The custom finial is pretty easy as well. You can make it all out of one piece (if you have enough blank left, that's easiest), but the Gent pen is pretty long and with no centerband, I had no room to spare, so I used a piece of onyx acrylic to make a "post" that glues to the finial and seats inside the clip ring and the tube.

It can get a little harder when you try to hide the clip ring, but on a Gentlemans pen that would make an already thick cap even thicker (unless you grind down the ring a bit - which works very well.)
 

philb

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Wow,

Love the custom final, and think that having the clip ring makes a nice definition in the blank.
So is the finial just a push fit into the brass tube like the standard kit or glue in?

Whichever way, excellent pen!

PHIL
 

Kaspar

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So is the finial just a push fit into the brass tube like the standard kit or glue in?

PHIL

Glue in. I got it very, very close, which you have to do to make sure it centers correctly. I left the 'post' a tiny bit bigger where it meets the finial piece, but the glue does the rest.

A "push in" would take a metal lathe to achieve (I'll be getting one in a few weeks) and would risk cracking or scraping the material I used and prevent a tight, clean fit.
 
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hewunch

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Nice job! I was wondering if you had to burn 2 blanks for that. How did you do your cap threads? I would love to know.
 

mickr

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It's hard to come up with the proper words for this fantastic pen..gorgeous..superb..elegant..music to my eyes..it is just top notch..gorgeous lines..gorgeous finish...A#1...thanks for sharing with us
 

Kaspar

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Nice job! I was wondering if you had to burn 2 blanks for that. How did you do your cap threads? I would love to know.

One blank, but I used every inch of it. I used the plastic sleeve that comes with the centerband. You have to push it up in there the same distance it would be if you were using the centerband, and then fill in the tiny gap between the sleeve and tube, where part of the centerband would have otherwise been. To get the no centerband part, you leave enough blank to cover what the centerband would have added. This means the tube will now be shorter than the hole. Drill for the tube (on the lathe) and glue it flush with the finial end of the blank. Then (in the case of the Gent Pen, which uses the 37/64ths drill bit, the biggest bit I have) you have to use a tiny parting tool to clear a tiny bit of diameter for the nib coupler ring. On smaller pen kits, you can use the next highest (in 64ths) drill bit. You don't need much, just enough so that your "no cenertband" covers the nib coupler ring.
 

Kaspar

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Here's a little detailing I did for each end of the pen:

image.aspx



Below is the "no centerband" area. Inside you see the thread sleeve inserted into the tube. Then you see the "glue fill" in the gap between the thread sleeve and the tube that is left when you leave out the metal centerband. Halfway between that and the end there's a tiny, barely visible line, where I parted off just enough material for the cap to sink down around the nib coupler ring on the pen part. You do that last part of this before you turn it down. As you can see, once you do turn it down, there is not much material left. Throughout the process, you will want be very, very, very, very, very, very, very (get it?) careful at that end. I wouldn't try this with wood, well, something like DI maybe, and maybe with a stabilized wood. But the acrylic is strong enough to do this.

image.aspx


And here she is capped:

 
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ed4copies

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Eric,

That pen is gorgeous. Your workmanship is incredible.

My disclaimer: I would not trust polyresin without a centerband. Some sort of reinforcement. However, YOU are looking at the pen, I am not - and I think you are a good judge of materials --- just don't want to have a whole bunch of other guys try it, then tell me it doesn't work. That is some FINE turning!!!
 

Kaspar

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Ed's warning is well taken. I actually meant to leave that a bit thicker there.

You take a risk, both in turning it, and in selling it. I have dropped one of these pretty hard, and I was just sure I had chipped that thin area, but the cap is not very heavy, and acrylic is pretty strong. I've never done a Gentlemans though, so I am a bit worried. Thin material over a broader area? A bit scary.

Naturally, in selling this, I am trusting that my customer knows how to take care of things for which he's paid a good deal of money, and in the event of an accident, I will build him a new cap. Once only, and it will be thicker at that end :biggrin: (creating a de facto centerband). But I take the risk for the sake of the effect. That material is really amazing.

Also, if you try this, make sure, you have enough clearance between that thin end and the nib coupler ring, or one day you'll close the pen too hard, and that round shoulder on the ring will split that material.

Oh, and you'll need micro chisels to do this stuff.
 
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ed4copies

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First, thanks, I LOVE your attitude.

Second, you better buy another blank so it will match, if you have to replace. It has always been my experience that, if you are READY for a problem, it never materializes. IF you DON"T HAVE another piece, it will BREAK!!!
 

wolftat

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I think it's a great looking pen, you did a fantastic job creating it. But, I would like to see it with a thin trim piece between the cap and body. But then again, my work is years away from this. Great job.
 
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