First closed end

[MarkY]

I grabbed a few Presimo kits from PSI and made a couple. They were nice but felt a little top heavy (especially for the smaller hand that I think they're designed for - the section is very thin). At the same time I was admiring the closed end look that so many of you have posted here...
So I grabbed a (rare & valuable) Brooks blank and gave it a go:

I did reverse paint it black but the tube must have scraped off a bit (maybe I should have cut the tube in half too). Anyway, this pen isn't perfect, as you can see, but it did fix the weight problem: it's balance is greatly improved.

 

[plantman]

Nice!! Realy nice!! Jim S

 

[Edward Cypher]

Very nice!!! I bought the close end madrels from AZ Silouettes but have not used them yet. They do look awesome.

 

[MarkY]

I didn't use a special mandrel, I just drilled an extra hole a bit smaller than the diameter of the mandrel into the end of my blank. Then, after the brass tube was glue in and the end trimmed, I set the mandrel length to just shorter than the length of the hole (when the bushing is in place).... I suspect that I am making a mess of this description, here's a sketch of what I did:

 

[plantman]

Mark; Have you tried turninng your closed end pen using either of these methods. Mount your bushing in a 3-jaw chuck, add your blank, bring up your live center, and turn. Mount your turned blank in the 3-jaw chuck and turn without the live center. I also make pin vices the size of the tubes by ginding flats on one end of my disasembly rods. Using this method you can turn and finish your blank with no end support. Food for thought. Jim S

 

[SDB777]

With a closed end, all you need is just a short piece of these tubes....unless your worried about the blank snapping.


I like the shape of the body for that style of kit! Nice shine too!!!







Scott (buffing the buffer with buff) B

 

[lorbay]

That is a beauty.

Lin.

 

[Brooks803]

Love the shape you put on it. Looks great! That really sucks about the paint getting scraped off! Been there done that way to many times :frown:

 

[mikespenturningz]

Wow nice shape on this pen and great color too not to mention you figured out your own way to do it! Very nice.

 

[plano_harry]

That is a really good looking pen. Love the shape!

 

[PedroDelgado]

Very nice!!! I love the Blue color and the shape.