first pentel

[gwilki]

Having seen some pental pencils here, I thought that I would try one. This one is box elder. Finish is 4 coats of pre-cat lacquer. Clip is three pieces of box elder veneer glued up.

My camera's dead, so I scanned it. Not the best.

Fire away.

 

[Randy_]

Looks good. Nice clip!!

Did you use a step drill to drill out the blank or some other method??

 

[louisbry]

Nice job. I like that clip.

 

[Stevej72]

Good job on the pen, I like what you did with the clip.

 

[gwilki]

Thanks much to you all. I didn't use a step drill, Randy. Or, at least, not a store bought one. I made one using a piece of 1/4" rod and a 5/32 bit. I drilled out the end of the rod with a 5/32 bit to a depth of about 1/2", then epoxied an older 5/32 bit into the hole. Worked fine, and cost me nothing. I'd like to take credit for the original idea, but the credit goes to a chap named Don Ward.

 

[scubaman]

Grant,
can you tell me something about the clip? I saw the photo while I was away from home, but thought I'd wait til I got home, figuring someone else would ask details. Is this a wood clip, and 2-piece? I can't really tell from the photo, it looks like a wood piece glued ito a recess and a shaped possibly glued-veneer clip on it. If this is an old hat maybe you can refer me to previous info. I've started doing wood clips a slightly different way and am thus interested in this topic.

 

[johncrane]

Nice one Grant![]

 

[redfishsc]

Originally posted by gwilki
<br />Having seen some pental pencils here, I thought that I would try one. This one is box elder. Finish is 4 coats of pre-cat lacquer.

Very nice work, great job on the clip.


What brand of precat did you use? How do you like it?

 

[gwilki]

Thanks again to you all.

Rich: The clip is three very thin pieces of the box elder laminated together. I took a small block of maple and cut the curve that I wanted on my band saw. The block was about 1" x 2". The box elder strips were as thin as I could get them, and I cut them each with a bit of a different grain orientation. I laminated them together, wrapped them in wax paper so the glue would not stick to the "mold", then clamped them between the maple pieces. I used Titebond and let them sit overnight. Then, I just cut the clip to length and cut the profile that I wanted. The small standoff block is just another piece of box elder. I took an off cut, and drilled a hole in it that was the same diameter as the outside diameter of the pen. Then, I just cut off the bits that I didn't need.I CA glued it to the pen, then CA glued the clip to it. The clip has quite a bit of spring to it, so I don't believe that it will break in normal usage. It's not as rugged as metal, of course.

I'll try to take a couple of real pics of it later today, so that you can see it a bit better. This is my first wood clip, as well as my first pentel, so I know that there is room for improvement.

Redfish: I get my pre-cat from a local supplier who puts it up in aerosols himself. I could buy cans, too, and use an airbrush, but since I'm doing this for fun, not sale, I don't do enough to justify the cost. The shelf life isn't great, either, so I don't want a lot around. I like this finish quite a bit. I usually go with 4 - 5 coats, applied about 30 minutes apart. After 24 hours, I can buff it any way that I want. This pentel only has a few coats, so it's not near as deep as it could be. I just got lazy.

 

[Randy_]

Originally posted by gwilki
<br />.....and I cut them each with a bit of a different grain orientation......

Grant: Just off the top of my head.....because I really don't know.....wouldn't the clip be stronger and springier(is that a word) if the grain of the different laminations all had the same orientation....along(parallel to) the long axis of the pen?

It also occurs to me that you might want to pay attention to the orientation of the grain in the stand-off block, too. That might actually be your weak link? Seems like the best orientation would be for the grain to be perpendicular to the long axis of the pen. But then you would be gluing on end grain and that might be a problem.

 

[gwilki]

Randy
You could be right on both counts. The grain on all the pieces is close to straight down the pen, but the middle piece is a bit diagonal. I didn't want any splitting lengthwise. May well have been overkill. As to the stand-off, I think it's so small that the grain direction doesn't really matter. Since it's glued to the pen, and the clip to it, I don't believe it will crack. Only time will tell, though.

 

[karlkuehn]

Beauty of a pencil, Grant! I really like the custom clip, thanks for sharing your secrets! []

 

[Randy_]

I hadn't thought about the clip splitting lengthwise so maybe having one of the laminations at an angle is in fact a better idea.

OTOH, I'm still concerned about the standoff block. just because it is so small, it needs to have as much strength as possible.

Think about two dowels one with the grain running along the length of the dowel and one with the grain running across the length of the dowel. The dowel with the grain running lengthwise is much more resistant to breaking than the other.

If I understand how you cut the stand-off block and if I correctly understand the forces on the block, your block is in the "cross-grain" orientation and not as resistant to the normal forces on it as it would be if the grain were reoriented by 90°. Certainly it is possible that the clip is more than strong enough and that I am just over-thinking the situation. As you point out, only time will tell; but if a clip does break at some future date, grain orientation might be something you want to examine.

 

[gwilki]

Randy
Tks for taking the interest to put your thoughts down. Right now (until it breaks []), I'm inclined to think that, between the glue holding the block to the pen and the glue between the block and the clip, something else will give before the block does. The block is as much glue as anything else.
Oh, just for fun, read the third para of your message - "one with the grain running along the length of the dowel and one with the grain running across the length of the dowel"

 

[Randy_]

Originally posted by gwilki
<br />Randy
Tks for taking the interest to put your thoughts down. Right now (until it breaks []), I'm inclined to think that, <b>between the glue holding the block to the pen and the glue between the block and the clip, something else will give before the block does.</b> The block is as much glue as anything else.
<b>Oh, just for fun, read the third para of your message </b>- "one with the grain running along the length of the dowel and one with the grain running across the length of the dowel"

Grant: As to the first comment above, I don't mean to belabor the point; but lots of glue manufacturers will tell you that their glue joints are stronger than the wood itself.

As to the second, guess I am a little dense or blind as I'm missing your point[?]

Nevertheless, you have done a great job with that pencil and I bet we start to see similar "hardware" showing up on the pens and pencils of other IAP members.

 

[gwilki]

Randy

Re: the second point, you're neither dense nor blind. I am. Never mind.

Thanks again for taking the time to comment.