Hey, look at that.... I made a pen!

[Firefyter-emt]

I had to take a little time to finish off this pen I had been kicking around the shop for a while. CapG sent me out some antler and a lower half of a casing pen so I figured I really should use these parts to finish the one I was playing with. With my new 1800's metal lathe, it made the work on the cap much easier. I used two 30-06 ends glued to a tenon on the antler (yes, I cheated and turned the antler on the metal lathe)

On the next one, I plan to drill and bore the firing pin. Then I will turn a "nail" that will press in from the inside to retain the clip which will be recessed in that groove of the bullet. I think that will be so much cleaner and with the new "pin" the top of the bullet will not have the "fired" look but be nice and clean.

 

[PaulDoug]

Well, I have to say, that is a great cartridge pen! Not sure what you are talking about on the firing pin. That is part of the rifle, but I really like what you did here.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Well, I have to say, that is a great cartridge pen! Not sure what you are talking about on the firing pin. That is part of the rifle, but I really like what you did here.

I mean the center part of the end of the casing. This would removed and bored smooth so that a new "pin" pressed in from the inside could hold the clip and make the new "center" on the end of the casing.

 

[johnnycnc]

Looks real nice, Lee.
I like the smooth lines on the upper.:biggrin:

 

[Dalecamino]

Doesn't matter to me HOW you made it . THAT'S a nice pen !

 

[wdcav1952]

I mean the center part of the end of the casing. This would removed and bored smooth so that a new "pin" pressed in from the inside could hold the clip and make the new "center" on the end of the casing.

Beautiful work!

I think you mean the primer on the end of the cartridge.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Beautiful work!

I think you mean the primer on the end of the cartridge.

Exactly~! I could not remember the proper terminology for it!

Thanks for all the comments guys, I don't get a chance to build pens all too often, but I am far from complaining!

I think the extra bullet parts really balance out the pen like this. I have made a couple before that were the standard bullet / modded slimline cap design and always thought it looked "off". I did have to bore the inside to make the hole deeper so I could keep the ends fairly short.

Now just how would I make this into a fountain pen....

 

[NewLondon88]

Aww .. leave the primer intact and use a click pen kit.
That will stop the 'borrowers' :tongue:

Looks good!

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Oh and this design did fix the "short pen" look using the standard top cap. I just checked and this pen is just as long as a cigar pen now. It's a fair bit longer than most all of my fountain pens and fitting into the length of a Sheaffer Snorkel. The other ones I made seemed too short as well, this fixed the problem without looking too long in the cap.

 

[jhs494]

Nice job Lee! You referred to the metal lathe. Did you get that lathe rebuilt already?

Very nice looking pen.
Thanks for sharing it with us.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Nice job Lee! You referred to the metal lathe. Did you get that lathe rebuilt already?

Very nice looking pen.
Thanks for sharing it with us.

No, "Martha" is not done yet, however she can be used. I have restored the two chucks and the steady rest so far. The brass parts were done on Martha while the antler was turned on my little lathe. I do not have a live center for the big lathe yet. (Hard to find Reed #5 taper live centers now a days!)

Before Martha is restored, I will build the line shaft to put the pulley drive system on the ceiling of the shop where it belongs and build the "lathe station" behind the lathe so it is all set up before hand. This will make it better when the time comes to put the lathe together. Plus any tuning can be done without worry of damage to the finish. I want to make some way wipers and tighten up the clamp for the carriage while I am at it. The lower block needs a hair milled off to do this.

I hope to have her restored this summer and maybe a few more! I still have my Walker Turner 16" bandsaw to refurb (an in-service tool) and that beauty of a drill press, my 17"Rockwell/Delta variable speed - machine shop style drill press. This one I am still debating on whether to keep the original 3-phase motor, or swap out a 1hp 110v motor with a custom bushing to adapt the reeves drive pulley. Although the drill goes from like 380 rpm to 3600, the added VS output with the converter would really give me a lot of options!

 

[jhs494]

No, "Martha" is not done yet, however she can be used. I have restored the two chucks and the steady rest so far. The brass parts were done on Martha while the antler was turned on my little lathe. I do not have a live center for the big lathe yet. (Hard to find Reed #5 taper live centers now a days!)

I was wondering how you would have finished it that fast. With the lengths that you go to on a rebuild I could not have imagined you would be done.(mine is still in pieces but it is all stripped and ready for paint)
It is good that you can use the lathe.

It is a great looking pen!

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Joe, she works so nice! With 12L14 I can easily pull a full .2000" (radial that is, .1000 DOC) without even working her hard. The feed is a bit fast too, the slowest is only a 48 pitch screw. I want to play with the lathe a bit to try cutting threads, if I can cut some 20 pitch threads, I have an arbor that could be made into a 1/2-20 arbor to accept one of the live centers heads off my wood lathe.

 

[smitty]

Very nice looking pen.

 

[Verne]

Now that's a nice pen right there I'll tell ya,
Vern

 

[bitshird]

Good looking pen Lee, and using a metal lathe isn't cheating, it's just an alternative means.

 

[toolcrazy]

That is cool looking, nice work.

 

[wolftat]

Nice pen Lee, I always wondered if you really made pens or just liked hanging around with us.:biggrin:

 

[Firefyter-emt]

BwaHaaaHaaaa... I wonder myself at times! The sander mills keep me busy for most of my free time, but every now and then I get a chance to make a pen. That reminds me, I really have to finish up an order for a friend....

 

[workinforwood]

It's really nice. Has to be nice having a metal lathe to split the casing which would allow for a perfectly square fit. Casings are tough to cut for those of us without the proper tools, and near impossible to cut square.

 

[CaptG]

Good looking pen, Lee. Glad you could use the parts. Keep up the good work, and stay in touch.

 

[LEAP]

I think I recognize some parts on that pen. Nice job, I've still got about 10 cartridges ready and waiting to be turned into pens and a bunch more waiting to be drilled. Nice job I'll have to try one like that.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Close Phil.... Gary sent me out pretty much a whole pen, I have not even used one of the ones I PC for you. That is what I was working on, the cap, when Gary sent out the antler and a bullet casing I figured that I really needed to finish the cap.

I tried to cut the bullet in my wood lathe and use file to square it up, but it was a disaster. The PSI chuck does not have the tolerance needed to make it perfect. To give you an idea, over the weekend I had torn apart the large chuck for "Martha" and de-rusted it, polished it, re-lubed it and put it all back together, less the thin paper gasket between the two halves. Once screwed all back togather, the chuck was locked tight! I had to tear it all apart to make a paper shim so that the jaws would open. One paper shim and it glides like butter.

Anyway, that was all to saw that now that I have a good metal lathe chuck, this was a walk in the park to mill ends of the bullet into "caps". What I did was to leave the antler proud and once theends were glued on, I placed it between centers again and took a light pass off the antler and the bullet ends. The metal lathe will not dig deeper in the antler like a wood lathe would. Then some light hand sanding and polish and I was done. NOW what I would do the next time is to mark the ends and the blank, and after it was milled and polished I would remove the ends and powder coat them. I will try the bare brass to see how bad they are without the PC, but I think it will need to be polished too often and be a pain.

 

[Sylvanite]

Lee,

First of all, that's a very nice looking pen. Capping the antler with the case heads is a great idea and it came out very sharp!

On the next one, I plan to drill and bore the firing pin. Then I will turn a "nail" that will press in from the inside to retain the clip which will be recessed in that groove of the bullet.

Do you intend to attach the clip in the extractor groove? That might be tough. The brass at that point is solid all the way to the primer pocket. You'd have to mill a narrow slot pretty deep. I've had good success cutting a slot in the case wall just below the web (the solid part) and inserting a modified clip there. If you cut the tenon right, it will hold the clip in place all by itself and a little glue makes it quite secure. In fact, you don't even have to center the clip retainer, which yields a more visually pleasing clip.

Regards,
Eric

 

[Sylvanite]

Has to be nice having a metal lathe to split the casing which would allow for a perfectly square fit. Casings are tough to cut for those of us without the proper tools, and near impossible to cut square.

A metal lathe may make it easier to cut a case square, but it certainly is not required. I true up my cut cases on a wood lathe. I used to cut them with a parting tool on the lathe as well (and may go back to that), but I currently use a mini cut-off saw with a homemade jig that holds the case square. Any burrs or imperfections get cleaned up on the lathe with a round-nose scraper. The only "special" tool used is a Beall collet chuck.

Regards,
Eric

 

[Firefyter-emt]

A metal lathe may make it easier to cut a case square, but it certainly is not required. I true up my cut cases on a wood lathe. I used to cut them with a parting tool on the lathe as well (and may go back to that), but I currently use a mini cut-off saw with a homemade jig that holds the case square. Any burrs or imperfections get cleaned up on the lathe with a round-nose scraper. The only "special" tool used is a Beall collect chuck.

Regards,
Eric

Yes, a Beall would work better, the combo with a Barracuda II and hand tools did not.

My plan to insert the clip is to try to bore the hole as deep as I can so that the clip will slip in the extractor groove and the inside will be bored to that depth. Then a "rivett" will press in from the inside, thru the primer pin that has been milled out. When done is should work prefect if there is enough to bore out to the depth, yet leave the case intact. Once all done, the primer pin will look brand new and the entire casing cap will look unused when in your pocket. The hard part is that I will have to fit it all together and then tear it all apart to powder coat and once baked, put it all back together with out damage or glue spill out.

 

[PaulDoug]

Would a small tubing cutter work to cut brass, like used to cut copper tubing?

 

[Sylvanite]

Yes, a Beall would work better, the combo with a Barracuda II and hand tools did not.

I started out with a barracuda chuck as well. The trick there is to make your own wood collet to hold the brass. Turn a piece of hardwood down to 3/4" round. Chuck it up in the barracuda and mark the orientation for future use. Drill a hole of the desired diameter on the lathe so it is concentric and true. Remove the wood and cut a slot in each end - perpendicular to each other and more than halfway through (if you prefer, you can cut both slots in one end - I've done that too). Reinsert the wood collet in the chuck in the same orientation. You now have a more accurate and better gripping chuck for the brass.

That said, the Beall chuck still grips better and marks the brass less. Once I switched to the Beall chuck, I never looked back.

The hard part is that I will have to fit it all together and then tear it all apart to powder coat and once baked, put it all back together with out damage or glue spill out.

I cut the slot, modify the clip, and fit them before powder coating. I've had no problems putting things back together afterwards, and haven't had any issues with glue leaking out, so I expect you'll be successful. I look forward to seeing your results.

Regards,
Eric

 

[Sylvanite]

Would a small tubing cutter work ...?

The problem with a tubing cutter is that most rifle cases (including 308Win and 30-06Spg) are tapered. The tubing cutter will not track square to the center line of the case. It will tend to "walk" down the taper, cutting a helical track.

It would work on straight-walled cases, although it would leave a rounded-over edge on the outside, and a burr on the inside. These would need to be cleaned up.

Regards,
Eric

 

[Firefyter-emt]

You could also design a holder to place a Dremmel tool in the tool post and use that to cut the casing. Might be able to grind it flat if you get fancy with the tool post design.