creativewriting
Member
First of all sorry for the crude photos, but my camera is out of commission at the moment. I had a few minutes to mess around with the lathe today and wanted to try and make a pen with a magnetic cap. Several months ago I came a crossed a pen on the internet that was simplistic and sleek using a magnetic closer for the lid. I bought a few tube magnetics a while back to experiment with. The main body is aluminum, but the nib section is tool steel that I had laying around.
I used .5" aluminum rod for the main body and cap. It has been turned down to .45". The OD of the magnet was .375" as is the hole (95% of the way) in the cap. I left about 1/8" in the bottom to hold the magnet. The top of the cap was then threaded. A piece was turned and threaded to screw in the top to hold the magnet in place. The cap was then turned to the final OD of .45".
The body was turned and drilled the entire length. The nib is tool steel. I used a hex nut on the bottom of the pen, but will probably turn another piece to screw in to match the rest of the pen. It did help keep it from rolling all over my workbench.
The magnet holds the cap in place pretty well. It doesn't hold it well enough to attach a clip and then hold it in a pocket. I may add a clip to the bottom when I turn the other piece, but I'm not sure. For now I am going to keep it on my desk for a few days to see how it feels. It's not the prettiest pen, but I am excited that the tube magnets worked and are a possibility for later pens.
I used .5" aluminum rod for the main body and cap. It has been turned down to .45". The OD of the magnet was .375" as is the hole (95% of the way) in the cap. I left about 1/8" in the bottom to hold the magnet. The top of the cap was then threaded. A piece was turned and threaded to screw in the top to hold the magnet in place. The cap was then turned to the final OD of .45".
The body was turned and drilled the entire length. The nib is tool steel. I used a hex nut on the bottom of the pen, but will probably turn another piece to screw in to match the rest of the pen. It did help keep it from rolling all over my workbench.
The magnet holds the cap in place pretty well. It doesn't hold it well enough to attach a clip and then hold it in a pocket. I may add a clip to the bottom when I turn the other piece, but I'm not sure. For now I am going to keep it on my desk for a few days to see how it feels. It's not the prettiest pen, but I am excited that the tube magnets worked and are a possibility for later pens.
