keithncsu
Member
So this post is two fold. One I wanted to show off this pencils that have a sentimental story. But two, they are a testament to this forum and the confidence that all the knowledge herein will give you.
First, the backstory. My grandfather passed away in September and had military honors at his funeral. My aunt gave me all 24 shell casings from the volley to make things out of for the family. Some of my cousins had been asking for pencils and I decided that we would just do it with these casings and cover both bases. Some of you more experienced turners may know where this is headed.
Here's where the confidence from the forum came in. After buying slimline pencil kits without much forethought, I got to work. The first thing I figured out was unlike the pens, the pencil kit overall length does NOT have much wiggle room. Since the casing is longer than the standard tube, and noticably longer than the pencil tubes, I realized the top/clip section was going to be much shorter than I expected. Especially after factoring the casing length into the overall pencil mechanism length. (On a side note, this also meant that the clip would be longer than the blank. I decided I just wouldn't use it and either leave it as is or add some sort of roll stop. Still haven't decided that part.)
Now keep in mind there's a center band piece that I never intended to use (obviously without much thought) since it would be slim sized and not match the diameter of the casing. During assembly I realized the center band is what kept the top section in place and without it, it would just slide off the mechanism. My first thought was to glue or epoxy the casing and blank together. I quickly decided that was a dumb idea and bound to have issues.
I knew there had to be a way and channeled my inner IAP vet. I studied the center band to see what I could do. Then the light bulb went off. And to make an already too long story shorter, I figured out I could sand the center band down to essentially create a hollow dowel that tied the pieces together. What turned out were two great pencils that I am sure two of my cousins will love.
So.. all that to say thank you to the IAP!
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
First, the backstory. My grandfather passed away in September and had military honors at his funeral. My aunt gave me all 24 shell casings from the volley to make things out of for the family. Some of my cousins had been asking for pencils and I decided that we would just do it with these casings and cover both bases. Some of you more experienced turners may know where this is headed.
Here's where the confidence from the forum came in. After buying slimline pencil kits without much forethought, I got to work. The first thing I figured out was unlike the pens, the pencil kit overall length does NOT have much wiggle room. Since the casing is longer than the standard tube, and noticably longer than the pencil tubes, I realized the top/clip section was going to be much shorter than I expected. Especially after factoring the casing length into the overall pencil mechanism length. (On a side note, this also meant that the clip would be longer than the blank. I decided I just wouldn't use it and either leave it as is or add some sort of roll stop. Still haven't decided that part.)
Now keep in mind there's a center band piece that I never intended to use (obviously without much thought) since it would be slim sized and not match the diameter of the casing. During assembly I realized the center band is what kept the top section in place and without it, it would just slide off the mechanism. My first thought was to glue or epoxy the casing and blank together. I quickly decided that was a dumb idea and bound to have issues.
I knew there had to be a way and channeled my inner IAP vet. I studied the center band to see what I could do. Then the light bulb went off. And to make an already too long story shorter, I figured out I could sand the center band down to essentially create a hollow dowel that tied the pieces together. What turned out were two great pencils that I am sure two of my cousins will love.
So.. all that to say thank you to the IAP!
View in Gallery
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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