watch_art
Member
Got some PR blanks made by Brooks (from IAP - penturners.org - donated for the Pens for Kids project) and turned some last night and finished up today.
Yeah - the cold killed it. I had a cap all drilled out and threaded and as I was turning it down it just POPPED. I couldn't believe it. I was threading the 10mm tenon on a section last night and it went perfectly, so I thought I was golden, but when I turned it around to drill out for the nib housing it split in half! Oh well. Started another section and as I was turning the threads it just broke off where the tenon starts. Ugh... so in near total defeat I turned a black section from some of the regular acrylic and it went fine. I had a friend over watching today who wanted to see the process of turning threads and I just killed it. I was so embarrassed. :tongue: He was just having a hoot seeing how threads are made.
The corian, though. I made some holders from one piece of corian and HOLY COW that stuff is AWESOME. Turned and threaded SO EASILY.
Now that I know cold is the kryptonite, the rest of the PR should be easier for me to work. After blowing out the first cap, I roughed the shape of the second cap and then wet sanded aggressively to get it down to where I wanted it.
That red/yellow/black stuff is BEAUTIFUL. Looks almost like ebonite mixed with acrylic. I just need a nib and this pen will go to one of my kiddos for sure. I'll give it to one of the kids who gives me the biggest headache. :biggrin: That would be poetic.
I also had an issue with the section getting stuck in the cap. Turns out I didn't drill out the cap deep enough with the drill bit I use before I turn the threads, so the section was getting stuck in the cap and it wouldn't thread together and it was a pain. So I was tired and my head hurt and I though, hmm, maybe the section is too wide, but it was just under 7/16" so it should have been fine. After messing with it for a few minutes I figured out the problem and drilled the cap out the rest of the way and it went together fine.
And there's also a little spot in the red of the barrel I have to fill. I think there was a little air bubble in the material. No big deal though.
And no - the nib and feed don't match - I'm just using it for fitting purposes. It's an old spare that never wrote quite right. One tine is softer than the other, and always feels scratchy no matter what b/c the tine lifts so easily while the other is more rigid.
Yeah - the cold killed it. I had a cap all drilled out and threaded and as I was turning it down it just POPPED. I couldn't believe it. I was threading the 10mm tenon on a section last night and it went perfectly, so I thought I was golden, but when I turned it around to drill out for the nib housing it split in half! Oh well. Started another section and as I was turning the threads it just broke off where the tenon starts. Ugh... so in near total defeat I turned a black section from some of the regular acrylic and it went fine. I had a friend over watching today who wanted to see the process of turning threads and I just killed it. I was so embarrassed. :tongue: He was just having a hoot seeing how threads are made.
The corian, though. I made some holders from one piece of corian and HOLY COW that stuff is AWESOME. Turned and threaded SO EASILY.
Now that I know cold is the kryptonite, the rest of the PR should be easier for me to work. After blowing out the first cap, I roughed the shape of the second cap and then wet sanded aggressively to get it down to where I wanted it.
That red/yellow/black stuff is BEAUTIFUL. Looks almost like ebonite mixed with acrylic. I just need a nib and this pen will go to one of my kiddos for sure. I'll give it to one of the kids who gives me the biggest headache. :biggrin: That would be poetic.
I also had an issue with the section getting stuck in the cap. Turns out I didn't drill out the cap deep enough with the drill bit I use before I turn the threads, so the section was getting stuck in the cap and it wouldn't thread together and it was a pain. So I was tired and my head hurt and I though, hmm, maybe the section is too wide, but it was just under 7/16" so it should have been fine. After messing with it for a few minutes I figured out the problem and drilled the cap out the rest of the way and it went together fine.
And there's also a little spot in the red of the barrel I have to fill. I think there was a little air bubble in the material. No big deal though.
And no - the nib and feed don't match - I'm just using it for fitting purposes. It's an old spare that never wrote quite right. One tine is softer than the other, and always feels scratchy no matter what b/c the tine lifts so easily while the other is more rigid.
Keep things warm when it comes time to thread.