Stainless Steel Diplomat

[Penl8the]

Hi All,

Cast some stainless steel cable Sierra blanks (inspired by Rick Gibson and gawdelplus).

The brass tube was primed with DecoArt Multi-Purpose Sealer and then painted with Americana Premium black acrylic paint. CA glue the stainless steel cable on painted tube. Tube was cast with Castin' Craft Clear Polyester Resin.

Wet sanded up 1000 grit, polished with HUT plastic polish and followed with Turtle Wax ICE polish.

The pen kit is Diplomat II Gunmetal Chrome.

Thanks for looking.

Comments are welcome.

 

[jttheclockman]

Very well done. Is the DiplomatII the same as a sierra in size or is it the size of a sierra vista??? The reason I ask did you have a problem with the strands on the ends??? Also how did you trim the blank down??? Thanks for showing.

 

[thewishman]

Nicely done.

 

[Dalecamino]

Super nice .I like that .

 

[gvanweerd]

Those look So Cool.

 

[maxman400]

Very Nice.

 

[johncrane]

Well done they look good.

 

[David M]

very nice , in making stainless hoses the end fray when being cut . those ends look smooth . what did you cut it with ?
David

 

[Dai Sensei]

Looking good.

I've been casting then trimming the cables with diamond saw and wetgrind to avoid the fraying problems. Interesting your use of what I assume were resin saver moulds. How did you cut the cable without melting the CA from the heat?

 

[Bree]

Great job! Pen looks terrific.
:wink::wink::wink:

 

[Penl8the]

Is the DiplomatII the same as a sierra in size or is it the size of a sierra vista???

Hi John,

I am not sure. I think they both have the same size 27/64" drill bit. But I think Sierra Vista has a larger OD for the clip end bushing.

The reason I ask did you have a problem with the strands on the ends??? Also how did you trim the blank down???

very nice , in making stainless hoses the end fray when being cut . those ends look smooth . what did you cut it with ?
David

Looking good.
I've been casting then trimming the cables with diamond saw and wetgrind to avoid the fraying problems. Interesting your use of what I assume were resin saver moulds. How did you cut the cable without melting the CA from the heat?

Hi John, David, Neil,

To answer your question on cutting and trimming, I use a pair of "straight cut" tin snips, sometime they are called Aviation snips - see picture from this link. (http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/...Ntx=mode+matchall&recN=0&N=0&Ntk=P_PartNumber).



So the process is:

• Cut a section of stainless steel cable long enough for whatever pen tube you are using with a pair of tin snips.
• Pull out the plastic hose inside the stainless steel cable/casing.
• Insert the painted tube into the stainless steel casing
• Glue the stainless steel casing using a thin CA glue - NO ACCELERATOR. Accelerator gunks up the blank too much. Let the glue dry thoroughly.
• Trim the fray end as close to the tube as you can then
• (this is the important step) Take the tube to a bench grinder (the finer grind wheel you have it), turn to speed to the slowest speed if you can.
• Bring one fray wire at a time to just "nudge" the grinding wheel. DO NOT be aggressive, otherwise you will ending up with more fray wire than you start out with. The key words here are "slow speed" and "nudging".

I hope I answer most your inqueries. Please PM me or post here if you have other questions (that I could answer).

P.S. Neil, I want to thank you for all your posts/pictures/tutorials on casting you submitted to IAP. I am big fan - learned loads of stuff from you my friend.

Later, y'all

 

[jttheclockman]

Thanks for the reply. I too use the tin snips to get close to finished size. I then cast and after the blank is done cooking. I use my carbide mill and it seems to work well. I think I will try this on a smaller sierra kit and see if It will be thick enough instead of using a vista. Can't seem to get back in the shop. Too may other things are coming up. Thanks for posting.