Making a slimline - Skiprat method - pictorial

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skiprat

Passed Away Mar 22, 2022
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I thought you may like to see how I made my latest pen.
Cut up a piece of water pipe.
200744182641_one.jpg



Flatten it out and select the least damaged bit.
200744182743_two.jpg



Knock up a quick clamp to hold the body. Watch out where the screws are.
200744182842_three.jpg



A splosh of CA to help hold.
200744183016_four.jpg



Drill an arc through the body.
200744183039_five.jpg



Don't clean up the burrs yet. They will offer more glue surface for now.
20074418310_six.jpg



Glue in a bit of flower pot.
200744183124_seven.jpg



Form the copper with the holesaw off cuts.
200744183151_eight.jpg



Glue up complete. Decide where to fit brass tube.
20074418329_nine.jpg



I'm too scared and inexperienced to use a chisel, so I get it flush with a file.
200744183230_ten.jpg



The bottom half including the fixed CB
200744183256_eleven.jpg



The finished pen.
200744183317_twelve.jpg
 
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CaptG

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Thank you very much for the lesson. I got the hole saw part and copper part ok, but am having a tough time with that clay flower pot........[:I][:0][:D]
 

skiprat

Passed Away Mar 22, 2022
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Originally posted by TAld
<br />Really, really nice craftsmanship Steve, great finish also.
Just one quick question - what kind or type of flower pot [?],i.e. clay, plastic or something else?

Tom, just a regular plastic pot. The type that you get plants in from a nursery and then chuck out, when you plant them. The base seemed to be a bit thicker than the sides.

The only thing I didn't show was the drilling for the tube. I clamped this one in a bench vice using the MDF off cut to hold the bits in place and used WD40 to lubricate.
 

workinforwood

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What are the tubes? I know the one is copper...the other is what? and what are the inner and outer dimensions? Is it a slim kit? How does it twist...and if not, how do you change the ink? I'd love to see some more detail in the instructions, and would love to see it on the homepage to replace one of the articles already there. Those articles are great, and I used them, but I'm sure they need to be replaced at some time...just a thought for whoever runs this board. [:D]
 

skiprat

Passed Away Mar 22, 2022
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Originally posted by workinforwood
<br />What are the tubes? I know the one is copper...the other is what? and what are the inner and outer dimensions? Is it a slim kit? How does it twist...and if not, how do you change the ink? I'd love to see some more detail in the instructions, and would love to see it on the homepage to replace one of the articles already there. Those articles are great, and I used them, but I'm sure they need to be replaced at some time...just a thought for whoever runs this board. [:D]

Jeff, this one is a standard slimline with the brass tubes in the normal positions. However, the lower half only has about 2/3 a blank on it. The other 1/3 goes into the longer body.
The other one is what has been called a 'twist nib' modification.
As you can see in the pic, there is a bit of a cheat. I make the metal part of the refill pass through the plastic end screw. If you wanted to sell a pen like this then you may want to extend this plastic bit, or use Russ Fairfields method, where he uses another slightly larger tube that does the reinforcing and a bare normal tube inside it. I don't sell pens so this is not a problem for me. You may have noticed that all of my twist nib pens are metal near the nib. This is planned, so I don't have to worry about very thin un-reinforced material at the nib end. I'm not sure which dimensions you are asking for? Hope this helps[:D]


200745115359_slims.jpg
<br />
 

skiprat

Passed Away Mar 22, 2022
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Originally posted by workinforwood
<br />The dimensions I was curious about are the actual materials. The size of copper pipe, and the size of the other pipe..whatever that material is.

Jeff, the copper is just any old scrap water pipe. This one was 22mm dia with a wall thickness of 1mm. Any diameter and thickness will do, as it is cut and flattened anyway.
The other material in the body is aluminium ( aluminum in US ) this was originally an antenna that I got out of a skip ( dumpster )
It is 11mm OD and 7mm ID. This can be bought at most DIY shops though.
In the other pic showing two pens, the one with a copper body is also just small bore water pipe. This is also available from a DIY store. It too has 11mm OD and 7mm ID. Of course if you could get hold of solid material, you would just drill a hole.
 

skiprat

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Originally posted by LEAP
<br />Steve,
I gathered your photos and notes from this post into a PDF. If its ok with you I'll send it to anyone who is interested.

Please feel free Phil.

Here's a pic of how to clamp it while drilling. On the back of the vice is a piece of ali that I wanted to use, but it wouldn't stay stuck, so I used another bit of the plastic. As the ali tube already has a hole in it, it is easy to drill with a portable machine.

20074885940_100_1402.jpg
<br />
 
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