New trick for El Grande

[pmpartain]

I hope this is something new anyway. I am making my first closed end pen this week. I finished the nib end with the Arizona Silhouette expansion mandrel. I wanted to have a closed end with the clip for the cap. Looking at the finial for the El Grande it appeared that there was just a brass fitting encased in plastic. So I took a small pull saw and cut nearly to the brass. Took a small screwdriver and put it in the saw kerf. With a little twist, the plastic outer broke right off. I had cut the blank for the cap way too long. I cut the blank at just a shade longer than the cap tube. Drilled me a hole and glued in the brass fitting. Voila! I got a square finial. I plan to press the coupling in to the top tube and screw the square onto the top tube and put the bare top tube into a drill chuck. I can now turn a wooden finial for the cap and screw it on just like it would normally go on.

Has anyone tried this method yet? Does what I typed make sense?

 

[Firefyter-emt]

I gotta tell you, I read it three times and I still have no clue what you just said...

Got a photo?

 

[vick]

Yes I have done that before. But the trick is because your drill is pointed when you drill the hole in your final to insert the brass insert your hole will be longer than the insert. If you leave extra room you have to make your final longer than I would like. Of course you could try other modifications on either your drill or the insert itself, but I found just making a wooden final is a lot easier.
Does what I have typed make sense?

 

[pmpartain]

Vick,

That does make sense. I used a bullet point bit and I plan to make a finial more like the Churchill. I don't know how it will look, but I'll post a picture when it is finished.

 

[vick]

This is the pen that I did it on.

I think I had a pilot point bit that I used and the top of the final is actually sligthly discolored becuse it is so close to the part of the hole that is actually drilled by the pilot point. If you have a different type of drill bit you may get better results.

 

[pmpartain]

Lee,

I figured that might be hard to follow. Basically what I'm doing is taking the outer layer off of the finial and replacing it with wood. I'll then put the finial on a brass tube using the supplied coupling and turn it on the lathe. Putting the thing on the brass tube is done just to have an easy way to mount the short piece of wood for turning. I started to take some pictures of the process, but was too lazy. If I like the outcome, I'll do a better job of documenting so I can show everybody.

 

[pmpartain]

I like that pen. I like the way you recessed the clip into the top cap. I plan to leave the ring for the clip flush with the outside of the cap just like it would be normally. I think the finial you made looks great though.

 

[pmpartain]

If anybody wants to see this pen, I just posted pics in the SOYP forum.

 

[pmpartain]

Forgot to say it's in the New Style Cigar thread.

Sorry

 

[redfishsc]

That does look good.

Incredible improvement over all that plastic showing on an OEM El Grande. Thanks for the idears.