Slimline with nib inside the wood.

[pmpartain]

I'm trying to make one of these. I put a nib in the brass tube, mounted the assembly in the lathe, and filed the nib down flush with the tube. I then filed a little straight section at the end of the nib. I plan to drill out the blank first with a J bit to make clearance for the nib/tube. The last quarter inch or so, I want to drill with a much smaller bit to allow the new small end of the nib to be at the end of the blank. When you look at the nib end of the pen, you would see a litle ring of brass that is the end of this little thin section I just filed. I ran into problems when I realize that I don't have a small bit that is long enough to reach the end of the blank.

Did I go about this the right way? Any thoughts on how to drill this thing?

Thanks

 

[alamocdc]

HF sells a set of five 18" long bits. Set includes 1/8'', 3/16'', 1/4'', 5/16'' and 3/8'' straight shank bits. I have a set, but I'm not sure the 1/8" would be small enough for what you want.

 

[CrazyBear]

Obviously you are going to have to glue the nib to the brass tube and then glue both these into the blank.I take it you will then turn the blank as a closed end pen surely at this point you can open up the nib end by turning off the cap,

You are always going to have the problem of getting a close fit between the nib opening and the wood

 

[pmpartain]

I have filed down the nib so that there is about a 1/4 inch by maybe 3/32 straight bit sticking out of the end of the tube diameter section. I have to drill a holw for this nib to poke into so that I can fully insert the metal into the wood. I've thought about turning the blank round and drilling on the lathe. That should assure that the small and large diameter holes line up, but I thought there may be an easier way. I guess if you just file the nib to the same diameter of the tube, you could drill one size hole but there will be a void in the section where the nib is tapering down. That's why I went with the step down approach. I may be overcomplicating things though.

 

[CrazyBear]

How about coming at it from the nib end with a dremel bit

 

[CrazyBear]

How about fixing your short drill bit to a 6mm dowell and hand turning that in the wood to bore your centre hole. then come at the nib end with the dremell tool through the small hole that you have drilled

 

[workinforwood]

I guess I'm missing what the point of it all is in the first place. Why bother hiding the nib inside the pen? If you want to just see wood, turn it like a closed end pen where the nib is wood, drill out tiny hole for ink to poke through. Or is that too simple an idea? What I'm picturing is a pen with the nib deep in the front so I have to hold the pen at 90 degrees just to write with it...that's how I'm interpreting what your doing.

 

[pmpartain]

What you are saying could be perfectly fine for what I want. I just thought that the wood might get thin near the tip and might crack over time. I thought I could make a brass ferule out of the nib and strengthen the hole. That's it.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Maybe turn it like a very small hollow form?? [}] Over on Woodnet Sir Chiz has been known to use masonary nails as turning tools. To rough out stuff prior to his normal "small tools", that is.

If you have met Chiz, you know what I am talking about!

 

[RussFairfield]

Is this what you are talking about doing??

<b>Image Insert:</b><br />

<br />


I make these pens with the kit tip attached to the brass tube before
it is glued into the hole.
The hole has a tapered bottom that is drilled with a drill that has
been ground to the same tapered profile as the tip. This gives the
maximum strength to the tip of the pen.

 

[pmpartain]

That is exactly what I am trying to do. Grinding the drill bit to shape is the ultimate way to do it I would say. I don't have the capability to grind a bit like that, so I attempted to file a short ferule at the tip of the nib. Just a flat tube at the end of the nib. Unfortunately, the nibs are drilled out and there isn't much metal there to work with. I ended up breaking off the end. To drill, I turned the barrel to about 3/4 and mounted in the beall chuck. Drilled out the main hole with a J bit. Flipped the blank over and used a small bit to drill the other end. Can't remember the size just now, but it was maybe 3/32 or 1/16. Odd thing was that once the tube was glued in and I mounted the thing on the closed end mandrel, it wobbled. Had to use the tailstock to hold it straight. Probably a good idea anyway. I got the thing turned down and looking good. I just used a hammer to press in the little brass ferule into the hold in the end, since I broke it off during fitting. I may press it out and use some glue on it. I now am going to try doing a closed end on the clip side, and use the clip. I've seen you do that one as well Russ. I expect it is more difficult. I can't figure out how to cut the tiny slot for the clip. I've seen folks notch the brass tube and mark the location of the notch. I'm not sure how to cut that small slot though.

Thanks for the input everyone. If I'm successful, I'll post the pics.

 

[pmpartain]

Just noticed that you did the closed end clip end on the pen in your picture. If my other post wasn't clear, I'm trying to make a pen like that one but in cherry with an African blackwood center band.

 

[Randy_]

In his tutorial on making wooden Pentel pencils without a step drill, Don Ward mentions a method of doing exactly what you want to do......drill a smaller hole concentric to and at the bottom of a larger hole. You can read his tutorial here:

DON WARD'S PENTEL TUTORIAL

 

[pmpartain]

Thanks Randy and Don Ward. That is a very slick solution. Looks like it would take a little work, but not too much. I never would have thought of that.

 

[Randy_]

That's why we keep Don around.

He didn't quit teaching even when he retired!![][]