?Turning a spent blank casing into a pen?

[truckerdave]

I researched this on IAP, all the pens made from spent rifle blank casings were reamed out and a "bullet" tip was pressed into the top of the cartidge so the end result looks like a real shell casing.

My customer would prefer that I modify the shell casings as little as possible. The casings were from his grandfather's funeral at Arlington National Cemetary. He would prefer to keep the casings in the same form as he recieved them. His words were "Anyone can get a bullet pen made, but these casings are unique to me."

Question: Is there a way to secure the pen refill in the middle of the casing tip?

I thought if I used some J B Weld and packed it into the tip of the casing, let it harden, then drill the appropiate size hole for the refill thru the solidified putty....???????

 

[ed4copies]

That does not sound like a comfortable pen to write with, but it certainly does not sound impossible. Remember you need a transmission and a refill, so the length of the refill will dictate some of the dimensions.

Certainly COULD be done, but there will be many hours of experimenting with casings before you reach the "final product".

 

[lorbay]

Either I am missing something or not reading it right, but I make these all the time..
Lin

 

[KenV]

Dave -- I did 8 of these which were casings policed from a WWII veteran's memorial service. The American Legion fired the blanks. The key here is that they were blanks. I had 2 formats of blanks. One type was crimped at the mouth of the case and the folds were work hardened. The other type had a plug to seal the end and the mouth was swaged around the plug.

I opted for reshaping the mouth of the case and installing inserts of 7mm tubing. Most of the crimped cases split along the bends and I soldered the tube into the mouth of the case. The primer pocket was drilled out to hold the tube and transmission.

I turned upper section of ebony for his male children and grandchildren and great grand child. His daughter and granddaughter got purple acrylic -- he was a purple heart recipient. A shim made from a piece of 8mm pencil tube was used at the case mouth to fill the gap between the 7 mm tube and case mouth. Gold Titanium slim components were used with the case and top

Eric Rasmussen engraved his name and years on the case and powder coated them. In a case from Kallenshaan Woods with the same inscription finished the project.

A letter with the provenance was provided.

It took some work and more than a couple of dollars, but they were well received

 

[John Pratt]

I have been asked to do a couple of these (I work on a military installation near a Veterans Cemetery). opinions vary around here on whether to do them. I have declined to do them, but have instead offered to make one out of a similar type round that their loved one would have used during their service. If the customer really wants one, them by all means go for it, but my question to the people who want the pen is, "Are you going to use the pen or put it in a display?" In all three cases they said they wanted to use the pen to which I asked how they were going to feel when they lost the pen with the burial round, as it is something that cannot be replaced. I don't begrudge someone making the pens or the person requesting them, but long term it is an item which cannot be replaced and how many can say that it will not be lost or damaged by the end user. No judgement, just something to ponder.

 

[Ross]

I made some pens with the casings from my father-in-laws funeral for my wife and mother-in-law. I cut 7mm tubing the length of the casing and then used heat shrink tubing (3/8 inch) on the brass tubing to fit the casing. Glued in with CA and proceeded as normal.

 

[NittanyLion]

Dave,

If you do not want a bullet in the nib, why not just turn a plug, install it, cut it flush and sand it, drill it, then proceed with any of the tutorials in the library. This should work.

 

[Sylvanite]

Check out http://www.penturners.org/forum/f14/21-gun-salute-pen-kit-60184/. That thread contains photos of both 7.62 NATO and 30-06 Spg fired blanks that I made into pen kits. It may give you some ideas.

Regards,
Eric

 

[PaulDoug]

I'd be tempted to use the casing as the top of the pen as opposed to the bottom. You could secure the tubing with something like JB Weld and not have any discoloration. Just a thought. I'm assuming he wants to maintain the current look of thee brass and not have it polished.