I'm tired of Justin!

[glycerine]

Ok, that didn't come out right. And it's not just Justin, there are a ton of "you people" now. It's all of you. I'm tired of seeing your kitless pens... no that's not right either. Ok, it's not YOU, it's ME! I'm NOT tired of seeing YOU'RE pens, I'm tired of NOT seeing MY OWN kitless pens! I LOVE seeing your kitless pens, it's inspiring!!

Why don't I post one of my own you ask? Because I have yet to actually make one, that's why!! BUT, that's the point of my post. It's time for me and my pens to take the next step in our relationship. I've been turning pens for about 2 years now, but not as hard core as alot of you guys. So, I think it's time for some progression.

I've take the first few steps. I bought some clear acrylic rod from US Plastics as recommended in a post by George (texatdurango), then I made a die holder for my lathe (like the little machine shop one).

I took a few shots at tapping on the lathe the other night, then last night I did some "die'ing". Wasn't as bad as I thought. The tough part is putting the two together, as in drilling a hole and tapping inside of where I just cut my external threads. That's where I need work because I cracked my acrylic. But that was my first try and I think it's just because my hole wasn't quite large enough.

Anyway, here are some pics of my homemade die holder and my very first external threads!!



And now a few questions:

1) Do you guys use a cutting fluid when drilling, or something else as a coolant? Maybe it's just the clear acrylic that I got, but when drilling the hole inside after threading the outside, the material started to warp because of the heat. I had my lathe on the lowest speed (I think 500 RPM)...

2) Is anyone willing to share exactly what size taps and dies they are using for each piece of the pen? I've seen a few threads with several different answers of what sizes are used in general, but I'd like to know some specifics. I'd like to just buy a handful of taps, dies and drill bits and not have to keep guessing at what will work best...

My first goal is to make a rollerball, mainly because I don't have a tap for a feed holder and they seem to be are more expensive than "regular" taps... I THINK I can get by for now on the taps and dies that I do have, maybe just needing an additional drill bit or two...

 

[Timebandit]

LOL!! I guess il have to reply here!! First of all, ITS ABOUT TIME!!!!...........Ok now that i got that out of me, to your questions.

1) Yes! I use soapy water in a bottle. I know no one wants to get water all over there lathe, but you have to keep that hole and bit cool. You will find that out more with the more transparent materials, as you will start to see crazing(microcarcks), scratches, or actual melted spots where your bit got to hot. Drill on the lowest speed. 500rpm

2) For my 14mm pens i use a 10mm x 1 for my front section. This still leaves plenty of meat for the threads. For my 12mm pens i use a 9mm x .75. I find that the 10mm doesnt leave enough meat in the threaded area, and this is the weak point and where it will crack. For my finials i use 8mm x .75, but thats because most of my clips have that size hole or larger in them. If you have a clip with a smaller ring hole, you will need to use a smaller size. These are the three main sizes i use plus the 12mm and 14mm triple start.

 

[mredburn]

Would you like some cheese with that Whine? Its about time you got off your duff and did something about it. Its not like you cant do it, we know better. My first suggestion is to just go make a pen. It will be all wrong or close to but get it out of the way and then make the next one better, etcetera etcetera etcetera.

 

[glycerine]

LOL!! I guess il have to reply here!! First of all, ITS ABOUT TIME!!!!...........Ok now that i got that out of me, to your questions.

1) Yes! I use soapy water in a bottle. I know no one wants to get water all over there lathe, but you have to keep that hole and bit cool. You will find that out more with the more transparent materials, as you will start to see crazing(microcarcks), scratches, or actual melted spots where your bit got to hot. Drill on the lowest speed. 500rpm

2) For my 14mm pens i use a 10mm x 1 for my front section. This still leaves plenty of meat for the threads. For my 12mm pens i use a 9mm x .75. I find that the 10mm doesnt leave enough meat in the threaded area, and this is the weak point and where it will crack. For my finials i use 8mm x .75, but thats because most of my clips have that size hole or larger in them. If you have a clip with a smaller ring hole, you will need to use a smaller size. These are the three main sizes i use plus the 12mm and 14mm triple start.

Haha, you WOULD be the first to reply!
Thanks for the info... you gave me an idea. I wonder if I could put a small "rubbermaid" container on my lathe bed under the pen part, then use a "water fountain pump" to keep a continuous stream of soapy water running over my part? Or maybe that's overkill.

 

[Andrew_K99]

I thought this thread was about Justin Beiber!

 

[glycerine]

Would you like some cheese with that Whine? Its about time you got off your duff and did something about it. Its not like you cant do it, we know better. My first suggestion is to just go make a pen. It will be all wrong or close to but get it out of the way and then make the next one better, etcetera etcetera etcetera.

Thanks, I guess that's good advice. That's what I'm working toward, just wanted to get some practice in! I think I can make one with what I have.
I have a set of metric taps and dies, but the larger ones (like the 10mm and 12mm) have thread pitches of 1.25, 1.5 and 1.75!! So I don't want the threads to be too course. And I have an SAE set as well, but those are fairly course too. We'll see what I can do with those, then I'll get more taps and dies and do it "right"!!

 

[Russianwolf]

hmmmm.... that chuck looks awfully familiar...... where could I have seen it before?


I was looking at LMS today and saw that the Die holder is still out of stock. How'd you go about making yours? I need to do something for one myself as I'm gearing up to do some of this stuff (hopefully over the holidays I'll get a good go of it all).

Since I don't have the triple starts, I'm ordering the 14mm and 12mm tap and dies in the .75mm format (maybe 1mm) for the cap threads. I'll have a look at the set I have and see if I think I need any other sizes before I order.

 

[glycerine]

I thought this thread was about Justin Beiber!

Well, it's about people who have more talent and skills than me right now, so... close enough!

 

[glycerine]

hmmmm.... that chuck looks awfully familiar...... where could I have seen it before?


I was looking at LMS today and saw that the Die holder is still out of stock. How'd you go about making yours? I need to do something for one myself as I'm gearing up to do some of this stuff (hopefully over the holidays I'll get a good go of it all).

Since I don't have the triple starts, I'm ordering the 14mm and 12mm tap and dies in the .75mm format (maybe 1mm) for the cap threads. I'll have a look at the set I have and see if I think I need any other sizes before I order.

I got that chuck from a super cool guy who was willing to trade for some other stuff!
first of all, I have a few hand held die holders that I think are made out of aluminum. So I took one and cut off the "handles". (I can get pics of that later tonight...) Then I sanded down the areas where I cut those off and made note of the diameter.
Then I took a nice piece of dense bocote and turned it round. I mounted it in the scroll chuck and drilled a half inch hole throught the center (because I have some half inch steel rod and that's what I decided to use to "hold" the die holder).
Next, (still chucked) I cut a hole in one end large enough and deep enough to hold the modified die holder. I unchucked it, took it over to my drill press and drilled a hole where the set screw would be (there are no threads in the wood itself, this is just an "access" hole to the threads in the original die holder).
I epoxied the die holder into the piece of wood, cut off a length of my 1/2 inch rod, chucked the rod in my jacob's chuck for my tailstock and there you have it. I noticed that my dies are a hair smaller than the holder, so in order to keep it perfectly centered, I cut some strips from an aluminum can as shims. That way, when I tighten the set screw, the die is not off center. It may not matter that much, but I just wanted to be sure.
I was able to spin it by hand to cut my threads, but I might drill a hole into the side so that I can use a tommy bar later on...

EDIT: P.S. - George has a nice video if you haven't seen it yet of using the LMS die holder to cut threads. This one works the same way. Sorry, I'll have to look up the video and post a link.

 

[mredburn]

I prefer the .75 on the pitch for most of my threads for caps. Its not a coarse as the 1 pitch but thats personal preference. I tend to push the envelope. I generally find my self using the m10 x .5 for the front section although Im going to go to m10 x .75 for the wood rollerball pens I make. I use a m12x.75 for the cap threads. I have the triple lead sets but use them mainly on my metal parts. I think the .5 pitch will be to fine for anything other metal. Although I used the .5 on the wood rollerball pens and its holding up just fine. (Until you forget its in your back pocket and you sit on it).

I disagree with you on skills and talent you have both.

 

[MarkD]

By the looks of that Die holder I expect we'll be seeing lots of awesome kitless pens from you soon.
I glad you asked the questions....I was wondering the same thing.

 

[bluwolf]

First of all, nice job on the dieholder. Way to think outside the box and use what you got. I think Justin and Mike covered it on the taps and dies. I got nuthin' to add.

I just wanted to add that , yes, a coolant pump is definitely overkill in this situation. I'm with Justin on the soapy water. Steven (Skiprat) suggested that a long time ago and I think it works great. Easy to clean off your parts when you're done too. You just need to brush a little on there and keep it wet while you're working. Put a dry towel over the bed ways where you're working with the water. Also, don't forget to back the taps and dies off a few times while you're cutting and clean the crap out so it doesn't mess up the threads.

Now go make sumthin'.

 

[glycerine]

I prefer the .75 on the pitch for most of my threads for caps. Its not a coarse as the 1 pitch but thats personal preference. I tend to push the envelope. I generally find my self using the m10 x .5 for the front section although Im going to go to m10 x .75 for the wood rollerball pens I make. I use a m12x.75 for the cap threads. I have the triple lead sets but use them mainly on my metal parts. I think the .5 pitch will be to fine for anything other metal. Although I used the .5 on the wood rollerball pens and its holding up just fine. (Until you forget its in your back pocket and you sit on it).

I disagree with you on skills and talent you have both.

Thanks for the additional thread info and the vote of confidence!

By the looks of that Die holder I expect we'll be seeing lots of awesome kitless pens from you soon.
I glad you asked the questions....I was wondering the same thing.

I hope so!

First of all, nice job on the dieholder. Way to think outside the box and use what you got. I think Justin and Mike covered it on the taps and dies. I got nuthin' to add.

I just wanted to add that , yes, a coolant pump is definitely overkill in this situation. I'm with Justin on the soapy water. Steven (Skiprat) suggested that a long time ago and I think it works great. Easy to clean off your parts when you're done too. You just need to brush a little on there and keep it wet while you're working. Put a dry towel over the bed ways where you're working with the water. Also, don't forget to back the taps and dies off a few times while you're cutting and clean the crap out so it doesn't mess up the threads.

Now go make sumthin'.

Thanks.

 

[glycerine]

I found George's vid. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqqyJVwCJBI

Thanks George!

 

[Jerryconn]

I prefer the .75 on the pitch for most of my threads for caps. Its not a coarse as the 1 pitch but thats personal preference. I tend to push the envelope. I generally find my self using the m10 x .5 for the front section although Im going to go to m10 x .75 for the wood rollerball pens I make. I use a m12x.75 for the cap threads. I have the triple lead sets but use them mainly on my metal parts. I think the .5 pitch will be to fine for anything other metal. Although I used the .5 on the wood rollerball pens and its holding up just fine. (Until you forget its in your back pocket and you sit on it).

So you do not use the triple start sets on any acrylics?

 

[mredburn]

Jerry. only because I havent made an acrylic one yet. have been trying to eat up the wood blanks I have. If I do make on ein acrylic I will use the triple tap set.