A few new pens

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
See more from Texatdurango

watch_art

Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
Messages
1,819
Location
hot springs, ar
Jim, just a note on the clear acrylic tubes and solid rods.

A few years ago I started using clear acrylic rod and tube on my bulb fillers with ink windows and since the clear acrylic was cheaper than "common pen blanks", I decided to buy extra rod and use for experimenting. I mentioned this in the past but think it's worth mentioning again.... The clear rods and tubes are a bit more brittle thus harder to thread than the softer acrylic used in the "common pen blanks". I have always said that if one can master threading the clear acrylic then they would have no problems with the common pen blanks or alumilite.

With that said, don't get discouraged if you have some threading failures at first, just keep at it, use cooking oil spray as a lubricant and don't force the taps and dies and you'll be fine.


You can get clear lucite from pipemakersemporium that turns and threads just as well as any pen blank acrylic.
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad

gwilki

Member
Joined
May 20, 2007
Messages
971
Location
Ottawa, ON, Canada.
To follow up on George's remarks about machining clear acrylic, the key is to find cast rod, not extruded. (Most out there is extruded.) Cast rod will machine as nicely as delrin. There are many firms in the US selling cast rod, but most have minimum orders too big for me. I've been able to work with some, though, and it is a treat.
 

MarkD

Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Messages
2,293
Location
Sayre, PA
Outstanding work George. I expect they will be a big hit at the show.
FWIW The blue is my favorite!
Would love to see a picture of the rollerball version!
Best of luck at the show!
 
Last edited:

Dustygoose

Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2010
Messages
977
Location
Greenbrier, Arkansas
WOW George!!! The only flaw is the blue one's cap has a slight bevel on the bottom of the cap. I had to look for 3 minutes to find that...lol

You guys are raising the bar so high. I have a functioning prototype but it is nowhere close to what I see here. Took me over 4 hours to do it but had fun and learned a lot. Next time I'm in my shop I will try to refine my designs.

Thanks to all the custom makers here. Y'all have given me inspiration
 

Texatdurango

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
4,649
Location
Show Low, Arizona
WOW George!!! The only flaw is the blue one's cap has a slight bevel on the bottom of the cap. I had to look for 3 minutes to find that...lol

You guys are raising the bar so high. I have a functioning prototype but it is nowhere close to what I see here. Took me over 4 hours to do it but had fun and learned a lot. Next time I'm in my shop I will try to refine my designs.

Thanks to all the custom makers here. Y'all have given me inspiration
Actually there are bevels on the bottoms of all the caps. There may be slight differences sine these are hand made but all are pretty close. I like putting bevels on the caps as I feel it gives the pen a finished look rather than just turning a blank round and leaving the ends squared off.
 
Top Bottom