El Grande Fountain Pen

[JPatterson]

[blue]This is my first venture into fountain pens. I was wondering how you mill the ends of something as large as 31/64" and 33/64"?

Otherwise everything else seems simple enough. Are ther any gotchas that are particualr to Fountain pens and the El Grande in general?

Thanks

JP

 

[Dario]

I just used my regular mill...not sure what size but I think it is the smaller one.

I did make a sleeve for it using a scrap blank with a 7mm tube (an aborted Euro).

 

[Doghouse]

I used a small sanding drum inside and a sanding sled. The thing is massive and all the mills I have found drop through the inside.

 

[alamocdc]

JP, I haven't turned the El Grande, but I have doen a few Gentlemans pens and they are pretty massive. I only have the standard 5/8 inch barrel trimmer with 7mm pilot, so I turned a bushing to just fit inside the tube. It should just slide in, but not be loose enough to fall through. The only problem with this setup is that the 5/8" trimmer isn't big enough for the diameter of the pen (3/4" is ordered and on the way). I then squared (very carefully) the ends up on my disk sander after I milled it. Others may have a better solution, but this worked for me. I hope the new trimmer makes it easier.

 

[wayneis]

I also use a sanding sled on a disk sander for all of my pens.

Wayne

 

[JPatterson]

Thanks for all the replies. Billy, where did you order the 3/4" trimmer from?

JP

 

[alamocdc]

BB at Arizona Silhouette. They also have pilots up to 37/64", but I only got a 10mm for this trimmer and will make bushings for my larger pens. I've been using xcut quarter sawn white oak for mine, but Corian will work well too.

 

[woodscavenger]

Use a 3/4 trimmer with a custom turned insert like Dario said. I think a sanding sled it tough unless you know for sure your hole is drilled exactly parallel to your blank. If you're not at exactly 90 degrees your fittings will show and when you clamp it onto your mandrel it may bow the mandrel and give you an off-center turning making it hard to get your matting surfaces flush.

 

[scubaman]

Originally posted by woodscavenger
<br />I think a sanding sled it tough unless you know for sure your hole is drilled exactly parallel to your blank.

You have to use the right kind of sanding sled, of course. The 'reference' is an old pen mandrel that is kept at 90 deg to the sanding surface. The blanks slides forward on that mandrel. You are correct about a sled that uses the outer surface of the blank - that can lead to errors

 

[wayneis]

Sanding sleds are very easy to use and you can either buy one from one of the Companies or even making your own is not that hard. Like Rich said it is guided by the tube sliding on a rod and as long as you have your rod squared to the disk then its a breeze to square blanks. For me, using a sanding sled is much easier than a mill and much less of a headach. With mills you can end up catching a corner and ripping the top off a beautiful blank.
Wayne