Si90
Member
You know when you start doing something thinking that its going to be really difficult to do, why is it that it's the simple part that turns out to be the most difficult.
I wasn't happy with a carbon fibre blank I made a few weeks ago as I didn't get the weave very straight so I put it to one side. It came back to mind this week so I decided to try and cover as much of it as I could to disguise the carbon. After many ideas I decided to do a watch part pen. I have to admit that I have never been that bothered about this sought of blank but my wife likes them and had bought me a job lot of parts so I thought why not.
In my mind, the casting would be the most difficult part. I don't have a pressure pot or anything like that so I thought the blank would end up with hundreds of bubbles, but no, only 2 VERY small ones - Result, difficult part over - Err no!
I had my very first turning lesson yesterday which is another entirely different story. The result of this though was that I felt much more confident so time to turn the watch blank. Piece of cake, I avoided the parts coming through the resin and a lovely shine. Job done, difficult part over just put it together. Mmmmmm.
What should have crossed my mind is "why are the tubes so tight on the bushings" and not "I should clean the super glue of my bushings". As always I gave the tubes a quick clean inside and then line up the parts and press them home - crack, crack, crack. Same story for both cap and body. Fortunately, I stopped as soon as I spotted them and have had to shorten both tubes to get rid of the cracks. I then filed down the couplers and was successful in getting the pen together. Job done - errr no again. Too cocky, just so the blank gets the last word, I spotted that during the casting process some of the enamel or whatever it is lifted off the edge of the watch face. Its only visible if you look directly from the side but it's still annoying.
After all that I realised that I quite like the pen and the blank really deserves a better kit. I don't know if the tubes were too small or the couplers too big, I haven't got another kit for comparison. Thats why its a draw. The pen did everything to stop me putting it together but I managed it in the end but, it's not perfect and the blank had the last word.
Anyway, here are the pictures. Sorry it's such a long post but had to get it off my chest.
I wasn't happy with a carbon fibre blank I made a few weeks ago as I didn't get the weave very straight so I put it to one side. It came back to mind this week so I decided to try and cover as much of it as I could to disguise the carbon. After many ideas I decided to do a watch part pen. I have to admit that I have never been that bothered about this sought of blank but my wife likes them and had bought me a job lot of parts so I thought why not.
In my mind, the casting would be the most difficult part. I don't have a pressure pot or anything like that so I thought the blank would end up with hundreds of bubbles, but no, only 2 VERY small ones - Result, difficult part over - Err no!
I had my very first turning lesson yesterday which is another entirely different story. The result of this though was that I felt much more confident so time to turn the watch blank. Piece of cake, I avoided the parts coming through the resin and a lovely shine. Job done, difficult part over just put it together. Mmmmmm.
What should have crossed my mind is "why are the tubes so tight on the bushings" and not "I should clean the super glue of my bushings". As always I gave the tubes a quick clean inside and then line up the parts and press them home - crack, crack, crack. Same story for both cap and body. Fortunately, I stopped as soon as I spotted them and have had to shorten both tubes to get rid of the cracks. I then filed down the couplers and was successful in getting the pen together. Job done - errr no again. Too cocky, just so the blank gets the last word, I spotted that during the casting process some of the enamel or whatever it is lifted off the edge of the watch face. Its only visible if you look directly from the side but it's still annoying.
After all that I realised that I quite like the pen and the blank really deserves a better kit. I don't know if the tubes were too small or the couplers too big, I haven't got another kit for comparison. Thats why its a draw. The pen did everything to stop me putting it together but I managed it in the end but, it's not perfect and the blank had the last word.
Anyway, here are the pictures. Sorry it's such a long post but had to get it off my chest.
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