Aluminum Wrapper

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lwalper

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Though I'd try some wire wrapping. There have been others with copper wraps so thought aluminum might be interesting. It's 17ga aluminum electric fence wire. The real challenge was turning to size because on the right hand end of the piece any little catch would tend to unwrap the wire from the tube. The CA just wasn't strong enough to hold it down, so I was constantly turning the part end-for-end which allowed me to turn with the twist instead of against it. Also had to resize the inside of the tubes to allow a loose fit for the nib, cap, and twist mechanism. This stuff does NOT stretch to allow a press fit.
 

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Awesome. Can I make a suggestion on the end for end thing. Get some longer tubes than normal for that pen. that way you can wrap say and inch farther than you need and only turn the inside parts you want without fear of catching the end. then just cut to length when done
 
CrimsonKeel said:
Awesome. Can I make a suggestion on the end for end thing. Get some longer tubes than normal for that pen. that way you can wrap say and inch farther than you need and only turn the inside parts you want without fear of catching the end. then just cut to length when done
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I did actually use longer tubes than required, but after unwrapping a time or two I opted for the end swap plan. After turning I then used the skew chisel to part off much of the excess (on the left hand side - then flipped it over - always working on the left end) and then sanded the blanks to length with the disk sander. I found that, working "against the grain," even leaving as much as 1/2 inch from the end tended to pull the wrap free and unwrap the package :eek:.
 
Absolutely Outstanding, Leslie.
Brilliant Idea, and Superb Execution.
I am glad it was you wrapping that wire around the Tube, and not me.
Great Work.
Brian.
 
Nice work. I had some luck with solid soldering wire wrapped around a tube and cast in polyresin. The solder is softer than the aluminum so you wouldn't have as much of a struggle with it. Although it is a little more expensive and can add up quickly when doing a group. Keep up the good work!
 
I haven't priced solder, but the aluminum was pretty cheap $7 +/- for 250 feet of the stuff and the pen only used about 3-4 feet - so just a few pennies worth of wire. It actually wrapped on quite easily. Mounted on the lathe in low speed range I was turning only about 50 RPM which was easily manageable for the wrapping.
 
lwalper said:
I haven't priced solder, but the aluminum was pretty cheap $7 +/- for 250 feet of the stuff and the pen only used about 3-4 feet - so just a few pennies worth of wire. It actually wrapped on quite easily. Mounted on the lathe in low speed range I was turning only about 50 RPM which was easily manageable for the wrapping.
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I think that's the way to go. I spent about $7 for just enough to cover one zen and one sierra, and I left a pretty good gap between the wraps so the black tinted resin would fill the area. Good idea using the lathe to wrap. It looks very uniform and precise.
 
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