An Abundance of Copper

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JD Combs Sr

JD Combs Sr

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2010
Messages
767
Location
Owingsville, KY
Turned this "coppery" slimline pen over the past couple days, had to let the casting cure overnight. Found a short piece of automotive ground strap made from copper braid at a local auto-parts store. It had been used and was quite corroded and had a burned area in the center so it didn't leave much good braid available. A little Tarn-X brightened it up and I had enough for half of a slimline. I cast it in Alumilite under pressure overnight and it turned out great. I sculpted the grip a little because at that end there was a bit of a flare in the braid and I was afraid it could be seen and was concerned that I would hit it while turning. After completing it I noted that it may not have been visible due to the magnifying quality of the casting material. Sooo, now I have a great looking bottom barrel, what to do for the upper barrel...? I remembered I had a short piece of 3/8" copper pipe that I had salvaged from someplace so I thought I would try making the top barrel out of it. I was thinking of using a copper kit but I didn't have a copper slimline kit but I now think the chrome was a better fit.
Here is the result.

IMG_5679_8_80_Detail.jpg IMG_5682_1_3_Detail.jpg IMG_5685_4_6_Detail.jpg

Finishing included covering both the Alumilite and the copper tubing with several coats of CA then polishing with MM to 12000

C&C Appreciated.
 
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tell me a little more about the upper copper pipe. being a plumber i have oodles of this laying around. you have perked my ears a little...is it hard copper? is it soft copper glue on a tube?

thank you in advance
neal
 
lyonsacc said:
The more I look at this, I think I like it. The story is great and I the copper pipe looks really good!
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Thanks David, it would have looked a little better with a little flare in the middle of the upper barrel but... hard to get with straight copper pipe.:rolleyes:

redneckmedic said:
JD that pen is hot! I really like the pens that come from creativness over kit blanks... it just adds something cool. Well done!
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Thanks Matthew, I would like to be different with every pen but it doesn't always work that way.:redface:

Tx.slopoke said:
tell me a little more about the upper copper pipe. being a plumber i have oodles of this laying around. you have perked my ears a little...is it hard copper? is it soft copper glue on a tube?
thank you in advance
neal
Click to expand...
Thanks Neal the copper was just a piece of 3/8" soft copper I had laying around. I cut it to just over the required length with a pipe cutter. That created a pinch at each end which effectively centered the copper over the 7mm tube. I used a long 7mm tube then sealed one end of it, then filled the copper pipe with some epoxy then pushed the long 7mm plugged end tube through the copper. It pushed out any excess epoxy. After epoxy was cured I cut the 7mm to length then squared the ends with a pen mill. From there it was turned on my metal lathe then finished on the wood lathe. If this didn't answer all your questions just let me know and I will try to give you some more details.
 
Thanks Ray, I think that it would look better with some more "body" centered in the upper barrel. I did not have any copper at the time but I had a thought. If I cast a similar piece of copper in resin and shaped it, the magnifying qualities of the resin would make the resin look all copper. I may have to give that a try and use the top of this pen on a similarly made copper bottom.
 
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