At the Aluminum Again

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Fangar

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Here is a new Aluminum Polished I just knocked off.

polished.jpg


Cheers,

James
 
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Originally posted by rtparso
<br />Wow!! Do you put a finish on it?
Click to expand...

Thanks. I have not put any finish on them yet. I am still trying to see how they will hold up. The polished will likely scratch pretty easy, but we will see. The brushed finish, has held up well. I have been carrying one around and using it for a couple of weeks now without issue.

If anyone has any ideas what would help to seal up and protect, please let me know.

James
 
Originally posted by swm6500
<br />Good looking pen James, what kind of aluminum did you use?
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Thanks. I started with 5/8" round stock. I orginally had some 3/4", but being so hard to turn, I knocked it down to 5/8". On a Cigar, that does not leave much material near the large bushing, so you have to be sure to drill them spot on.

There are different grades of aluminum which vary in hardness. I am not sure what this is as I bought a remnant from a local shop, and it was not marked. The stock is cheap though. I got 10' for 16 bucks. That will make around 25 pens. Thats about 65 cents a pen. Not as nice as wood, but something a little different.

Cheers,

James
 
Beautiful James. Soon you will have to post a link to tell how you did it. I'm sure some of us wouldn't mind stealing your idea.[}:)][}:)][:D] Very nice pen though, I bet it catches attention.
 
The best finish for aluminum is anodizing and it can be done in colors too. It makes the surface much harder and your fingers dont turn black from handling it. Do a search for anodizing on google. The only drawback is getting it done cheap. Very nice pens.
 
Originally posted by jenamison
<br />So do you just have to sand the pen for hours or are you able to get the barrels pretty smooth before you start sanding? That is a nice, nice pen!

Mike
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Thanks for the kind words. Actually, it sands very quickly. I get them somewhat smooth with my homemade scraper, and then start with a 240 grit, follwed by a 400 grit. I t only takes a very short time to get it smooth (Still scratched). Then I clean with mineral spirits, and switch to micro mesh. I only use the first 3-4 sheets up to a 3600 I believe. Then if I am doing a brushed finish, I go back to the 400 grit very lightly. Quick rapid passes seems to achieve the best result. For the polished, I take the madrel off the lathe and buff with compunds using a home made buffing system that attaches to the lathe. Hope that helps.

James
 
Originally posted by atvrules1
<br />Beautiful James. Soon you will have to post a link to tell how you did it. I'm sure some of us wouldn't mind stealing your idea.[}:)][}:)][:D] Very nice pen though, I bet it catches attention.
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Thanks. I would love for you guys to try them out. I will take some tutorial photos next time, I go at it.

I am in the process of making a jig that will allow me to chuck the aluminum stock into my drill press quill. The drill will be mounted in a special vice, and the stock will be spun onto the stationary drill bit. This is the only real way (Outside of a Steel lathe) to properly drill straight through the blanks. The piece will have a 1/2" inch shaft with a slot and set screw to accept the stock. Should work. I get these visions, that often fail unless. But eventually, I figure something out. I will will post the photos soon.

James
 
Originally posted by MDWine
<br />Are you using a different drill bit? I'm guessing you're not gluing tubes in those, right? It sure is pretty.
Click to expand...

Thanks MDWine. I use a 23/64" drill bit which is right around 9.5 mm. I don't use the tubes. I have found that the kits vary quite a bit from piece to piece, so a 23/64" works well. On the first pen I did, all four ends had to be glued in place (Thin CA works like you wouldn't believe). On the second, 2 of the 4 had to be glued while the others press fit right in. On the latest, only one had to be glued. The glue is a piece of cake really. Clean up is easy with a little acetone, if there is a little excess.

Cheers,

Fangar
 
Originally posted by Fangar
<br />
Originally posted by jenamison
<br />So do you just have to sand the pen for hours or are you able to get the barrels pretty smooth before you start sanding? That is a nice, nice pen!

Mike
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words. Actually, it sands very quickly. I get them somewhat smooth with my homemade scraper, and then start with a 240 grit, follwed by a 400 grit. I t only takes a very short time to get it smooth (Still scratched). Then I clean with mineral spirits, and switch to micro mesh. I only use the first 3-4 sheets up to a 3600 I believe. Then if I am doing a brushed finish, I go back to the 400 grit very lightly. Quick rapid passes seems to achieve the best result. For the polished, I take the madrel off the lathe and buff with compunds using a home made buffing system that attaches to the lathe. Hope that helps.

James
Click to expand...

A Couple of posts up. [:D]

Cheers,
Fangar
 
Powder Coating is the way to go. Another way to go that is quicker to get started is automotive clearcoat. That is what I use on my bullet pens to keep them from tarnishing.

Nice work with the Aluminum. Gotta give that a try sometime.
Good Luck,

John
 
Actually, My Father and I are getting ready to get into Powdercoating. Both he and I are avid motorcycle riders. He has a large machine shop and makes a lot of motorcycle parts that allow new equipment (Carbs, exhaust, etc.) to be retorfitted to old Harley's. We have plans to build a large oven that will do full sized rigid (one piece) frames. It is fairly inexpensive to get into, if you have some of the baic tools already (Compressor, Oven... etc).

So that might be a simple option. Good idea.

James
 
That is some beautiful work James. As if you need more ideas, I once turned some spinning tops in aluminum on a metal lathe. I bead blasted the top while it was still attached to the bar stock. I then put it back on the lathe and turned some decorative grooves. The grooves showed as bright aluminum, the rest of the top was dull from the bead blaster. Some resist tape would let you do some geometric patterns as well.

That pen of yours is a real winner, nice craftsmanship!

Rich
 
Originally posted by Fangar
<br />
Originally posted by jenamison
<br />So do you just have to sand the pen for hours or are you able to get the barrels pretty smooth before you start sanding? That is a nice, nice pen!

Mike
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words. Actually, it sands very quickly. I get them somewhat smooth with my homemade scraper, and then start with a 240 grit, follwed by a 400 grit. I t only takes a very short time to get it smooth (Still scratched). Then I clean with mineral spirits, and switch to micro mesh. I only use the first 3-4 sheets up to a 3600 I believe. Then if I am doing a brushed finish, I go back to the 400 grit very lightly. Quick rapid passes seems to achieve the best result. For the polished, I take the madrel off the lathe and buff with compunds using a home made buffing system that attaches to the lathe. Hope that helps.

James
Click to expand...

Very nice pen, this is a new world to me turning alum but what do you mean by brushed finish?, do you use normal woodworker chisels and skew to turn alum, I'm very interested to see a tutorial from you if possible.

that is stuning, something out of the wood [:)]

Serge
 
Originally posted by Darley

Very nice pen, this is a new world to me turning alum but what do you mean by brushed finish?, do you use normal woodworker chisels and skew to turn alum, I'm very interested to see a tutorial from you if possible.

that is stuning, something out of the wood [:)]

Serge
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Serge,

Here is what the brushed finish aluminum looks like.

brushalum.jpg


I have used normal HSS tools (Very sharp) at high speeds on the aluminum with no major problems. I usually use a round nosed scraper to turn my pens. That seemed to work best for the aluminum too. The issue those is that the build up of heat can change the temering on even the best of tools making them so that they will no longer hold an edge even when properly sharpened. So avoid heat. I decided to make a new round nosed scraper out of a HSS heavy guage steel Steel lathe cutter. I rounded it off with a grinder, Welded on a threaded rod turned a wooden handle and sharpened a 60 degree edge using my Tormek 2006. The tools works great as there is almost no vibartion now due to weight, and the blade is mich harder than a standard HSS, and therefore does not need to be sharpened as often.

Here is what that tool looks like.

tool1.jpg

tool2.jpg

handle.jpg

edge.jpg


I will definately post a tutorial later this week when I get some time.

Cheers,

James
 
Great process, tool use and finished product...good job on all counts!

We need some innovative person to start offering pre-cut and drilled aluminum Slimline, Cigar and maybe Baron blanks for sale...any takers?
 
For the slimline---I found predrilled 6061 aluminum about a foot long at a hardware store---size 3/8 by .049 that accepts 7mm tubes perfectly. The aluminum I bought is from K & S Engineering. I also got a brass piece that goes over this perfectly for my 2 layer pens (13/32) also marked K & S Engineering. I don't recall what I paid--but, seemed fairly reasonable. HUT does have some sizes of predrilled aluminum blanks---but, they seem a bit spendy.
 
Originally posted by YoYoSpin
<br />Great process, tool use and finished product...good job on all counts!

We need some innovative person to start offering pre-cut and drilled aluminum Slimline, Cigar and maybe Baron blanks for sale...any takers?
Click to expand...

Thanks ED,

I am game for the Cigar Pen Blanks. The issue is calulating the inner diameter sizes. I think the 23/64" works the best for the Cigars, but am not sure about the 7mm tubes inner diameter. I have a 6mm drill bit and could try that. I would not want to start with the 5/8" inch stock though for a slimline... too much work.

James
 
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Hut's prices for pre-cut, pre-drilled aluminum tubes is $3.99 for slimlines(drops to $2.59 if you order 100) and $8.99 for European or American Double-Twist (drops to $5.49 if you order 100).

We can probably get together a bulk buy on the slimlines if there's interest. On the larger pens, we'd probably be looking for some to cut and drill 3/4" 6061 aluminum (available at MSC for under $20 for 6 feet). I'd think it might be advantageous to have the Barons drilled at 25/64ths and 15/32nds and the cigar at 7mm and just go ahead and use the tubes that come with the kits.

Any other ideas? Interest in a slimline group purchase?
 
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