Clip making

[NGLJ]

I promised myself that I would not wander into trying to make clips, but......I had a thought that I might be able to cut out clips on my CNC. I have the bits for metal cutting, and we aren't talking about thick material. What thickness is appropriate for strength but flexibility? My question is around material. Brass would be the easiest to cut but would it be too soft for a clip? If not brass then I guess stainless steel, which can get pricey. If I can purchase for the same or less then I will purchase. Thoughts?

 

[duncsuss]

IMO, brass is definitely too soft and doesn't maintain spring. On the advice of several other pen makers (among them David Broadwell, Tim Cullen, and Jason Olsen) I've used these two:

0.032" Titanium 6AL-4V ("grade 5") : very springy, but difficult to work with, needs a blowtorch to avoid snapping when setting the bend. It will destroy drill bits if you don't pay attention, because it work-hardens quickly.

0.050" type 301 full hard stainless steel : not quite as springy, but much easier to drill, shape and bend. I prefer this over titanium.

There are online sources of both that sell offcuts at a reasonable price (or they used to - I'm less than halfway through a 12" x 12" sheet of type 301 stainless that I bought over 5 years ago so I don't know what current prices are.) If you want to try it, I can fix you up with enough of each to make a few clips. Send me a message if you're interested.

 

[Mortalis]

Since current clips are punched and formed I doubt you will be able to compete price wise. With that being said you would still need to somehow form the clips after you CNC cut the flat blanks. Unless you plan to cut these from solid mass into the shape that would hold a pen in a shirt or pant pocket I dont see how you could keep the price reasonable. You could market them as custom and charge more but then again you would need a market.
Since I dont know what has peaked your interest to do this I dont see it as being a viable effort.

 

[NGLJ]

Since current clips are punched and formed I doubt you will be able to compete price wise. With that being said you would still need to somehow form the clips after you CNC cut the flat blanks. Unless you plan to cut these from solid mass into the shape that would hold a pen in a shirt or pant pocket I dont see how you could keep the price reasonable. You could market them as custom and charge more but then again you would need a market.
Since I dont know what has peaked your interest to do this I dont see it as being a viable effort.

IMO, brass is definitely too soft and doesn't maintain spring. On the advice of several other pen makers (among them David Broadwell, Tim Cullen, and Jason Olsen) I've used these two:

0.032" Titanium 6AL-4V ("grade 5") : very springy, but difficult to work with, needs a blowtorch to avoid snapping when setting the bend. It will destroy drill bits if you don't pay attention, because it work-hardens quickly.

0.050" type 301 full hard stainless steel : not quite as springy, but much easier to drill, shape and bend. I prefer this over titanium.

There are online sources of both that sell offcuts at a reasonable price (or they used to - I'm less than halfway through a 12" x 12" sheet of type 301 stainless that I bought over 5 years ago so I don't know what current prices are.) If you want to try it, I can fix you up with enough of each to make a few clips. Send me a message if you're interested.

I kind of thought that brass would not be suitable. Thanks for the generous offer. Still chewing over if this is a "bridge too far" for me that is worth the effort when other options exist.

 

[NGLJ]

Since current clips are punched and formed I doubt you will be able to compete price wise. With that being said you would still need to somehow form the clips after you CNC cut the flat blanks. Unless you plan to cut these from solid mass into the shape that would hold a pen in a shirt or pant pocket I dont see how you could keep the price reasonable. You could market them as custom and charge more but then again you would need a market.
Since I dont know what has peaked your interest to do this I dont see it as being a viable effort.

You may well be right about not being viable for me. Basically I saw "the next bridge to cross", and thought maybe that I should try. I am glad that I asked, and got good advice. This one will go on the "back burner" for now. I have lots of other things I can be doing.

 

[mredburn]

Brass can be work hardened by passing it through a rolling mill before cutting it to shape. Buy 16g and roll it down to 18g (1m) then cut it out on your mill. If you dont have a rolling mill use a ball peen hammer and then either use the hammered texture or smooth it off with the usual files, grinding, sanding .

 

[NGLJ]

Brass can be work hardened by passing it through a rolling mill before cutting it to shape. Buy 16g and roll it down to 18g (1m) then cut it out on your mill. If you dont have a rolling mill use a ball peen hammer and then either use the hammered texture or smooth it off with the usual files, grinding, sanding .

Thanks, I would never have thought of that!

 

[rixstix]

Brass can be work hardened by passing it through a rolling mill before cutting it to shape. Buy 16g and roll it down to 18g (1m) then cut it out on your mill. If you dont have a rolling mill use a ball peen hammer and then either use the hammered texture or smooth it off with the usual files, grinding, sanding .

Another way is using a rotary tumbler with 3# of stainless steel shot... and it gets rough edges smoothed & polished at the same time. That's what we used to harden Sterling from dead soft to 7/8 hard everyday for years.

 

[NGLJ]

Another way is using a rotary tumbler with 3# of stainless steel shot... and it gets rough edges smoothed & polished at the same time. That's what we used to harden Sterling from dead soft to 7/8 hard everyday for years.

Not heard of that one, Rick! Learn something every day in here .