cool44
Member
I have made 3 successful kitless fountain pens so far. The first successful one was slightly off concentric. It was passable as it is fairly hard to tell. The next two appear to be getting worse because it is very obvious something is off. Where it is most noticeable is once the pen is capped you can see/ feel that it isn't even all the way around at the joint.
For the pen body, I start off by turning a tenon and then putting the die to it for m12x.8x3 threads when it's in a 4-jaw chuck. Next I drill the blank and tap the inside for m10x1.25 (still in 4-jaw chuck).
I then take the blank out of the 4-jaw and move to a jig I have in a collet chuck that is threaded for m10x1.25. I screw the blank onto it with a threaded piece to support the outside threads. I move the 60 degree live center up to it for support and turn it size. Once shaped I'll part a little off the end and finish. I do the same for the cap without the tenon.
I have checked for alignment of the headstock and tailstock. With a magnifying glass it is really close to perfectly aligned with both the live center retracted in the tail and fully extended.
I am looking for suggestions as to what can cause my pens to get worse. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
dave
For the pen body, I start off by turning a tenon and then putting the die to it for m12x.8x3 threads when it's in a 4-jaw chuck. Next I drill the blank and tap the inside for m10x1.25 (still in 4-jaw chuck).
I then take the blank out of the 4-jaw and move to a jig I have in a collet chuck that is threaded for m10x1.25. I screw the blank onto it with a threaded piece to support the outside threads. I move the 60 degree live center up to it for support and turn it size. Once shaped I'll part a little off the end and finish. I do the same for the cap without the tenon.
I have checked for alignment of the headstock and tailstock. With a magnifying glass it is really close to perfectly aligned with both the live center retracted in the tail and fully extended.
I am looking for suggestions as to what can cause my pens to get worse. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
dave