Deep Blue Convertible

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DrD

DrD

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Jun 26, 2019
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Columbus, Mississippi
Had fun at the office today! Oops, I'm retired, so that must have been the shop. Took one of the last of my El Grande Convertible kits - works as a ball point by inserting a "Parker" style refill, or as a pencil by inserting the Schmidt pencil mechanism in place of the "Parker" refill. This kit is Platinum, and I chose a very old piece of acrylic, Deep Blue AA38.

Tried something different following shaping. Many - a few - folks on here categorically state the is no need to remove the blank from the lathe for finishing. 20+ years of turning experience says, for me, that is just not true., regardless of the "touch" on the sanding medium. SO, when I got to MM, following final shaping with 320 grit dry sanding, on the lathe @ ~ 800 rpm, I tried something different. In wet sanding with the MM pads I alternated orientation: 1st pad, horizontally off the lathe and continued with that pad until no radial ridges were evident - only horizontal ridges were seen under 6x mag. Wipe barrel dry, and put back on the lathe; sand at ~800 to 1000 rpm, lightly with next pad until no horizontal marks are evident. Next pad, off the lathe, etc etc until the last pad, then finish with MM Micro Cut and polish with soft cloth.

Look, please comment, so I can continue to try and get better.

Thanks
ElGrande_DeepBlue1.jpgElGrande_DeepBlue2.jpgElGrande_DeepBlue3.jpgElGrande_DeepBlue4.jpgElGrande_DeepBlue5.jpg
 
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Zero scratches and perfect fit to components . When I blow up the photos it appears as though the blank is not 100% opaque . Seems to show a bit of the drilling roughness , particularly near the nib end where the thickness is less . What glue did you use on the tube .
 
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1080Wayne said:
Zero scratches and perfect fit to components . When I blow up the photos it appears as though the blank is not 100% opaque . Seems to show a bit of the drilling roughness , particularly near the nib end where the thickness is less . What glue did you use on the tube .
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Thanks for the comments and question.

The inside of the blanks were painted with black model train paint, and inspected for complete coverage. The blanks dried for 24 hours and the tubes were test fit before gluing with 15 min 2 part epoxy. Blanks with glued tubes were not moved for another 24 hours. The acrylic thickness is actually uniform all the way down - no taper to either the upper or lower barrel. The nib is coated metal and is force fit into what I believe is a plastic nib holder. That assembly is then force fit into a coated metal receiver, which is force fit into the lower barrel.

Hope this answers your question; if not I'll try again.

DrD
 
My first though was can you get any better. Not as in your skills but as in your finished product! Ha Ha. I think it looks Awesome. I'm sure with any handmade product if you get a strong enough magnifier you will be able to find flaws. What I'm seeing with my naked eye and being able to zoom in on your pen I think it looks great. That being said unless people are going to be looking at The pen under a microscope I think your there. I'd say if your going to try to improve on something maybe something to make what you did easier to do. Once again Great Job.
 
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