How are clips held in place.

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Brian Chislett

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Joined
Sep 13, 2011
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How is the pocket clip held in place without being compressed by a top cap. On some pens it is mounted further down the one piece cap. I assume two holes are drilled, two lugs inserted then bent over internally somehow. Is this correct or are they glued in place.Does anybody supply clips designed for this purpose with tooling.
Thanks
Brian.
 
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I've been following the pen-making board on the Fountain Pen Network for a while now, trying to learn as much as I can before making mistakes on the lathe.

From what I've seen, if a cap has a clip then it will be made in two pieces -- the cap and a finial -- and the ring of the clip sandwiched between them just like a kit.

Some makers hide the ring by making the diameter of the cap/finial larger than the diameter of the ring, and cut a rebate into the material to enclose the metal ring.

I've seen some threads saying that the diameter of the clip ring was too small for the cap being made; that maker chose to cut the ring away, leaving lugs as you describe, but he still made the cap with a finial that screwed in and bent the lugs around the tenon before screwing the finial down tight.

Here's one post that shows pix of all the pieces as well as the assembled pen. There are some great pens posted in that forum.
 
I usually make my caps one piece, without a finial. I'm attaching an article by Russ Fairfield that shows how to hold the clip in place. I've modified his process a bit, but the idea is the same.
 

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How clips are held in place

Thanks for that Grant. I printed it off. I can now see how it's done. Quite simple really. I also noted that special mandrels are available for closed end pens. That information was also very useful .
Cheers
Brian
 
The article that Grant posted here is awesome, just wish my hand was steady enough to get the slot in there without making a mess of it.



Scott (too much coffee maybe:rolleyes:) B
 
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