Freethinker
Member
Hey guys;
About a year ago, I bought a piece of antique Bakelite on Ebay. Kinda pricey, but beautiful.
It was a 1" rod, about 6" long.
I hated to use the entire 1" diameter for one pen, and have most of it wind up on the floor, so I came up with cutting a slice off the side about .280, then a slice off the remaining half and had enough left of the original rod for one full size Majestic pen ....... and the leftover pieces glued into another, smaller blank (with a slice of ivory down the middle).
My sister saw the pen I'd made from the bigger blank, fell in love with it, and wanted one just like it. The blank I have is juuuuust big enough O.D. for a Majestic Jr.
I think.
The question is, the upper tube (if i can do the upper, the lower tube should not present much of a problem) for the pen is 0.483, needs to be drilled 12.5mm (0.492) and my blank is 0.616 O.D.
That leaves me with 0.062 walls. (sound of knees knocking together)
Can this -somewhat brittle- Bakelite blank be successfully drilled at such close tolerances?
I have a very accurate lathe, the blank has been turned to round, I have a collet chuck with full set of collets, so accuracy in centering is not the problem.
I'm just wondering if walls that thin will withstand the strain of drilling. I plan to go veeeeeery slowly, and maybe even use water.......but has anyone successfully drilled an acrylic or Bakelite pen with a bit this close to the O.D of the blank?
I also plan to cut the blank 1/2 or so extra long, stop short of drilling all the way through, and carefully cut the end off with a very fine tooth saw.
Any tips would be appreciated....this blank is a beautiful piece of swirly blood red Bakelite --with wispy white marbling- and it is not easily replaceable.
About a year ago, I bought a piece of antique Bakelite on Ebay. Kinda pricey, but beautiful.
It was a 1" rod, about 6" long.
I hated to use the entire 1" diameter for one pen, and have most of it wind up on the floor, so I came up with cutting a slice off the side about .280, then a slice off the remaining half and had enough left of the original rod for one full size Majestic pen ....... and the leftover pieces glued into another, smaller blank (with a slice of ivory down the middle).
My sister saw the pen I'd made from the bigger blank, fell in love with it, and wanted one just like it. The blank I have is juuuuust big enough O.D. for a Majestic Jr.
I think.
The question is, the upper tube (if i can do the upper, the lower tube should not present much of a problem) for the pen is 0.483, needs to be drilled 12.5mm (0.492) and my blank is 0.616 O.D.
That leaves me with 0.062 walls. (sound of knees knocking together)
Can this -somewhat brittle- Bakelite blank be successfully drilled at such close tolerances?
I have a very accurate lathe, the blank has been turned to round, I have a collet chuck with full set of collets, so accuracy in centering is not the problem.
I'm just wondering if walls that thin will withstand the strain of drilling. I plan to go veeeeeery slowly, and maybe even use water.......but has anyone successfully drilled an acrylic or Bakelite pen with a bit this close to the O.D of the blank?
I also plan to cut the blank 1/2 or so extra long, stop short of drilling all the way through, and carefully cut the end off with a very fine tooth saw.
Any tips would be appreciated....this blank is a beautiful piece of swirly blood red Bakelite --with wispy white marbling- and it is not easily replaceable.