Texatdurango
Member
So you're starting down the road of "kitless" pens and are starting to do you own threading now. One problem is that you have to practice and experiment then experiment some more then once you are happy with a particular diameter, you decide to make the body a bit wider so you have to try different threads which means more experimenting!
Over the past few years I can't remember how many $3 - $4 blanks I ruined because I used them to experiment with! This was until I realized there is a better alternative!
I started using clear acrylic rods which, compared to acrylic pen blanks, are dirt cheap AND you can order a 6' rod and saw off a few inches to experiment with instead of wasting a 5" pen blank. This really came to be a cost savings when I started cutting threads on my metal lathe, I was going through lots of acrylic trying out different threads, pitches and blank diameters. Now I make all my mock up pens from clear acrylic before using colored material. Not only do you save money, you can see what's going on inside your pens with your threading and drilling!
I'm placing another order today for supplies and thought about sharing this little tidbit since some of you might want to save some money yourselves.
This stuff doesn't warrant a group buy since it's so cheap and the quantity discounts don't amount to much. Here is the deal.....
United States Plastic Corp, http://www.usplastic.com/ sells clear acrylic rod in different diameters but are all in 6' length rods but a 1/2" dia rod is only $.51 a foot and the 5/8" dia is $.80 per foot. That's a LOT cheaper than $3 or $4 for 5"!
Drilling and tapping this material is just like using a typical acrylic pen blank and you can even make some nice clear "demo" pens or pens with ink windows!
Edit: As mentioned below, I use the extruded rod, see post #5 for the reason.
Over the past few years I can't remember how many $3 - $4 blanks I ruined because I used them to experiment with! This was until I realized there is a better alternative!
I started using clear acrylic rods which, compared to acrylic pen blanks, are dirt cheap AND you can order a 6' rod and saw off a few inches to experiment with instead of wasting a 5" pen blank. This really came to be a cost savings when I started cutting threads on my metal lathe, I was going through lots of acrylic trying out different threads, pitches and blank diameters. Now I make all my mock up pens from clear acrylic before using colored material. Not only do you save money, you can see what's going on inside your pens with your threading and drilling!
I'm placing another order today for supplies and thought about sharing this little tidbit since some of you might want to save some money yourselves.
This stuff doesn't warrant a group buy since it's so cheap and the quantity discounts don't amount to much. Here is the deal.....
United States Plastic Corp, http://www.usplastic.com/ sells clear acrylic rod in different diameters but are all in 6' length rods but a 1/2" dia rod is only $.51 a foot and the 5/8" dia is $.80 per foot. That's a LOT cheaper than $3 or $4 for 5"!
Drilling and tapping this material is just like using a typical acrylic pen blank and you can even make some nice clear "demo" pens or pens with ink windows!
Edit: As mentioned below, I use the extruded rod, see post #5 for the reason.
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