Maybe you need to change the spark plug...

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BradG

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:biggrin:
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This has kept me busy for the past couple of days. My ol' sparky. Anodised body, custom hardware chrome plated. the nib protrudes the cap, forming the central electrode, shielded by the lateral electrode.


The making:
I formed the cap from a piece of hexagonal aluminium
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After its turned down, heres the result. quite happy with it, all whats left for me to do is form the lateral electrode. I made this from a piece of aluminium welding wire, press fitted into a hole i drilled next to the hole where the nib protrudes.
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as you can see theres some chuck markings on the piece. this annoyed me when i done it, but after showing it to my wife she said "aww, you've added some spanner marks to it. I stood there dumbstruck for a minute and thought.. yeah i can live with that :biggrin: I done it for cosmetic reasons.. honest :biggrin: :redface: I could sand them out.. but hey why hide it.. i guess it does emphasise its character a little bit

Next i turned the pen itself. not much to show other than the finished piece, and here you can see the lateral electrode fitted to the cap
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Next i turned the terminal from brass. this will be later chrome plated.
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Next, the nib turned from brass..
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now moving on to the asthetics.
Here's the body of the pen, soaked and scrubbed in GP1 alkaline, and a very hot soapy bath
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Into the sulphuric acid it goes for the anodising process
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After being anodised, ive dyed it Red and sealed the piece completing the process. Ive sanded down two of the bands revealing the silver as i noticed alot of spark plugs have coloured bands on them
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The terminal and nib were then chrome plated, and then finally, assembly.

As always.. thanks for looking :) Critique always welcome

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tim self

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To bad it wasn't finished in time for the Bash! What an accomplishment. Reminds me of something Skippy would make. Awesome pen.
 

firewhatfire

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you fellers and your measuring. I see more numbers written down than I have on the last 20 pens I have done. I am more of an eyeball it close and call it done type of guy. Of course this is kind of inspiring. It makes me think there is something to using a ruler.

great execution

Phil
 

BradG

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Neat pen. Now you need to make a cylinder head pen stand for your desk. ;)

now there's a thought :biggrin:

you fellers and your measuring. I see more numbers written down than I have on the last 20 pens I have done. I am more of an eyeball it close and call it done type of guy. Of course this is kind of inspiring. It makes me think there is something to using a ruler.

great execution

Phil

I became a precision engineer on mills and lathes when i left college, though i do try and stick to mm, instead of micrometers for the sake of making pens... though i usually fail at that too lol. :biggrin:

Wow... with a question. Are the external threads real or just v-grooves.

Real threads :)
 

joefyffe

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Words can't describe! Brad, the only thing, I was just thinking, maybe you could use a little extra oil on the center nut of your cross feed. What do you think, huh??? :confused::biggrin::biggrin: Beautiful work!
 

skiprat

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Show off!!!!:biggrin:

Really cool ( or hot, depending how you look at it!!:tongue: )
Well done !!:good::good::good:
 

BradG

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Words can't describe! Brad, the only thing, I was just thinking, maybe you could use a little extra oil on the center nut of your cross feed. What do you think, huh??? :confused::biggrin::biggrin: Beautiful work!

Thats a good idea, i think it would look nice with a little oil effect on the go.. though maybe not oil itself though :biggrin: will give it some thought

Now all you need to do i hook it up to a wire and see if you can get a spark!! Exceptional work as always Brad!

I have every confidence that it would spark - in a completely uncontrollable irregular manner :biggrin:

Where do you get your ideas????
Brilliant.
John
I cant recall how i thought of this one. i think i may have stumbled across a picture of a sparkplug which to me did look like a pen screwed into the base, and seemed like a fun project to try!
 

Brooks803

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Brad you're insane! I love it! There really must be something in the water over there. Now we have two over in the UK that enjoys making everyday shop items into pens :eek:
 

skiprat

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Well Brad, I was pretty impressed with your fun sparky pen so decided to follow your lead. :biggrin: I just knocked one up but I really prefer your one. :tongue:

There has actually been a few spark plug pens on IAP over the years.
I think Peter Hay from Oz and GreenEyedBlackCat have each done one and there may be others too. But I still think your one is coolest :cool:
 

BradG

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Words can't describe! Brad, the only thing, I was just thinking, maybe you could use a little extra oil on the center nut of your cross feed. What do you think, huh??? :confused::biggrin::biggrin: Beautiful work!

Joe, apologies i completely misunderstood your post. your most probably right. its due a good strip down, clean and fresh oiling anyway... though with a new lathe on the horizon, this one will be converted to CNC so im most probably pushing it more than i should to that date
 
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