My JR Gent II pen cap

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workinforwood

workinforwood

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Joined
Mar 1, 2007
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Eaton Rapids, Michigan, USA.
These are going to make some fine pens!!! :biggrin:

This is a dragon cut on to an aluminum tube. The tube is 5/8 OD, which is just a little larger than a JR gent II. The inside is drilled to 9.6mm and after a bit of casting and clean up, parting off the scrap ends, will be reamed to match the inside of a Jr Gent tube. The dragon wraps 50% of the tube. It's a difficult thing to photograph, metal on metal. I have been fine tuning the process a bit, had to do some adjustments to the tail stock height, but I'm having a great time creating and watching the results. I was able to cut this dragon out in 6 hrs. I ran a .024 bit, 12000 rpm, 6 inches per minute and 900 degrees per minute on the rotary table.

alumidragon1.jpg


alumidragon2.jpg
 
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Nows when I wish Skippy was back, between the two of you it's a constant raising of the bar. Steven would have applauded you. So in his absents I give you a standing ovation.
 
Hey Jeff,

that dragon really looks good.

Guess that you won't be ordering another 'dragon' style tool handle from me again. lol :wink:
 
Looks cool!

Is it going to be cast in clear, filled, left in relief, or some combination?

What is the life expectancy of those bits you are using. Some of the big stuff(0.5 thru 4.0 in dia) we use last less than 30 minutes before becoming dull on Titanium.

Nosey ain't I? :smile:
 
This is done with a Syil X5 speedmaster mill. The bit is cutting aluminum under fluid and I don't know how long they last, I have 9 hrs on the current bit. I'd be pretty happy to cut 2 dragons with one bit, $3 a bit. I've broke a ton of bits, but as things keep getting more tuned, the bits last longer. I am trying to figure out how to get a video off my phone. I have to keep it super short or it won't upload to my email.
 
Hopefully this will work. It's only 11 seconds. Any more and it times out transferring to email. I never did this before, I just discovered yesterday that i could video off my phone. I am uploading to photobucket. I can only guess that is the best way to show it.

 
I couldn't quite grasp what you were talking about when we had lunch. But know seeing it makes me a believer!!! Just simply outstanding Jeff!!!!!!
 
Nice job Jeff, if you do a finish pas with a ball end mill and slow your last pass down to about 1/2 what your feed rate is, you can get rid of the tool marks in the bottom of your cuts. BUT unfortunately sub miniature carbide Ball end mills are a little more expensive than the bits you are using now Check eBay you can get some .020 and .025's for under 10.00 each usually, The suckers retail for 20.00 and up. . also check out discount tools for Fullerton end mills, they aren't as expensive as Kyocera, Niagara or Hanita, but they are good endmills.
 
This isn't anywhere near as rough as it appears. It's not smooth as a baby but its not very rough either. If you take a brass tube and scuff it with 220 paper it will look like this in a photo too. The photographs enhance it because like anything, the slightest scratch gives a shadow. Not to sound defensive of course, but truly it's not that rough. I can increase the overlap to make it even smoother, but there's no point adding machine time that will be covered over. In my opinion it is good to have a tiny bit of roughness though, so that casting it will stick better.
 
Ruby pen turning said:
So what is the idea. To get it to where you want...cast in resintake back down to metal and polish?
Click to expand...

exactly right. Cast in resin or poly clay, going to try both methods. After cast, spin it back to the size it is right now. Then part off the scrap ends, then ream the hole a few thousands larger so the kit parts fit and then spin it to finished size, which won't require much work, because finished size is not much less than what it is now. Definitely going black on my first one, that's going to contrast the silver color of the aluminum the most. I should be able to have a kit pen within a few days to show off. I don't do many kit pens, but it'll be a killer pen for the wife to carry around.
 
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