Silver/chrome thin bands around the upper left angled segmented section???
Mark- that's a great idea. I could use a layer of "soda can" aluminum. It would work on a bunch of levels. Thanks!
Any chance you could show your rig / jig
Absolutely. This pen was made with "version 2" of my setup and I have "version 3" ready to go. Here's the idea:
I originally tried a rack and pinion setup but it was not at all accurate and the results were awful. So I'm trying this setup with two raised rails held to the bed by thick rubber bands. I place my pen between the two wood cylinders, which roll along the rails. The friction between the rubber bands and the roughly sanded wood cylinders keeps things pretty accurate.
The green is my old design of what I put on the sides to hold the axle up. The black is newer and has some measurement refinements. One of these on each side works well. I use metal bushings to keep friction down.
The weakness of this design is that there is some play and the start and end do not line up. For instance, I would not be able to laser burn a thin line 360 degrees around. There would definitely be a misalignment. So my designs take this into account. The pen that I showed at the top has a misalignment that I buried behind the clip.
I'm going to keep messing around with this and will post anything interesting: successes and the opposite.
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