Polishing the interior of a transparent Fountain Pen

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KMCloonan

KMCloonan

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I have a customer who commissioned me to make a bespoke/kitless pen - he provided the blanks for the pen. The cap blank is almost completely transparent, with scattered blue glitter. After drilling out the cap, and cutting the threads, you can see some of machining marks from the outside. Before I set about making up my own method to polish the internal walls, would anyone have advice on a tried & true method?

Thanks!
 
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Prepare yourself for a bunch of work polishing! I've done a few demonstrators to see how everything fits within the pen body and took the time to polish the interior to make it look nice. I found the best solution was a swabs put onto a split rod powered by a battery powered drill to be the best. You can make a split rod by cutting a slot in a dowel or simply buy a gun cleaning rod with a swab attachment. I used a few different grits of Zona paper on the rod then switched to cotton swabs with polishing pastes on them in progressively finer grits. It works great, but is time consuming. For the polishing paste, any car finish polish can be used like Mequire's or similar just make sure you keep a continually finer grit as you go.
 
This is another technique on my "to do" list.

My plan is to do as Kevin (@NJturner) notes, with one change. I plan on putting the split rod in the collet chuck and let the lathe do the turning while I hold and move the pen part(s).

This is of course, for me anyway, theoretical as I have not yet done it. :cool:
 
d_bondi said:
This is another technique on my "to do" list.

My plan is to do as Kevin (@NJturner) notes, with one change. I plan on putting the split rod in the collet chuck and let the lathe do the turning while I hold and move the pen part(s).

This is of course, for me anyway, theoretical as I have not yet done it. :cool:
Click to expand...
David - Also works - but for some reason, my lathe is really hard to drag up the stairs from my shop and set up in front of my TV. This is so time consuming, I find a good glass of bourbon and a decent TV show help to make it a little less tiring - so the battery drill!.....lol.

Seriously though, the collet is a good idea - and I use it when I am trying to do short polishes like for an ink window. Since there is really little in surface area to polish, the polishing goes quickly. There isn't the need to worry about inside tolerances or sizing, as little is being removed - as long as you do a clean drilling job!

Kevin
 
NJturner said:
as long as you do a clean drilling job!

Kevin
Click to expand...
Something I want to try SOON with my metal lathe, specifically when internal polishing is required, is drilling slightly undersized and then finalizing ID with a boring bar to see if I can get a cleaner cut to make polishing easier...

I seem to have a awful lot on my "To Do" list, don't I...
 
I watched a couple of videos from the links y'all gave me - this was much easier than I thought it would be. See pics below.

The "Before" picture
thumbnail_IMG_0029.jpg


Made a split dowel to hold the Zona Paper

thumbnail_IMG_0030.jpg


Zona Paper on the dowel, using lathe to turn the dowel.

thumbnail_IMG_0031.jpg


The "After" picture

thumbnail_IMG_0032.jpg


Thanks again for the help!

KC
 
Last edited:
KMCloonan said:
I have a customer who commissioned me to make a bespoke/kitless pen - he provided the blanks for the pen. The cap blank is almost completely transparent, with scattered blue glitter. After drilling out the cap, and cutting the threads, you can see some of machining marks from the outside. Before I set about making up my own method to polish the internal walls, would anyone have advice on a tried & true method?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I have tried it a few times but found it a real PITA and stay away from it. It takes a lot of time. Don't be fooled by the videos. Practice on your own materials until you are pleased with the results before doing the customer supplied one. Hopefully you didn't give them a firm price without knowing about this.
 
Good work. After drilling, I team the holle, I find the reamer removes the swirls made by the drill bit. Then I polish with felt bobs. This also helps keep a consistent inside diameter if you are making a vacuum style filler mechanism.
 
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