Ready or not ... I had to show this ...

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magpens

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... because Sandsini was in the same line of work and posted already this morning !!

This is my first attempt at a kitless. . I used a 5" Alumilite blank so being limited by the available length, the cap is a bit shorter than I would like.

I chose to "copy" an El Grande because it seemed fairly easy with the tools I have (taps and dies).

Like Sandsini, I kept it very functional, straight lined and square shouldered.

I didn't make the section ... it's borrowed from an El Grande kit.

The cap and body are not flush, and overall it's a bit on the fat side. Plus it is unpolished but I like the matte look. . All of that can change at a whim !

I decided to make it postable as you can see.

I can still change a few things, like adding a clip and a feature cap to extend the length of the screw-on cap.

This being my first kitless is a practice pen and I won't say what mistakes I made ! . Not the same finesse as Eric's posted this morning but it's a start ! I must say that I had a lot of fun making it up to this point.

As always, C & C are very welcome.

 
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Sandsini

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May 11, 2014
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Congratulations Mal!

Honestly I didn't think I was up to making the section but the 10 x 1 tap for the El Grande section didn't arrive until after I started working on the pen. I would have much preferred to take the challenge of the section and postpone it a week or so!

Anyway your pen looks great and you made it post! Very cool.
 

SteveG

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WOW!! You just walked right up to the edge there...and jumped!! Eyes wide open and all. Way to go. Happy day for you. Scary day for me. :eek:

Why scary for me? One less person in line in front of me before I take the plunge. :eek::eek::rolleyes:

Nice job on your first effort, and may there be many more as your skills develop. :):)
 

magpens

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Well, Chris ... truth be known ... I *did* have an extra blank !

But I measured carefully and set myself the challenge of doing this first kitless with just one blank.

I have an existing El Grande assembled, and measurements showed I could do it with a slightly shortened cap.

So, I turned the whole 5 1/4" blank round, then used a parting tool to cut into 2 pieces, the longer of which was just a few thou longer than the minimum necessary for the lower barrel. The shorter piece was for the upper barrel (cap), of course. I did not ever need to shorten either piece.

Needless to say, I drilled the two pieces very carefully to the correct depth based on my measurements of the existing El Grande pen.

My finished pen, closed, measures 4 15/16" long. Screwing the cap on results in the threaded ends overlapping by 3/16".
So the total material length is 4 15/16 + 3/16 = 5 1/8", just 1/8" short of the blank's starting length. . The 1/8" missing from the blank's starting length is the width of the parting tool !

The kit pen has an overall length of 5 3/8". . Its cap is 7/16" longer than my kitless cap. Everything is accounted for !

Next time I make one of these, I will make the cap longer by adding a clip and a contrast band at one end or the other. . I try to get as much mileage as I can out of each blank !
 
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Charlie69

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Apr 12, 2013
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Congratulations! on your 1st kitless. Using up the whole blank is a good thing in my opinion..throw in a couple 1/4" finials of contrasting color and you have a normal size pen.
 

magpens

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Thanks for the postive comments, "likes", and encouragement, everybody !!! :):)
 
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