"The Steampunk Collection" grows

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Si90

Si90

Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2013
Messages
269
Location
Doncaster, UK
Getting a bit carried away with this. Another of the necklace pens that I want to do a range of. Nice little kit once I make it longer, its too short if you use the tubes supplied. This one is 4.75 inches long, about 1.25 longer than the kit would be. Exposed mechanism which I polished up and the front section is made from a 8mm microbore plumbing fitting and a 10mm brass olive.





As always, thanks for looking.
 
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Simon, yet another Winner.
You turn them out faster than I can create Replies.
Love your Necklace Pen.
How do you activate the "Ejection" of the Pen?
Congratulations,
Brian
 
OZturner said:
Simon, yet another Winner.
You turn them out faster than I can create Replies.
Love your Necklace Pen.
How do you activate the "Ejection" of the Pen?
Congratulations,
Brian
Click to expand...

I assume that the thumbwheel in the middle works the mechanism (or is the mechanism, depending on how you look at it).
 
sbell111 said:
OZturner said:
Simon, yet another Winner.
You turn them out faster than I can create Replies.
Love your Necklace Pen.
How do you activate the "Ejection" of the Pen?
Congratulations,
Brian
Click to expand...

I assume that the thumbwheel in the middle works the mechanism (or is the mechanism, depending on how you look at it).
Click to expand...


There is no great mystery to it, it's just a standard twist pen. The wheel in the centre is the piece that screws into the twist mechanism that holds the mini refill. The pen twists/comes apart at the join where the 4 prongs are at the front of the pen. I soldered the rod to the wheel just to fill the space.
 
So my only question is "Why don't these pens get picked up for the cover?" It's obvious that they show forward movement in out of the box thinking...Just confused I guess. Well, truly amazing vision and I love the direction you're taking with these. They should all be on the front page. Take a group shot...that should do it!
 
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i gotta ask as i don't know too much about the different soldering techniques

are your joints silver soldered or normal electrical type soldering

still very awesome

MIK
 
MIKL said:
i gotta ask as i don't know too much about the different soldering techniques

are your joints silver soldered or normal electrical type soldering

still very awesome

MIK
Click to expand...

Plumbing NOT flux cored, all sorts of long term problems with that, I use a separate flux. I have given the parts a good test and for the pens foreseen use its OK. Working on the silver solder though. Not expecting these pens to be used that often. The first I sold 6 months ago is still going strong. Sold to a friend and used him as a test bed since. I've asked him to keep me informed about any issues to rectify in future pens. Not heard a single thing from him about it apart from the reaction it gets when he produces it to use. It was a copy of the first one I showed with all the pipes on it. I still have the original and it too is still going strong.

The key is to get the metal really clean and a nice fit of the parts and then make sure you pickle it afterwards to remove the flux as long term it's corrosive.

As regards Silver Solder, the problem is the melting point. It requires a blow torch to reach the required temps. When you have multiple small parts to attach in such close proximity the torch doesn't give the heat localised enough so they just keep falling off every time you heat it. It can be done as when the solder melts, it dissolves some of the surrounding metal so it alters it's melting point. It takes some skill which at the minute I'm still building. There are several melting points you can get so you can start with the highest and work down but it's still a bit hit and miss. The differences aren't huge and a torch builds temperature so quickly on such small/thin parts it's still a bit tricky.

I want to be silver soldering with the high temp (less silver content) as it's better match colour wise to the brass. Silver solder is basically brass with silver added to lower it's melting point. Higher content of silver, lower the melting point. I am trying to build in sub sections to accommodate it and then use the lowest melting point to hold them together. The initial cost is high though, silver solder ain't cheap.
 
Sorry should add to my last post. When I do parts with the torch I wrap/hold previous parts in place with wire or clamps so if the solder melts at least you have a chance of them staying in place. You could also put a wet cloth on to try and calm the heat in certain areas. It's easier if you use a small pencil torch as well but it's still tricky.
 
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