Vintage Ruby Bakelite

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stuckinohio

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Hello,

It's been a while since I've posted any pics. Been busy trying to improve my skills on kitless/custom.

This is vintage ruby bakelite, black Japanese hard rubber and stainless steel. Everything is made by me except the nib and converter.

For anyone who cares, the nib is a Jowo #6. Cap threads are m14 triple start.

Thanks for looking.
 

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stuckinohio

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Beautiful pen, Lewis !! . Congratulations !!

Beautiful work! Talk a little about the bakelite...I'm curious about how it turned...?

That is a lovely pen. Well done!

Thank you Mal and Bryan.

Greg, the bakelite was great to work with. I drilled slowly (time wise) with cooking spray as a lubricant so as to reduce the amount of heat. I also drilled with increasing sizes of drill bits until the proper diameter.

The bakelite threaded wonderfully, though as you can see, I didn't make any male threads. I read some posts on here that said the male threads didn't do well. I did all the threading with taps.

The bakelite didn't turn normally. I wasn't getting ribbons but rather dust or pebbles. This is with a metal lathe.

These blanks came from a large 9 inch rod that was over 1.5 inches thick. I split the blank lengthwise down the middle to increase the usable blanks from this rod. I have a lot of pics I could post in a separate thread if someone wants.
 

stuckinohio

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May 3, 2015
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LOL to the source request! Bakelite is still plentiful on ebay, for a premium. I'm not sure if all of it is authentic Bakelite or a similar product made from a different company. I think some companies still make it in Asia or India? I've heard that some Bakelite is fragile and will have checks and cracks in/on it, This did not.

When I get time I'll start a thread for cutting up the bakelite, though Mrburls and SteveG have posted their methods previously without step by step photos. Below are links to their posts on cutting it up. I followed Keith's (Mrburls) method.

http://www.penturners.org/forum/f13/rare-orange-bakelite-emperor-63162/
http://www.penturners.org/forum/f18/bakelite-144440/index2.html#post1888123
 
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