How I Made My Aluminum Slim Line Pen

Transcription

1 - 1 - How I Made My Aluminum Slim Line Pen Written by Joe Agrella

2 - 2 - Getting Started First and formost remember safety. Remember that you will need eye protection and plenty of ventilation. There will be lots of heat build up watch for that. First I started with 2 aluminum bars each the length of top and bottom barrels of a slim line. I chose to use 5/8 " Aluminum Rod. Available on my website. Here is a view of the drilled hole. This hole is the exact size of the inside diameter of the brass tube but we are not going to use a brass tube here thusly why the diameter has to be the exact diameter of the inside of the brass tube. You will also need your mandrel and mm bushing that you use for your slim line wooden pens.

3 -3- Tools Aluminum of course is harder then wood. But soft enough that you can use the same tools that you use on your wood pens. Of course were are talking about HSS tools. The tool I choose to use is like a versa chisel or spindle master. I ground this chisel from a Spindle Gouge. I didn't want to use my spindle master on metal. It has a good feel and cuts the aluminum like butter.

4 - 4 - I also found that a file flat like this one helps to remove some of the gouge marks that may be deeper. Making the sanding Job much easier. Of course you will need sand paper preferably emery cloth, grits from 80 to 2500 if you wish to go that high. I finish with a buffing wheel mounted on my lathe. We mount the blanks on the mandrel. We are ready to start to turn the blank down to the proper size and shape desired. I have started with the slim line shape as my first attempts. Make sure your chisel is SHARP and you will probably need to touch it up several times during the turning. The going is slow so don't force it. Watch out those shaving are HOT! I put on some old gloves and a long sleeve shirt to cut down on the burning. After a while you should be looking like the blank on the left. Took a while to get there Remember it look like this when you started!. Continue shaping until you get the shape you desire. Then proceed to the other blank. Do the

5 - 5 - same as you did the first one. Remember to use slow smooth strokes. To much pressure will cause gouges in the metal. Try to get as much medal removed as possible with the smoothest surface possible. Since metal is harder then wood it is also harder to sand. Sanding. Since we are working with metal I would suggest using emery cloth instead of paper backed sand paper. So make sure you have some starting with 60 or 80 grit up to 400 grit. A buffing wheel is also very handy but since your working with aluminum you will have to dedicate it for metal only since it will turn black from the aluminum. If you use the buffing wheel you will also need some white buffing compound. What I do first is using the file I try to remove all the high places and reduce the gouge marks as much as possible before switching to my sandpaper. The file will clog so tap it and use a small wire brush to keep it clean. Then I switch to the emery cloth starting with 60 or 80 grit until the surface is uniform. Then I progress to 100 grit, 220 grit, 320 grit, 400 grit. I do not use any liquid this is all dry sanded with my dust collector on. I then use the buffing wheel to finish off the polishing. This is what you should end up with. Be prepare for some time consuming sanding. It does take a little more time and effort that sanding down wood. And you will probably use a little more sandpaper than you would if you were sanding wood. The emery cloth does wear fast and may clog. Also beware of the HEAT. There is a lot of friction and the emery clothe gets hot fast.

6 - 6 - Finishing. Now were are ready to assemble the pen. I Have chosen a chrome slim pen kit that excludes a beaded center band which looks very nice with these aluminum pens. Since the hole is drilled to fit these kit parts the parts press together easily. I add a little Renaissance Wax and there we have it. Visit my site for more information and supplies. I am continually updating this instruction set. Please check back.