Selection of Pens, Hi from Blackpool

[BradG]

Hey chaps
Stumbled across this forum today and thought id post some pics of my pens. Nice to see some of you are experimenting with surface engineering such as anodising. Any fellow platers around? :)

 

[BradG]

 

[Dalboy]

WOW brad what an introduction to the forum. I am sure you will be asked loads of questions about your pen making

 

[Penpal]

Brad not surprised am familiar with your work in another place love it welcome to this forum from over here enjoyed your chemistry and artistry.

Peter.

 

[Terry]

Welcome aboard Brad. You have shown us some class pens there !!!

 

[Grump]

Seen them on youtube init?
Welcome Brad, yes I done some in the past but nothing recent.
Too many other things on the go at the moment.
Nice stuff always liked your work.

 

[Twister]

welcome Brad

some great work there

Steve

 

[BradG]

Hi Peter
Hiding over here as well are you :friendly_wink:

Good to see you

 

[BradG]

Thanks all. Yes I've done a few youtube tutorials to help reduce private messages lol.

I'll have a rummage through the pen sections to see what you guys get up to in the shop

 

[Buckeye]

Hi Brad and welcome it's great to see you here, I started plating and anodising after watching your tutorials although the plating was only with a brush.

Peter

 

[BradG]

Good to hear Peter. How did you get on with brush plating? Most of the time I managed to get good results with it, just some of the time with the thin areas, spotting and dull patches which kept cropping up, I moved on over to tank plating. Been very pleased with it since. tried etching yet? great fun!

 

[Terry Q]

Hi Brad. This raises the bar. Wonderful pens. Welcome to the forum. Could you provide links to your videos?

 

[Buckeye]

Good to hear Peter. How did you get on with brush plating? Most of the time I managed to get good results with it, just some of the time with the thin areas, spotting and dull patches which kept cropping up, I moved on over to tank plating. Been very pleased with it since. tried etching yet? great fun!

I think it is probably harder to get a consistent plating with the brush and have considered going over to tank plating, I just need more space for it. Yes I have also done etching after your tutorial and have great plans for that. It's a shame your site isn't up any more it was a great resource all in one place.

I have had some serious pieces of titanium sitting around for ages to make into pens and I want to anodise them, but need to get a better power supply.

Peter

Here is a link to Brad's youtube videos https://www.youtube.com/user/retelisystems/videos

 

[BradG]

Im slowly populating my new website

alchemistscorner , but essentially most of my tutorials are on Youtube. In the end you will end up with a collection of power supplies. one with high amps & low volts for electrolytic etching, and ones with high volts and low amps for anodising titanium. Steer clear of the dimmer switch circuits you see online in case you've been tempted. not so bad for the states as they're 110V ... but for us not a lot of good!

 

[bassethound]

Hello Brad, Welcome to the Asylum mate, love your work, the pens are amazing and the plating is out of this world in my opinion!

Watched your Anodising videos only the other day Plus looked at a load more and it just made me so interested, If only I had more years to do it all, or try to lol..

 

[BradG]

Hello Brad, Welcome to the Asylum mate, love your work, the pens are amazing and the plating is out of this world in my opinion!

Watched your Anodising videos only the other day Plus looked at a load more and it just made me so interested, If only I had more years to do it all, or try to lol..

The two biggest mistakes people make are:
Surface prep. lots of sanding, and a very good scrub in Alkaline Cleaner

Contact: don't just hang on a hook, has to be a tight, firm connection! either friction press fit or even better, threaded. I screw my pen pieces onto my jig which is threaded in M10 and M12 to take my body and lids. whole jig is aluminium, keep in mind the threads are protected when screwed together and don;t anodise, allowing you to use them over and over. or if you want to splash out then grade 2 Titanium. (note if you actually want to anodise titanium pretty colours, then use grade 5 oppose to 2)

Get your head firmly around those two key pieces and the rest of it is trivial. too much current it will turn a yellow hue, which rarely poses a problem if you're dying it. not so great if you planned on leaving it clear... too little current will give poor results. 145 to 175ma per square inch. don;t forget to factor in the inside of the aluminium if that too is exposed to the electrolyte.

Cathodes should always be at least twice the size of the piece you are anodising. I use lead flashing.

all my plating tanks are now in 5 Litre buckets with sealable lids. actually takes up less room than the brush plating gear and is safer in my book, with suitable ventilation / extraction. Playing with potassium cyanide for brush plating gold for mediocre results wore thin pretty quickly. At least this way when you;re finished you can clip on the lid and put your chrome tank on the shelf

 

[Les ELm]

Nicely done.
Enjoyed your posting over at IAP.

Les

 

[silver]

Welcome aboard Brad, another one here seen your work.

never tried it yet but I'm sure when I get some time I will do.

There always seems to be something else waiting to be tried, so it's a "put it on the shelf" and will get there one day I'm sure.

Thanks for joining, it serves as a reminder that there are allot of pen making nerds out there that have not got around to joining us yet.

It also brings another concept to pen making to our members so we can all have a personal tutor when it comes to having a go..

 

[Buckeye]

or if you want to splash out then grade 2 Titanium. (note if you actually want to anodise titanium pretty colours, then use grade 5 oppose to 2)

Bugger, I wish I had known that, I specifically looked out for grade 1 and 2 and bought grade 2, so they will have to stay plain titanium.

Peter

 

[Jim]

Some quality pens here Brad my friend .. Also a warm welcome to the forums ..