Finishing Aluminium pens

[martin.pearson]

Tried a quick search but to be honest I am not great with forum searches lol, I know I have seen Aluminium pens on the forum so just wondering how people finish them, I decided to experiment making an acrylic pen with a picture, thinking the brass tubes were a little thin & wanting the picture close to the surface I looked for a way to make the tube a bit fatter. Then I found a piece of Aluminium tube that I thought might do the job. It was to fat but I thought if I tappered it a bit at either end it might work, started doing that & then quite liked the look as it was so didn't go any further but now it would need a surface coating. Not made it up properly, if I leave it like this I will need to drill one end out to take the brass tube & twist mechanism.
I just sort of balanced the nib & cap/clip on to take a picture.

 

[Pierre]

If its a twist system how will you insert the mechanism in such a way as to be able to change the refill? I had the same problem when a customer wanted a single piece truncheon but we had to compromise and make it 2 pieces.


You could of course cut it in half and where the join is make 3 grooves where the middle one hides the join (instead of using a ring) and then do 1 similar groove at top and bottom for decoration.

Sorry can help with finishing aluminium except to say that a pen I made in lignum vitae and aluminium held its shine for a year before I sold it and it was polished to 12000 grit micromesh and finished with renaissance wax.

 

[martin.pearson]

Internal diameter is exactly the same as a 7mm brass tube so I only need to either drill or ream enough for the rass tube & attached nib to fit in the one end same as I did with the wooden one piece pens I made, of course I haven't tried this yet but seems to work ok in theory lol

 

[Penpal]

The question of use,finish is the same evaluation using any product there are pluses and minus. Natural or army is said for brass or aluminium,timber gloss or matte. What feel looks and approach you take is not necessarily what others want or like.

Peter.

 

[flexi]

These are made from aluminium tube and done as a modified slimline....you just have to glue the upper tube in VERY carefully

 

[fortress]

Fine work on this thread boys, well done one and all.

 

[martin.pearson]

Have you put a finish on them Mark or just left them as is?? No glueing involved, the tube has the same internal diameter as the brass tubes, I do have some other tube I could glue a brass tube inside but I wasn't intending to make an aluminium pen at the time lol

 

[Bill Mooney]

This is one of my Ali pens.
I dry sand to 600 grit then 0000 wire wool both radially & laterally. I then polish with Farecla 300 & 500 burnishing cream. I then finish with acrylic lacquer to keep the shine. I then give a light coat of microcrystalline wax polished to keep fingerprints off when using the pen.

 

[wm460]

Very nice work there.