Question?

[rayf6604]

I'm driving along in my bus thinking about the pens I made today with Jim's centre band style and I was wondering about a variation on the theme and if anyone has tried it.
My theory is to follow the steps for making the centre band but to leave a couple of mm beyond the end of brass tube. Square the end but leave 1 to 1.5mm beyond the end of the tube then put it back on the lathe and turn the lower barrel slightly thin at the point where it meets the centre band and turn the upper barrel slightly fatter than the lower. Then before assembling make the hole in the centre band large enough so that it overlaps the lower barrel by about mm. Oh I forgot a step, use a parting tool to make a slight shoulder on the lower barrel so that the centre band overlaps that. Round off any sharp corners with sanding.
Only down side is I'm at work and can't test this out right now:rolleyes:

 

[bassethound]

Oh well, tell us what happens when you get home and try your ideas!:wink: I got no idea how it would turn out!

 

[bluntchisel]

Hi, Ray,
Have you tried making the Euro style yet? This is bulkier than the Slim and gives you more pen for your money! And a little dodge you can try is - use a Euro centreband on a Slim, (using the c/b bushing from the Euro). This will make a thicker Slim.
Regards,
Bob.

 

[Kardav]

You have just described a Euro CB to a tee, as Bob said, you may as we'll buy the Euro instead!

 

[paulm]

Letting the top overhang is one of the things I used to do but now if I want a longer top I simply use two brass tubes that meet in the middle or a long one and cut it down. So that no gap shows, I leave the top of the bottom barrel square, I don't turn it over and then just indent the top very slightly with the skew, it doesn't need a lot.

 

[rayf6604]

I imagine it's something that could easily go wrong wasting pen parts.

 

[Jim]

I like how your mind is ticking over while at work Ray, good signs indeed ..

Why not give it a go and show us the results, it always looks better when able to see the article than it is when only reading about it ..

 

[rayf6604]

I will give it a go. I am thinking that corian might be the better material to use as it should be stronger than wood at the point where there is no tube and the band will be quite thin. We'll see and I'll post the results . Thanks for all your thoughts so far.

I could always just try the euro pen if it proves too difficult :rolleyes:

 

[Buckeye]

Yes I did one yesterday, but haven't finished it, I don't like it the way it is at the moment so may not bother to finish it before I try version 2. The bottom barrel fits into the C/B but I made the top end to thin and it looks too strange so the next one will have a thicker top barrel at the clip end.

Peter

 

[sbwertz]

I do something similar with my bandless slimlines. The lower barrel fits up into the upper barrel. I cut a new upper barrel tube that is about an eight of an inch longer than the standard upper tube. After it is turned, I use a countersink bit to shape it so that the tapered lower barrel fits up into the upper barrel by about an eight of an inch or so. The extra length on the tube makes sure the point will retract fully and the pen will be full length when the two barrels are overlapped.

 

[edlea]

This is how I do my Euros, do you mean like this ?

 

[rayf6604]

I do something similar with my bandless slimlines. The lower barrel fits up into the upper barrel. I cut a new upper barrel tube that is about an eight of an inch longer than the standard upper tube. After it is turned, I use a countersink bit to shape it so that the tapered lower barrel fits up into the upper barrel by about an eight of an inch or so. The extra length on the tube makes sure the point will retract fully and the pen will be full length when the two barrels are overlapped.

That is a beautiful looking pen and thanks for your input, I'll have to try that.

Edlea yes that was pretty much what I had in mind

 

[Lons]

I like how your mind is ticking over while at work Ray, good signs indeed ..

Yep. First signs of insanity. Should have escaped while you had the chance but no going back now Ray, you're as stuck as the rest of us

Bob