Vintage inspired kitless

[Butlerwalt66]

This one was a challenge for me. I really like the 1930's era Mabie Todd Swan which inspired me…though I maybe made the process a little tougher than I should have. The metal is 7075 aluminum, which I used because it was free, but which is pretty tough stuff to mill. The black parts are ebonite.
I also don't have lots of experience turning rings…but managed enough of them. Anyway, the rings have a 13mm ID, and I turned the sleeves down to a little under that, epoxied the whole shebang, and then went about pen-ifying the assembly. I did as much threading as possible before the glue-up, to minimize the risk of glue failure while on the lathe. (7075 gets HOT, quickly) I've attached some process shots.

 

[Jim15]

Awesome work.

 

[Dalecamino]

Fantastic job.

 

[jttheclockman]

Very nice work.

 

[PatrickR]

Looks great! love the retro look.

 

[RichAldrich]

Great retro!

 

[CjG78]

Wow mate they look fantastic! You absolutely captured that retro feel. How's the weight? Love them

 

[leehljp]

EXCELLENT! Love the looks of that. Well DONE!

 

[Alan Morrison]

Excellent, Walter.
That did you use to cut the rings?

Alan

 

[Butlerwalt66]

Excellent, Walter.
That did you use to cut the rings?

Alan

I used this little cutter to cut the rings…I acquired a lot of different cutters when I bought an old Atlas metal lathe.
To answer some other questions: the weight of the pen isn't too bad, since the sleeve walls turned out to be fairly thin. On a related note, I should note that I turned the barrel sleeves to fit an 11mm ring, and the cap sleeves to fit a 13mm ring. I drill the barrel at 8mm for a 9mm x 1 tap, and the cap at 11.2 for a 12mm x .8 triple tap.
if I had to do it over, I would have used my 11mm triple tap for the cap, rather than a 12mm, and I would have used a #5 nib instead of a six.
Thanks for all the nice comments- they make me (almost) forget all the mistakes I made.

 

[Bryguy]

Very nice. I guess you have experience cutting rings now!

 

[darrin1200]

Beautiful job Walter.

 

[LouCee]

Love the look of that, very nice work!

 

[bg15]

This one was a challenge for me. I really like the 1930's era Mabie Todd Swan which inspired me…though I maybe made the process a little tougher than I should have. The metal is 7075 aluminum, which I used because it was free, but which is pretty tough stuff to mill. The black parts are ebonite.
I also don't have lots of experience turning rings…but managed enough of them. Anyway, the rings have a 13mm ID, and I turned the sleeves down to a little under that, epoxied the whole shebang, and then went about pen-ifying the assembly. I did as much threading as possible before the glue-up, to minimize the risk of glue failure while on the lathe. (7075 gets HOT, quickly) I've attached some process shots. View attachment 318478View attachment 318475View attachment 318477View attachment 318476View attachment 318477View attachment 318479View attachment 318480

Wow, these are amazing! Congrats!