# metals for pens



## Displaced Canadian (Sep 4, 2011)

Is stainless the "go to" materiel for metal pens or what other metals are soft enough to turn and don't tarnish? I may be getting ahead of myself, I like to do a lot of research before I jump into things. Personal goal, make a kitless pen or make my own hardware for a pen.


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## bitshird (Sep 4, 2011)

Titanium is easier turn than Stainless, just a bit harder to finish, Aerospace/pure is the easiest to work and get a decent finish, TI does work harden though, so CBN  or Ceramic, even have a couple of Diamond IC ends for one of my tools. Carbide for getting it within .015, but by taking light cuts, and keeping it flooded you can get a decent finish with sharp carbide, Bad part is the price. Consider using aluminum and Anodizing it.


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## D.Oliver (Sep 4, 2011)

I would have to say aluminum is the "go-to".  Check out some of the  recent pens by bluwolf, mredburn, and dalecamino.


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## D.Oliver (Sep 4, 2011)

Oh yeah and I forgot BradG.  Check his work out too.


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## Displaced Canadian (Sep 4, 2011)

I'm waiting for my chuck to come in so I have time to think and plan. At this point aluminum would be easier to work, (no metal lathe) thinking of trying to get creative with my wood lathe. The reason I'm looking at metal is because I don't really like the look of most kitless pens. I can appreciate the work that goes into them. I just like the look of metal hardware on a pen so that is why I'm looking at metal working. I read the thread on lost wax casting. Is there a way to keep silver from tarnishing? Also, how hard is anodized aluminum in normal people speak?


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## wilbpenturner (Sep 5, 2011)

Has anyone attempted to make a pen out of the Stainless braided tubing used to connect water to the toilet tank?


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## MarkD (Sep 5, 2011)

wilbpenturner said:


> Has anyone attempted to make a pen out of the Stainless braided tubing used to connect water to the toilet tank?


Like this?
http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=73996&highlight=braided


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## bitshird (Sep 5, 2011)

Christopher, Sorry, I thought you had a metal lathe, T6 Aluminum is easily doable on a wood lathe, johnnycnc has some blanks drilled and reamed for the kit components, all you have to do is turn them and finish them, you'll scratch it up before it oxidizes, but thgey look nice and you could even do a pen with the brass tubes inside, I don't believe it's necessary with the ones from John at http://penturnersproducts.com/index...Path=8&zenid=3a2eb47da12217bee451e5547475b3c5 and John is a heck of a good guy to deal with.


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## bluwolf (Sep 5, 2011)

Displaced Canadian said:


> I'm waiting for my chuck to come in so I have time to think and plan. At this point aluminum would be easier to work, (no metal lathe) thinking of trying to get creative with my wood lathe. The reason I'm looking at metal is because I don't really like the look of most kitless pens. I can appreciate the work that goes into them. I just like the look of metal hardware on a pen so that is why I'm looking at metal working. I read the thread on lost wax casting. Is there a way to keep silver from tarnishing? Also, how hard is anodized aluminum in normal people speak?


 


wilbpenturner said:


> Has anyone attempted to make a pen out of the Stainless braided tubing used to connect water to the toilet tank?


 
Christopher, I'm personally happy to hear your interest in aluminum for pens and parts as most of mine are either all or part aluminum. Ken is right that it's very reasonable to work with. Especially now with the carbide tipped turning tools. 

These are a couple ballpoint pens that I made in 2003 before metal pens in penturning were fashionable:biggrin: They're to illustrate that it can be turned, filed, sanded, and even routed. On the one the barrel was turned then sanded against a drum sander to form the points. On the other, I used stainless braided brake line inside the barrel. But the windows that show the stainless were done with a laminate trimmer and a carbide tipped router bit. The finials are also hand turned. Hope this piques your interest. I'd like to see more people try it.

Mike


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## PenMan1 (Sep 5, 2011)

stainless does a poor job of holding a finish, it dents easily, is heavy and has a lot less WOW than most other metals. It would be my last choice of metals.

Aluminum is light weight, polishes nicely, is very cost effective and has tons of Wow!


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## btboone (Sep 6, 2011)

Or you can use Tantalum as something different.  I checked into a bar and found that a foot of it would be $5600!  Well, that would be different alright.


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## Rick P (Sep 15, 2011)

Really glad I found this.....thanks once again guys!


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## mredburn (Sep 15, 2011)

Silver tarnishes reqardless, but not as fast as most people think. Some design make use of the tarnishing effect for shading and depth in  the design.  Silver will tarnish faster if exposed to certain chemicals.  Sulfer in the water if you have well water. etc.


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## Displaced Canadian (Sep 15, 2011)

What is T-6 aluminum compared to what you can buy at Home Depot?


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## johnnycnc (Sep 15, 2011)

Displaced Canadian said:


> What is T-6 aluminum compared to what you can buy at Home Depot?


T-6 is not the type of alloy, it is a term for the temper type,
T6 refers to the temper, or heat treat process used in it's production.


T-6 means;
Solution heat treated and then artificially aged.

I'd be more interested in what alloy, the first four numbers, such as 6061.

The full spec would for example, be: 6061-T6

rods at home stores are not always marked or specified as to what they are, besides "aluminum".


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## NewLondon88 (Sep 15, 2011)

I did one aluminum pen, mostly because I like to recycle.
took forever to roll it up, and the pen still smells like lasagna


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## bluwolf (Sep 16, 2011)

NewLondon88 said:


> I did one aluminum pen, mostly because I like to recycle.
> took forever to roll it up, and the pen still smells like lasagna


 
Charlie, I've said it before, you just ain't right...And that's a good thing:biggrin:


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## randyrls (Sep 16, 2011)

As Johnny mentioned, Aluminum from the big box stores is not the best way to go.  If you are learning and don't intend to sell the result they may be OK, but if you are working on a pen to sell or keep, get your aluminum from a metal supplier.  You are more likely to get good quality.


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## Dalecamino (Sep 16, 2011)

Here's a pen I made from blanks made by johnnycnc, turned on a wood lathe using a skew chisel.


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## cwolfs69 (Sep 18, 2011)

*what is considered kitless*

aluminum should be able to be worked by hand on  wood lathe.


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## Sheumais (Sep 19, 2011)

How long do your tool blades last when you turn aluminum?  Sounds like something I'd like to tackle.

I ask about the blades because I haven't invested in a grinder and sharpening rig, yet.  I've been sharpening my tools using my knife sharpening kit.  It's been working well for turning wood and acrylic; my blades are even sharp enough to do really fine spindle work, for knitting needles, with minimal issues.  Using the knife sharpening kit is very time consuming, though.


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