# Watch Part Pens



## dw373 (Jul 26, 2011)

How do you get the watch parts to stay on the tubes? Are the tubes painted and then the watch parts glued on with epoxy? CA? ??? 

Any info is appreciated.

Thanks!

Dan


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## lorbay (Jul 26, 2011)

Yes paint the tubes color of choice and the the parts have to be formed to fit tube and glue on with CA.

Lin.


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## Leviblue (Jul 26, 2011)

Paint the tubes, I paint them black so it looks like the watch parts are floating. The gears I use are small and applied with thich CA glue. This gives enough friction that the parts don't slide around on the tube. Allow the parts to dry overnight as the CA is off gasing while it dries.
The gears are hardened steel and fragile, so if you try to bend them they will break. Use the smaller gears so bending is not required.

Prepare the resin in what ever fashion you prefer and pour over your blanks when you have them setup in the form of choice. I've tried various forms and decided putting corks in the ends, a weight in the tubes to keep them from floating up and small scraps of wood glued to the corks for "feet" to keep the tubes off the form bottom. Work the bubbles out with the best method for you, vibratation, pressure pot, etc...

When you're resin is set, cut the corks and feet off, remove the weight and square the ends as you would with any other blank.

A point to be careful with on gluing the gears on, don't get them to high. This means you may have to remove the post and very tinny gear from the larger gear. Otherwise the points will break through the surface. If this happens, sand the blank to form and polish. It's kind of cool sometimes to let the parts be felt through the surface.

The resin will magnify the gears and make them look much bigger on the blank when you are done.

I hope this helps. Good luck. Sorry for the bad photo, still working on taking better shots.


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## kevrob (Jul 26, 2011)

Kevin and Lin,

I am not the one that asked, but thanks for the information.  I have been wanting to start a watch part pen for some time and will receive my pressure pot this week.  What type of black paint do you use for the tubes?  

Thanks for the info!
Kevin R.


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## lorbay (Jul 26, 2011)

kevrob said:


> Kevin and Lin,
> 
> I am not the one that asked, but thanks for the information. I have been wanting to start a watch part pen for some time and will receive my pressure pot this week. What type of black paint do you use for the tubes?
> 
> ...


 I just use the Testors paints.

Lin.


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## Leviblue (Jul 26, 2011)

I've got the Testers paint set, but haven't used them.  I've had fairly good success with the Rustoleum heat resistant paint, 500 degrees.
I bought a pressure pot from Sears today, the one that is clearanced, and will try that method hopefully this weekend.  So far I've been casting without pressure.
The LOML has already said, back her car out of the garage before applying pressure.



lorbay said:


> kevrob said:
> 
> 
> > Kevin and Lin,
> ...


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## paintspill (Jul 26, 2011)

thanks. i've been wanting to try one too. didn't think it would be so easy as to just ask. thats why i haven't. thanks guys


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## dw373 (Jul 28, 2011)

I thought it was probably that simple, but it's always good to know for sure. I was curious about bending the gears (or not) and how well they stick with CA. I was wondering if epoxy would hold better but thought it wouldn't be as clear as CA when dry. 

Thanks for the replies everyone. Now I need to find some watches to butcher. Any good sources for cheap watches with good guts to use for pens?



Keep turnin' y'all! (I am from Oklahoma you know) 

Dan


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## dw373 (Jul 28, 2011)

Levi ----->>> 

Do you have more info on the pressure pot from Sears? I checked their website and didn't come up with anything. 

Thanks.


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## Leviblue (Jul 28, 2011)

Dan,
Here's the information on the Sear's paint pot from a previous thread:

Here is a link to the *Sears* webpage: 
http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman-2...p-00916102000P 

Thanks,
Kevin


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## Curly (Jul 28, 2011)

*Pressure Pot.*

Grizzly has a sale on one at the moment.

http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2011/SummerFlyer/18


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## Monty (Jul 28, 2011)

dw373 said:


> .... Any good sources for cheap watches with good guts to use for pens?
> Keep turnin' y'all! (I am from Oklahoma you know)
> Dan


Search "watch parts" or "steampunk" on EBay. I have also seen watch parts at Hobby Lobby.


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## Dai Sensei (Jul 29, 2011)

Rather than gluing the small parts on with CA, you can also use a layer of polymer clay and just press the parts into it, then cast.


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## gwilki (Jul 29, 2011)

Methods vary, clearly. I bend the gears to the same curvature as the tube. I used epoxy to glue them into place. So far, so good.


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## Leviblue (Jul 29, 2011)

Grant,
How do you bend the gears without breaking them?  I'd like to include some of the larger gears in my pens, but they break.

Nice looking pen!


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## GoodTurns (Jul 29, 2011)

propane torch, tweezers & transfer punch the same size as the tube.


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## Leviblue (Jul 29, 2011)

Oh no a torch... I have enough trouble getting those little gears off my fingers with CA glue.  
Now this should be a show to see.  Tickets, get your tickets....:bulgy-eyes:

Thanks for the update.


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## gwilki (Jul 29, 2011)

I don't use a torch. The steel parts break when I try to bend them. I don't have a problem with that. I use the pieces, as you can see in the pic.

As for the brass coloured gears, I drill a wood block with a bit somewhat smaller than the bit I would use for the tube. There is some spring back in the gears. That's why I go smaller. I cut the block in half along the length of the hole. That gives me two "molds". I place the gear in the mold, and use a transfer punch to press it into the radius. 
The wood for the block needs to be hard. Otherwise the teeth on the gears grab the sides of the mold and the gear doesn't bend well. I went to using scraps of solid counter material and it works better.


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