# Using brass shavings on your pen



## tbfoto (Dec 29, 2010)

I have read on here and elsewhere about using brass shavings on a pen blank but I do not recall ever seeing a photo of one.
So...please show me your pen with brass shavings in it. I assume that it is only used in castings?????

Thanks


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## DozerMite (Dec 29, 2010)

I've done them with brass, aluminum, and copper. I don't have any of the pics on our new computer though.


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## DozerMite (Dec 29, 2010)

Here is one with alum. in it.


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## okiebugg (Dec 29, 2010)

*Brass*

I have used brass for many years as a medium for filling voids and cracks usually glued in place with thick CA. I occasionally use 5 minute epoxy. I also use it in very small pieces for inlay when A bowl or even a pen develops a crack. When finished, I still see the crack filled with brass or Turquoise or both as a crack. My customers see it as fine woodturning.

The brass is cut into small pieces with a small saw with a diamond blade or a carbide blade installed on my scroll saw. Like I said small pieces. When I have cut enough brass to make things worthwhile, I will take part of it and put it into a coffee grinder to turn some of it to small pieces, and some to dust.

The problem is the brass is harder that most any wood that you're going to work with, so you must learn to work smart and level it with a Dremel or small rotary tool. I like Ryobi.

Gently sand the pen on using your lathe and using sandpaper with a small block behind it. Keep working the wood and the brass until you have a symmetrical pen blank and put it together.


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## jskeen (Dec 30, 2010)

Got a big handful of this brass from behind the key duplicator at the local hardware store.  Worked pretty well packed into the voids and soaked in thin ca.  

The rest of the blank is gator jawbone.


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## rherrell (Dec 30, 2010)

If you put it in a casting it will sink to the bottom so I think that filling voids with it is a better idea.:wink:


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## Knucklefish (Dec 30, 2010)

Now that is a great idea!


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## snyiper (Dec 30, 2010)

Could you not wait till it thickens some to add the brass so it wont sink?


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## Jgrden (Dec 30, 2010)

Heh, heh, heh, you clever guy, you.


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## okiebugg (Dec 30, 2010)

*brass*



jskeen said:


> Got a big handful of this brass from behind the key duplicator at the local hardware store. Worked pretty well packed into the voids and soaked in thin ca.
> 
> The rest of the blank is gator jawbone.


 
The key brass is an alloy that is easier to use, but not nearly as pretty as real brass. I have used both. Key brass can be ground finer by using a coffee grinder.

I like the real brass better, as it is more gold in color. can be ground finer rather the stringy material I see. Congrats, I see that you worked the inlay properly.


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## jttheclockman (Dec 30, 2010)

okiebugg said:


> jskeen said:
> 
> 
> > Got a big handful of this brass from behind the key duplicator at the local hardware store. Worked pretty well packed into the voids and soaked in thin ca.
> ...


 

Okie

Have you found a way to grind real brass. I have looking to try something but can not come up with a way to grind to a fine fill.


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## Sylvanite (Dec 30, 2010)

jttheclockman said:


> Have you found a way to grind real brass. I have looking to try something but can not come up with a way to grind to a fine fill.


Try a disk sander.  As part of my bullet pen process, I sometimes have to shorten a tube - which I sometimes do on a sander.  I save the brass dust and use it as filler later.

Regards,
Eric


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## DozerMite (Dec 30, 2010)

jttheclockman said:


> Have you found a way to grind real brass. I have looking to try something but can not come up with a way to grind to a fine fill.


 

How much do you need? I can get the shavings and the dust.


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## jttheclockman (Dec 30, 2010)

DozerMite said:


> jttheclockman said:
> 
> 
> > Have you found a way to grind real brass. I have looking to try something but can not come up with a way to grind to a fine fill.
> ...


 

Thanks. I was just looking for a way of doing this on my own if someone had a system they would like to share. The key fillings I can get all I want but to use the better  brass would be cool and also combine it with aluminum too.


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## okiebugg (Dec 30, 2010)

jttheclockman said:


> okiebugg said:
> 
> 
> > jskeen said:
> ...


 
I should be awarded  some of that Gator jawbone from JSKEEN for givin up trade secrets LOL

Nothing works well for making dust...you can make it, you just can't collect it. I have an VS electric drill mounted under an old router type table. I drill a hole thru the center of the area where the router bit comes through. In this case, a cylindrical sanding bit goes through the hole. Attach it to the drill, Turn the drill on and voila, you can make and collect the dust.

Any other brass made for inlay is cut into small pieces suitable for inlay and run thru a few cycles in an old Black & Decker coffee grinder about 3in. in diameter and 6 in. tall. Costs about $10.00 at a garage sale. A few cycles thru that, and you have multiple sizes that are good for inlay


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## DozerMite (Dec 31, 2010)

jttheclockman said:


> DozerMite said:
> 
> 
> > jttheclockman said:
> ...


 

The brass I get, is not from keys. It's much better, solid brass. I can find out the alloy next week.


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