What's new
What's new

Vibratory bowl finishing - ebonite and acrylics/resins

I've played with steel wool before and it wasn't worth messing with. A jeweler friend of mine got me to try it a few years ago. It's not as nice as just using good quality sand papers.

That stuff I used to polish 1018 was Permatex valve grinding compound. It claims to break down and get finer as it runs and is water soluble. I suppose it is the modern version of oil based Clover in the green can back in the day. If you are comparing what you are throwing in the bowl, make sure to get similar action. Are these pens a hobby or just adding to a product line? Maybe you can up size and make custom fancy pool cue handles. One never knows what could make someone good cash in a hurry as a fad these days.
 
I used to be a high school art teacher and started making pens to give away to my students. I gave them fountain pens all the time - usually cheap stuff I got from ebay - but they weren't very durable with normal kid use. I made pens part time for 3 years and quit teaching to make pens full time. That's been just over 7 years now.
So I've been making pens for 10 years and 8 months now. :)
newtonpens.com

I'm wanting to get the tumblers perfected b/c my right shoulder and arm can't take much more sanding and buffing. If I can get my work down to just sanding I'll be okay. The buffing is killing me. Dr said no nerve damage from doing some testing and tapping on me, but the pain is real. X) Sitting at my desk and typing or writing notes hurts, too. Hopefully with a little time my shoulder will start to feel better.


>>>Results after about 24 hours in walnut - the alumilite is about 90-95% there, and the ebonite is all still just matte. I added about a 1/4 tube of simichrome to try and speed up the action, but without making the walnut greasy or wet or whatever.
 
That's a cool story on how you got started. There are some really damn cool pens on your website, but unfortunately they're all a bit spendy for my budget for a new pen, which usually tops out at 8" of bar stock and a handful of hours :D

I saw that you mostly use commercial nibs and feeds, or else customer supplied ones. That's a shame because I was hoping you could give me some pointers; I still can't manage to get my feeds to be as reliable as the commercially produced ones. Nibs are time consuming to make but in some ways easier.
 
That's a cool story on how you got started. There are some really damn cool pens on your website, but unfortunately they're all a bit spendy for my budget for a new pen, which usually tops out at 8" of bar stock and a handful of hours :D

I saw that you mostly use commercial nibs and feeds, or else customer supplied ones. That's a shame because I was hoping you could give me some pointers; I still can't manage to get my feeds to be as reliable as the commercially produced ones. Nibs are time consuming to make but in some ways easier.

Thanks!
Yeah I did the handmade nib and feed thing a few years ago. Not worth my time. Schon Design has just come up with a tubular titanium nib and a handmade feed that works really really well. The nibs alone make my pens all look cheap. :)

Is there a reason you're wanting to make your own nibs?
 
I'm wanting to get the tumblers perfected b/c my right shoulder and arm can't take much more sanding and buffing. If I can get my work down to just sanding I'll be okay. The buffing is killing me. Dr said no nerve damage from doing some testing and tapping on me, but the pain is real. X) Sitting at my desk and typing or writing notes hurts, too. Hopefully with a little time my shoulder will start to feel better.
I feel your pain, and a lot more,ha,ha. I have come up with some pretty good solutions, but it has taken a lot of experimenting, not much to share on plastics. Is all the hand stuff related to work? The problem is with a lot of similar ailments many don't show up on X-rays, MRIs and the like. The doctor has to make educated guesses and treat accordingly.
I think my hands have issues due to nerve damage from shoulder injuries, one doctor thought I had carpal and injected my hands with what I forgot. I have a pretty high tolerance to pain, but I didn't enjoy the shots. I think the help they gave was pretty minuscule. As for shoulders have you tried those Salon Pas patches? Voltaren cream is ok on some things but pricey. I found the cheaper creams like Icy Hot are worthless.
 
Thanks!
Yeah I did the handmade nib and feed thing a few years ago. Not worth my time. Schon Design has just come up with a tubular titanium nib and a handmade feed that works really really well. The nibs alone make my pens all look cheap. :)

Is there a reason you're wanting to make your own nibs?

Because I'm incapable of exercising restraint :fight:

I couldn't find any fancy titanium stuff on Schon Design's website, but it's good to know that it plays nicely with ink. My brother scrapped out some worn out ultrasonic heads made from Ti6Al4V, they have a long half inch solid probe sticking off them that is just begging to become a pen body. The ends are all jacked up, but it doesn't take that much cleanup to get to solid material. So far I've been too chicken to try drilling out the reservoir, and I also want to try something a little different since I can skip the biggest PITA of my normal process, which is trying to get a thin-walled delrin sleeve to behave itself and press in with an appropriate amount of force.

I once tried doing a single-piece body/nib with a feed sticking out of it starting with a copper tube, it was a huge disaster. The copper is just too soft.
 
What is a nib and feed?
Nib is the metal part of a fountain pen that you write with. Feed is the plastic or ebonite part that moves ink from the barrel to the nib/paper.


The feed has the fins. The housing the is threaded collar part those 2 things fit into that allows one to easily install it in a section.

jowo-6-anatom.jpg
 
Because I'm incapable of exercising restraint :fight:

I couldn't find any fancy titanium stuff on Schon Design's website, but it's good to know that it plays nicely with ink. My brother scrapped out some worn out ultrasonic heads made from Ti6Al4V, they have a long half inch solid probe sticking off them that is just begging to become a pen body. The ends are all jacked up, but it doesn't take that much cleanup to get to solid material. So far I've been too chicken to try drilling out the reservoir, and I also want to try something a little different since I can skip the biggest PITA of my normal process, which is trying to get a thin-walled delrin sleeve to behave itself and press in with an appropriate amount of force.

I once tried doing a single-piece body/nib with a feed sticking out of it starting with a copper tube, it was a huge disaster. The copper is just too soft.

It doesn't look like Schon has gone live with it yet but you can see what it can do here-
 
Thanks for the info, even though I would not have known the nomenclature, a fountain pen never crossed my mind, I was thinking ball point. I last used a fountain pen in Jr. High.
Did they ever cure the issue of being able to fling ink with them? I have a feeling the art teacher never taught calligraphy again to 12 year olds. They collected the pens and ink wells at the end of class but the damage was done, I suppose our male teacher wasn't a prankster as a kid.
 
It doesn't look like Schon has gone live with it yet but you can see what it can do here-

Very nice, I know I have a lot of room for improvement, but that's half the fun for a guy like me. I don't need to stress about anything working properly, worst case I'll be down a color or style option for a little while.

I just bought a small pile of vintage nibs for twenty bucks, so I need to get back at it. There are a few real beaters in the mix, but quite a lot of what look like flex nibs, which should be interesting. I haven't messed with those much at all.

Out of curiosity, you mentioned ebonite as one of your materials but I wasn't aware that it came in nice colors or was suitable for bodies. I thought it was mostly just that real gnarly ultra-vulcanized natural rubber which came in any color as long as you like black. Historically used for feeds despite its general fragility.
 
OOh! Ebonite is the best! There are SO many colors it's ridiculous. You can see SOME of them on my materials pages here-




I'm happy to share the sources too, if you ever want to pick some up to play with. It's awesome to work with and threads beautifully.
 
Thanks for the info, even though I would not have known the nomenclature, a fountain pen never crossed my mind, I was thinking ball point. I last used a fountain pen in Jr. High.
Did they ever cure the issue of being able to fling ink with them? I have a feeling the art teacher never taught calligraphy again to 12 year olds. They collected the pens and ink wells at the end of class but the damage was done, I suppose our male teacher wasn't a prankster as a kid.
When I was teaching art, I started giving fountain pens to my 4th and 5th graders, not sure if the 6th grade kids were interested that year.
The next year I moved schools and taught 7-12 graders, and quite a few of them were really into it. The teachers at both schools hated them though, b/c a lot of the kids figured out you could flick it and make ink fly across the classroom. Or they would just open the barrel up and turn the converter out so all the ink was on the floor. The principal got onto me about that, but I take no responsibility for kids poor behavior. :)

One morning with the 6th graders (my 2nd year teaching) I was talking with a vintage Waterman's pen in my hand, and I talk with my hands a lot, and I flung black ink (very permanent Noodler's ink) across the room and all over the floor. THAT didn't come up. I just swore the kids to secrecy (they thought it was funny) and nobody ever said anything to me. X)
 
That's the thing about fountain pens. They haven't changed all that much since the end of the 19th century when Lewis Waterman started cutting grooves in his feeds after losing a big insurance contract to a bad ink blot.

In the 20th century they experimented a bit and came up with the cartridge system, but I (and maybe a few others) still make eyedroppers the same way Mr. Waterman did.

So adolescent boys have been able to flick ink just the same way for over 100 years!
 
I think your pens look cool, but my battered fingers have no use for them, I once had nice penmanship but it has went severely downhill probably due to battering my hands and the nerves connected to them. I can barely read the notes I leave for myself, printing in block lettering. Still, cool story how you came to pen making full time. Since kids still fling ink, what about ketchup & mustard packet stomping, does that still go on?
 
I think your pens look cool, but my battered fingers have no use for them, I once had nice penmanship but it has went severely downhill probably due to battering my hands and the nerves connected to them. I can barely read the notes I leave for myself, printing in block lettering. Still, cool story how you came to pen making full time. Since kids still fling ink, what about ketchup & mustard packet stomping, does that still go on?
I've only been out of teaching for 7 years, but I bet you a million bucks it still happens. X)
 
I actually made pens for a guy who collected money off a Kickstarter ages ago. He used some space age write upside down and on oily surfaces cartridge. They were ball point fixed (if that is proper nomenclature) with a screw on cap. I kept a few and gave a few away. They had a loop on the screw cap so you could hang it around your neck. Utterly shocked it didn't catch on. They were thick metal and short, probably best used as weapon
like putting a roll of quarters in your hand while punching someone.

Do note their was some sarcasm in there.
 
Presand as you were doing. Try dry crushed corn cob (available at pet stores) in your vibratory polisher. Squeeze in a tube of tooth paste for the polishing magic. Add just a few drops of water. You want it on the dry side not wet. Let it go overnight.
 








 
Back
Top