Thread: Gold Elegant Sierra

Nice work Ian are they decals or paper??

Cheers
Tony.

Ian very top quality workmanship

Ian, you are well on the way now. It is very satisfying when you create your own masterpiece from scratch. Well done and look forward to seeing some more of your creations.Regards

Paper ? They are the vinyl stickers. I have printed the logo onto the plain white label stickers and then cast in one of charlie's (New London) Resin Saver Molds then turned down and buffed and polished.
But as you all know it has taken alot of mucking around and several failures I seem to be making tracks

Cheers Ian

Great work. Both look very nice. Rekon the Navy Band will be blowin their trumpets over them.

Those pens look beautiful Ian. They are the perfect colours for the emblem.

Like everything about these! Great turningz!!!






Scott (makin' sumtin from nuthin') B

Fantastic looking pens. Would love to get to that level one day myself. In the meantime does anyone know where to get the materials for making acrylic blanks/blocks in Melbourne?
I have just discovered the Sierra pen myself and would like larger than normal blanks, 25mm square for instance.

Originally Posted by johnhunter

Fantastic looking pens. Would love to get to that level one day myself. In the meantime does anyone know where to get the materials for making acrylic blanks/blocks in Melbourne?
I have just discovered the Sierra pen myself and would like larger than normal blanks, 25mm square for instance.

Hi there "john" you will find that at 25mm you will waste half of it, the bush size for a sierra is approx .478" and allowing for some curvature in the barrels just over a 1/2 " is normal.So in reality 3/4 blanks are plenty and if drilled carefully 5/8 " or 16 mm will do. you also get 2 sierra pen blanks from 1 standard blank , that is of course unless you just love lots of shavings hehe ! cheers ~ John

Hi John, Thanks for the quick reply. My problem is that using a drill press I can't seem to get the drill to go true. By the time it gets to the bottom of the blank it is off centre. 25mm blanks allow for that error. Is there a jig I can make or buy that would allow me to drill a 10.5mm hole accurately through a standard 19mm blank?
Regards
John

John. Drilling is always an issue when starting off ,If you can drill in your lathe ( 4 jaw chuck you can get better results. There are special blank drilling vices you can buy that self centre and hold blanks truly vertical . Depending on whether you want to go further in pen turning and your finances available you probably just want to keep it as simple as possible at this stage it is always better to have properly sharpened drills and not rush it clear the chips very frequently and go even more gently towards the bottom ,or your breakthrough point, you can make a simple jig ,or use a square to get the blanks set right in your drill .Make sure the blank is squared of as a slight angle can push the drill point a bit sideways and the drill will then follow that line and come out not true as you have found .Acrylics need a slower speed for drilling to avoid heat ,that causes the shavings to melt and seize up, destroying good blanks , a little squirt of water helps and clear the shavings very offten ,you can also put a small scrap of wood under the blank to stop the bottom breaking out as you cut through . I find ordinary high speed drills are fine for most wood and acrylics ,but again keep the revs down to avoid heat , and let the drill cut ,don't push too hard , experience will let you know when you get it right , hope some of that is helpful to you ,you could write a book on this subject hehe ,cheers ~ John

Sorry for HiJacking your thread Ian

John, with the relevant size drill bit tightened into the chuck of your bench or pedestal drill, position your vice on the bed of the drill with the pen blank held in it loosely.
Position the vice with the blank resting against the edge of the drill bit ensuring that the blank is making continuous contact up its length with the drill bit and then tighten the vice to hold the blank in position. This will position the blank as close to parallel with the drill bit allowing you to drill the blank reasonably accurate.
As John (Gawdelpus) has said self centering vices are good but it is an unnecessary expense when starting out.

Hope that helps
Cheers
Tony.

HIJACKED

Who cares as long as people are talking on here (Forum) you can say whatever you want to in any thread that I may start because that way Im always learning
something and I agree totally with john as usual he has it all sorted

Cheers Ian

Originally Posted by AuS MaDDoG

Sorry for HiJacking your thread Ian

John, with the relevant size drill bit tightened into the chuck of your bench or pedestal drill position your vice on the bed of the drill with the black held in it loosely. Position the vice with the blank resting against the edge of the drill bit ensuring that the blank is making continuous contact up its length with the drill bit. This will position the blank as close to parallel with the drill bit allowing you to drill the blank reasonably accurate. As John (Gawdelpus) has said self centring vices are good but it is an unnecessary expense when starting out.

Hope that helps
Cheers
Tony.

Very schmick indeed! Rverything about the pair is pleasing!!