Thread: Sparkie Artie !

Its been a while since we have seen any of your pens Artme but to come out with this beaut blows me away

Details what kit was used
glue
finish

good to see your ideas come to fruition artme ! well done to both of you.

Wel done the pair of you I am sure that your brother will love it Arthur

Originally Posted by wheelinround

Its been a while since we have seen any of your pens Artme but to come out with this beaut blows me away

Details what kit was used
glue
finish

Its really a Hybrid, the clip and activater from a credit card pen (to get a shorter clip ) the body was a cast white blank on a 60mm 7mm tube, the nib turned from solid stainless and drilled accordingly for a cross refill . the stainless was a 10mm bolt with a nut really tightened up to the head and turned to represent the stainless body of a spark plug.Artme did the acrilic,on a strange lathe with strange tools and came up with a pleasing shape and proportion .all in all a fun project (if you like drilling stainless) lol.
Cheers ~ John

Thanks fellas. Just arrived home from John's, where the post was actually done.

No particular kit. Tube for acrylic part is 10mm longer than a standard slimline tube. Top has no tube. It is a 316 SS M10 bolt and nut cut to length to suit a clip from a credit card pen. The nut has been turned down and the centre drilled and reamed.

Nib is turned from SS rod and drilled to suit the refill.

When assemled we found we had to cut 12mm off the refill despite all our measuring!! Still works!

Was busy doing the above post when SWMBO arrived home and gave out a string of orders - made some requests!

I finished the chores and then posted, only to see John had also given a rundown on the process!

Hey Artme

That is an AWESOME pen mate I love it and I am sure your brother will be over the moon well done mate

Ian

Arthur,

You sent me a PM re this pen for my opinion,( dangerous), I have a policy not to inerfere in my married kids lives but when they invite me to comment I have been known to go back on previous years. Just teasing.

Now firstly it is interesting however the proportions are unusual, I agree with John who described the event from his side of the pen Stainless self hardens sometimes becomes a bear to work with.

Being upside down reminds me of an Aero Engine but in the pocket will be quite top heavy. With your brothers initials lovely idea.

When I made mine years ago I used African Ebony for the hex base, Corian for the stem, right way up and a Streamline centre band gave a lovely thread under this gave good accurate proportions since when you hold an actual spark plug in your hand they are not very big at all.

A kit available in America looks like a shock absorber spring also is a good idea for a rev head.although it uses a short refill.

I personally like it when a plan comes together and guess you both had fun and by now your brother will have passed his verdict as well, let us know.

Made a pen from a variable pressure hand blow gun created a riot with my auto buddies even used the knurled variable pressure contol to also extend the nib.

Must confess I see a pen in most everything.

Thanks for the invitation to comment I would have anyway but briefly.

Kind regards John and Arthur.

Looks good guys. certainly is different.

Thanks for your critique Peter.Very much appreciated indeed!

I realized the pen would be top heavy but knowing my brother it will probably stay as a collection piece for him, so that solves that problem to some extent!

The pen is very comfortable in the hand, so there should be no trouble in using it to write suitable epistles of thanks and praise!

John and I had a great time doing this. John is such a wonderful tradesman and nothing fusses him, It really was a pleasure to work in partnership and swap knowledge.

We also swapped the odd TRUE stories about our exploits!

I was actually surprised by the fact that my turning went so well as I hadn't touched acrylic for 3 years.

Just a tip for all - if you think through the process of turning before you start, and keep thinking about it as you turn then your problems will vanish.