February 17, 20196 yr Popular Post When making the .30-06 pen with the Zebra F-301 pen I start by taking the pen apart and removing the stainless tube. Take the pen apart and remove the tube with the logo on it. There is a detent on the tube so a half twist before pulling works best. I use a small pair of end nippers to grab the tube. I slide them into the hole the open pliers make and they clamp around the tube just enough to get it off. The lower ribbed part has to have 3.5 ribs turned down to fit into the shell where the bullet was. This makes the length right and the nib protrudes the correct distance when the clicker is pushed. Mount the drill chuck and hold the ribbed section in it while the ribs are turned off. The Easy Wood Tools Ci1 square cutter works wonders for this. Next pull the clicker piece from the top of the pen. Mount a 9/64 drill bit in the drill chuck backwards and push the clicker onto it. It is a loose fit and needs pressure from the tailstock to turn it without it spinning on the bit. I have a Oneway live center and found a pencil fits into it with the center tip removed. I put enough wraps of some plastic tape on it to keep it out a small distance and turn the clicker until the chrome is sanded off to the brass underlay. I start with 220 grit and sand through 400 grit and then polish with 0000 steel wool. Be careful not to get the piece too hot as the plastic will melt. For the pen nib I took a plastic dowel I had and turned the end until it fit inside the threads and used a pointed live center to hold it in place while sanding the same way as described above. A 5/16 wood dowel can be used as well. The end of the dowel should be perfectly flat. For the .30-06 shell I remove the primer and mount it in the chuck and take the letter "O" size drill to drill through the end. To mount it for sanding I took a 5/16 bolt that was long enough to have a shoulder above the threads and cut the head off. I took a nut and ran it up to the shoulder and tightened it with a wrench so the shell wouldn't slide between the nut and bolt threads. Might want to do that before cutting the head off so it is there to hold onto. Now it is time to put the pen together and write all the love letters you been meaning to write to your significant other. I took one of the pens and made a stick pen and holder. I ran a drill bit through the bullet end of a shell to get the crimp section straight and turned the rib section as described above until it was a press fit into the shell. Put it together and found the ink cartridge was too short. I found a nail that was a tight fit into the cartridge after removing the plug and pushed it in until the right length was achieved. I DID NOT remove the primer for this one. And there you have it. No rocket science involved and a nice pen has evolved. I've already made over 80 of them. Everyone loves them. Enjoy Edited February 17, 20196 yr by HandyDan
February 17, 20196 yr Popular Post 18 minutes ago, lew said: Awesome tutorial, Dan! This one will be in "Wednesday's..." post for sure!!! And in "Our Picks" and social media all over the place!
February 22, 20196 yr on my "to do" list this year. want to make a mess of them to hand out as presents to all the Safety Officers who will be working a large pistol match in August. good thing i have time to practice this and get it done.
February 22, 20196 yr Author 26 minutes ago, DAB said: on my "to do" list this year. want to make a mess of them to hand out as presents to all the Safety Officers who will be working a large pistol match in August. good thing i have time to practice this and get it done. Once you get set up to do each step you can do them in batches and they go quickly compared to one at a time. I've done about 100 of them so far. They make a great yet inexpensive gift and the time is all yours to give.
February 22, 20196 yr first, i have to hit the range and shoot some ammo to generate the empty cases i need (that'll be fun!). i spent winter reloading about 800 rounds of ammo, so just need to find a day and grab some ammo. then get the donor pens, and then set things up on my lathe. will have to make a few jigs. this will keep me busy for several days, wife should like that! best price i've found is about $1.45/pen on Amazon, don't have a membership to Sams ($13 for 9 pens).
February 27, 20196 yr On 2/25/2019 at 8:41 PM, FlGatorwood said: I'm sure it is dreadful to have to fire all those shots. Need some help? Range tomorrow. Come along.
February 28, 20196 yr Maybe another day. Dang doctor appointment tomorrow. Guess which I would rather do. I hope you have so much fun and we look forward to the results.
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