Mini Lathe Project: Making a Pen From Steel Bolts

In this video I make a simple pen using M12 steel bolts, aluminium bar and some bronze. The main piece of equipment used was a small bench-top lathe, with the help of an angle grinder for cutting up the bolts.

[@baronvongreenback]

Been machining 25 years and never thought to put a small drill up to catch bits im parting off, nice tip.

[@norm5785]

Nice machining for the pen

[@andrewdolinskiatcarpathian]

A very enjoyable and well crafted project. Great camera work too. Looking forward to seeing more of your work. 👏👏👍😀

[@islandseeker1260]

Nice design and build. I especially like that you didn't drown out the great machining sounds with awful YT musak! I do have one concern, however, Most pens have a vent in them so that the ink will flow, rather than becoming vacuum-locked as the refill empties. Has this become an issue in your design, and if so, have you thought of a design feature to account for it?

[@mathieuferland1691]

I like the video. You did a great job with the tool you have and videowise. But I think you should comment on your project over the course of the video. Machining project involve some craftmanship and knowledge that viewers like to know. Like why you decide to partoff the holding section of the pen of in the vise instead of directly on the late or the problems you incountered when you had to face the part while the part was hanging to long. All of that will engage the viewer in your project and make them comment so you will have more visibility on YT. Anyway keep the good work!

[@makeormend8450]

Thank you for your comment. I am still new to the whole video making thing so your feedback really helps 👍

[@brettgl21]

That is the coolest pen ever. Very nice work.

[@mattharvey8712]

Bravo........now make a outer space pin .........astronauts pin......writes upside down and under water........cheers

[@DrHutOfHandcraft]

Great job!

[@arduinomaquinas]

Very cool this video lathe's ❤🇧🇷😉👏👏👏👏👏👏subscribed 👍👍

[@ron1martens]

Engineering. Love the machinery.

[@ProfSimonHolland]

good project

[@walterwinnipeg7350]

Very nice project. As a few others have suggested, some more captions or narration would be nice, so you can explain what you are doing and _why_ you're doing it. Pass on your valuable experience to those of us wanting to learn! One thing I wonder about, is there a spring or feature which makes sure that the pen refill is fully pressed "up" in the tip section of the pen? Or, does this design depend on the deep hole drilled into the back section to be _exactly_ the correct depth for the refill being used? In other words, does that back end of the pen "bottom out" in the deep hole in the rear section?

[@makeormend8450]

This was a very simple design and there was no spring mechanism included. As you say the cartridge bottoms out in the hole. The cartridge can always be cut to length or shimmed at the bottom of the hole if it isn’t initially a good fit.

[@cdrive5757]

Sooner or later a viewer is going to chastise you for not covering the ways while sanding. For the record, it wasn't me.😋 😉 That pen is too heavy for what it's used for but you can easily modify or make another to use as a Scribe in the shop. Another handy tool to make is a little Colette Pen Chuck. They're handy for holding small drill bits and taps. When making miniature objects it's always handy to have small tools to gain that tactile interface with the part. Best of luck and have fun! 🤗 Wakodahatchee Chris

[@makeormend8450]

To be honest when I initially assembled the pen it felt really heavy and I thought about re making it in aluminium but after I turned the taper and drilled out for the ink cartridge it was surprisingly light.

[@cdrive5757]

@@makeormend8450 You can also replace the ink cartridge with a solid, close fitting steel pin. Uh ... I think I'm hung up on that shop scribe? 😋 Actually, no matter what you make it all chalks up to gaining more machining time in the shop. That's always a good thing. Gaining proficiency = SATISFACTION! 👍👍👍

[@CraigsWorkshop]

Great video - very watchable 👍

[@makeormend8450]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it.

[@CraigsWorkshop]

@@makeormend8450 Keep up the good work :) Looking foward to more.

[@MASI_forging]

Great work dude 👏👏

[@84hemiboi]

Awesome 👏

[@alvarock65]

Nice work! May I know brand/model of you tap bits? I haven’t been able to find those in that style.

[@makeormend8450]

The tap I used in the video was an M6 x 1 H6 “spiral flute” tap. I can’t remember the exact brand but if you search for spiral flute it will come up. I made the tap wrench myself but you can buy them online.

[@alvarock65]

@@makeormend8450 thanks for the info my friend! Keep up the good work!

[@ophirb25]

Nice work 😍

[@Dave.Wilson]

A very nice little project, Subbed :o)

[@shipsofscale]

Very nice

[@kozka5302]

this is not only pen, it's so tools for war, or not?

[@TBowmanize]

how long does it take to make such a pen :P Well done

[@makeormend8450]

Around 5-6 hours I reckon although a lot of that was set up time like changing the feed rate and setting the taper angle.

[@runescapeflipper3293]

hi, really nice video and nice looking pen. Do you consider making more and putting them up for sale?

[@makeormend8450]

It is something I will consider in future although for now I just make things as a hobby whenever I have spare time.

[@ophirb25]

How much will you be willing to pay for a pen like that? How long did it take the maker to make it?

[@alierem4266]

Unless a mass production, sale price for time invested in producing this, buyer would not be willing to pay.

[@АндрейГерасимов-ю1и]

Я одного не понял, для чего были болты 9.8 твердости?

[@leomachado7676]

Can you make steel bolts from a pen next please.🤣

[@makeormend8450]

Watch this space

[@kenman6721]

why don’t you use lathe to cutoff the bolt ends? way faster

[@makeormend8450]

I would have done that but my lathe struggles to part-off tougher materials such as steel

[@kenman6721]

thanks for the reply few do anymore.

[@dropdropucic3953]

❤

[@dannywilsher4165]

Nice pen! I subbed!!!

[@makeormend8450]

Thank you 😊

[@damienisabella2059]

Hi, would you sell one of these?

[@makeormend8450]

Unfortunately I don’t really have time to make them for selling at the moment.

[@KF-qj2rn]

....and then penholder or cap.... ;o)

[@makeormend8450]

The next video will be making a pen holder.

[@MyGreggory]

Hi are you selling any of those pens

[@makeormend8450]

Not at the moment although I might look into this if there is interest from people.

[@ilmirmurtazin4071]

12:15 ради своей безопасности не делай так

[@robertoviana514]

it's 2023 silent movies have been dead for awhile now.

[@PacificPounding]

Yeah but I'd rather them be silent then tell me their life story, tell me about the advertisement for today's video, then ask me to subscribe and buy all their merch, while also reading comments from the last video as their patrons scroll across screen