Don’t you dare tell me I’m s_l_o_w… it’s just that I’ve got short legs and consequently it caught up to me that there was a thread about Pen Making posted a few plus days ago (drafted last year) and Moke mentioned his bought sled (hate tape measures... they're never accurate).
In case it whips some of you slackers into the relisation that the pen is mightier than The Donald’s missiles, I thought I’d post this jig I made quite a few years ago.
I posted it at LJ, but being banned I can only regurgitate my original draft as I have no access to BS I splurged there.
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Contrary to what many think, there's more to my backward mentality than you may imagine… and it comes in the form of reverse engineering.
I built this pen blank cutting jig a few years ago whose purpose was to accurately cut a pen blank for the appropriate brass tubing without relying on the accuracy of those bloody lying tape measure.
Gallery pictures;
1. Back of jig.
2. Front of jig.
3. 3mm packer to extend the blank 3mm longer than the tube.
4. 9mm packer as above 3mm (and Sierra tube in place).
5. Antler blank in place. The extra 9mm will allow for drilling blow out and squaring ends.
6. Front view.
When a friend recently saw a picture of the jig, he asked if I had any plans for it and could he get hold of a copy. To my horror, no SketchUp, so off to the PC, pressed the "R" gear on my chair and reverse engineered a SketchUp model,
The jig also sported a handy tray to store all my brass tubes and during emergencies, my valuables (cask of vino),
I won't go into a narrative of how to make pens (anyone interested can have a look at my Chrysalis of a Pen... or better still, follow Moke's series.
Anyone feeling the sting on their backs, here is the 3DW model,
I could stretch this out a little further, however, it's time to follow advice and take my medication to calm my nerves after getting upset about sideways photos postings in another blog.
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Don’t be crafty Craftisians,... SHARE your craft!
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
now ive looked at many pen cutting jigs and ive come to the conclusion..................i dont need any of em ! ive alwas cut mine on my RAS and it's always worked great so im gonna just stay with what works for me ! but thank all of you for showing us your method !
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
I always like seeing your jiggery, you add the extras like the springs that eliminate forgotten steps or extra operations while fiddling with lock knobs.
The pics made me think you’d built an aircraft carrier to bomb your blanks. It looks huge! Good thing I reserved my “look like an idiot” post for something else by watching the video.
It’s a nice jig. I cut my blanks on the TS or CMS. On the TS, I use a sled and simply put the brass tube between the teeth of the blade and a stop held in place with a clamp, and add a smidge if it’s a chippy timber or plastic. Smidges vary by chippiness—SWAGs from experience. Then, I clamp the clamp in place against the stop and cut to length. On the CMS, it’s similar but the stop gets clamped to the rear fence.
Thanks guys for looking. I used to cut the blanks using a texta and chop saw… the texta to mark the spot and the chop saw to… you get the picture.
Often making a jig is more fun than using it.
In the past when looking at the jig, I often consider it’s size, however, this was not a SketchUp born project. I started with a scrap piece of MDF and just continued to build it up and more scrap pieces came to hand. It may take up more storage space than I would like, but if I trimmed it, I’d have a mutiny in the workshop from all my other jigs fighting for the new real estate.
GeorgeWest commented about 21 hours ago new Shorty whacker....... Could be useful. Stuff gets that small, and after a cask or 2 of vino, just using a TS could be dicey.
How true… even before the vino(ssss), being a short rRRRs and the height of my TS sled's fence, all disappears out of sight once the job approaches the blade… not only that, leaning forward I’m always conscious of losing balance and Glasgow kissing the spinning blade... and "that sled" is just too big for pissant blanks.
Pottz commented 2 days ago now ive looked at many pen cutting jigs and ive come to the conclusion..................i dont need any of em ! ive alwas cut mine on my RAS and it's always worked great so im gonna just stay with what works for me ! .....
Pottz, you working on ALzheimer's? I only posted this jig as you showed interest in a sled in Moke's thread,
Pottz commented 6 days ago im interested in that BS sled. i looked at penn state and the reviews arnt that great. almost the same number of 1 star as 5's and the rest scattered between. i think ill just try and design and make my own ? thanks for showing it though.
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
F_Yazall_I, I attribute my absence to my medical issues… ambulances now refuse to home deliver cheap cask-o-vino and I’m not prepared to go on the bottle since I’ve gone green… all that sand wasted to make glass… I can see through the conspiracy.
A nice tidbit here is the stop mounted underneath. I've severed the rear fence on my TS sled too many times to not add this feature.
For my BS's, I just use a big-azz magnet, haven't made a sled yet but the last few projects have involved short bits that are a bit dicey to cut on the TS.
