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Hex Amber

ValleyBoy

Graduate Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2019
Posts
647
Location
Cardiff
First Name
Ash
Hi all

I’ve been away from here for a little while, but thought I’d share my latest offering(s).

I bit the bullet and finally acquired a vertical mill recently and, after a little bit of prototyping, came up with a hexagonal pen that I’m happy with.

For those interested I achieved the shape by using a hex collet block in a vice and then turned the end of the pen round. The hardest part was lining up the vice and dead centre tailstock on the mill (but I’ve ordered a couple of tools to help with that).

Anyway here are a couple of examples of that I’ve done.

Cheers
Ash

EDF362A3-7E07-4338-A289-9C8045DD1267.jpg75D5F160-CAB0-42E4-A417-9F59961EB847.jpg982B693D-8E8F-4704-B4D8-6B289F95F05B.jpgD6ABACCE-AA49-4352-9842-35AC26CCF0DD.jpg64E3B60C-0989-4975-A22F-5CDC444FFD49.jpgEAC3866F-F5D8-4310-AE60-4EACA3207605.jpg1EC78605-20E4-4663-9AAD-F325A5610FA8.jpg
 

flexi

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Maidstone
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mark
Those are rather nice, always love the way the hex looks on a pen, but also love how you have got the transition from hex to round very cleverly done:drool::drool:
 

Curly

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Nov 3, 2019
Posts
421
Location
RM of Aberdeen, Saskatchewan, Canada
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Peter
Very nice work as usual.
You will fine milling machines are a lot like lathes in that the tooling you need keeps expanding until it exceeds the cost of the machine. What kind of mill did you get?

Pete
 

TVS

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Notts
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Woody
Nice job I found a rotory table and tail stock a big help on a milling machine for that type of thing
 

21William

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William
Nice work Ash. :thumbs:

Collet blocks can be useful, for some reason I ended up with two four sided and two hex?!

These are very handy and can help you produce a large number of multi sided objects:
Stevenson's 5C Indexing Head with ER32 Nut - Arc Euro Trade

You’d have lots of folks asking how you made five or seven sided pens etc!
 

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Curly

Graduate Member
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Nov 3, 2019
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RM of Aberdeen, Saskatchewan, Canada
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Peter
I have a 5C Spin Index but no tailstock for it. One thing about them is that they can only do numbers divisible into 360 so facets of 7, 11, 13 etc won't work. There are rotary tables and dividing heads with index plates that can if one wants to dive into the empty money pool. :winking:

Pete
 

ValleyBoy

Graduate Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2019
Posts
647
Location
Cardiff
First Name
Ash
I have a 5C Spin Index but no tailstock for it. One thing about them is that they can only do numbers divisible into 360 so facets of 7, 11, 13 etc won't work. There are rotary tables and dividing heads with index plates that can if one wants to dive into the empty money pool. :winking:

Pete

Thanks Peter.

I do have a rotary table too, so I can do pretty much any number of sides however I went for the hex block because I like the simplicity of it. Also having a number divisible by three means the cap will always align since I use triple lead threads.

Cheers
Ash
 

ValleyBoy

Graduate Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2019
Posts
647
Location
Cardiff
First Name
Ash
Nice work Ash. :thumbs:

Collet blocks can be useful, for some reason I ended up with two four sided and two hex?!

These are very handy and can help you produce a large number of multi sided objects:
Stevenson's 5C Indexing Head with ER32 Nut - Arc Euro Trade

You’d have lots of folks asking how you made five or seven sided pens etc!

Yes I have a square and a hex as they came as a set so maybe you acquired two sets?

I use triple lead cap threads so having a number divisible by 3 works well since the cap will always align when closed.

I did seriously look at the Stevenson indexing head, but opted for a rotary table so I can use it horizontally and vertically. I’m thinking of making clips with it...

Cheers
Ash
 

ValleyBoy

Graduate Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2019
Posts
647
Location
Cardiff
First Name
Ash
Very nice work as usual.
You will fine milling machines are a lot like lathes in that the tooling you need keeps expanding until it exceeds the cost of the machine. What kind of mill did you get?

Pete

Yes that was something that I thought about a lot before I bought one. It’s another potential rabbit hole…

I have a tiny workshop so bought the biggest I could reasonably fit - Sieg SX2P. Arc euro have a deal on with a free set of accessories so I went for it.

Cheers
Ash
 

21William

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William
I have a 5C Spin Index but no tailstock for it. One thing about them is that they can only do numbers divisible into 360 so facets of 7, 11, 13 etc won't work. There are rotary tables and dividing heads with index plates that can if one wants to dive into the empty money pool. :winking:

Pete

Yes of course you’re right. I’ve done the usual 4, 6, 8 10 etc on the spin indexer.
I used a Paul Howard indexing disc for a 7 sided object done on my wood lathe. It also does 5 and 9 sides.
 
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