Window Casing Tutorial - Stickermetimbers Casing Tutorial.pdf · Window Casing Tutorial Introduction . For this tutorial I will be using the 30.06 bullet casing which has been fired.

Window Casing Tutorial

Introduction

For this tutorial I will be using the 30.06 bullet casing which has been fired. The window casing idea came from another pen turner named rherrell and without his idea I would never dreamed of such a great idea. I have used other casing sizes and with a bit of work they to can be used with a window casing. Using new bullet casings is ideal, but I chose to do it this way because of hunters possibly wanting to use their own casings. The concept being that if they successfully acquired a deer, the thought of using the actual casing and possibly the antler from that said deer; would mean more to them. I was also not in the position to go buy new bullet casings without trying a spent casing to test my ability of actually being able to make this pen.

Pen Hardware

30.06 bullet casing

Bullet

Deer antler

Wood for the inside of the casing.

Pen clip

Finial

2 x 2” lg. 7mm tubes

7mm twist mechanism

Cross style ink refill

Tools

These are the tools that I used, but your selection of tools will vary. I have also used custom made tooling that you will not have available and you will need to compensate for my techniques. If you would like some of my tooling, I would be glad to make the tooling for you for a small fee plus S/H. I will list this information at the end of the tutorial.

Window Casing Tutorial

Tools cont.

Lathe complete with tooling.

7mm Pen mandrel with 1A bushings

7mm Pen mill

Drill press or hand drill

Drills - center drill, 3/32”, 1/8”, 1/4”, 7mm, 3/8” or a 9.5mm

Oscillating spindle sander (Drum Sander) with 3” sleeve.

Spindle sanding mandrel (custom tool)

Sanding mill (custom tool – for completing the blank after turning and finishing)

Sandpaper and Micro Mesh

Brass polishing compound (Brasso, Autosol….etc.)

Swaging tool (custom tool)

Q-tips

CA Glue and/or your choice of finishing medium. I.E. Poly, wax……etc.

Pen press

Black sharpie or magic marker

Deburring tool

Bullet mandrel for pen press (custom tool)

Rotary wire brush

1/4” hardwood dowel

Window Casing Tutorial

Pen Making Process

The Bullet

The bullet needs to be drilled out in steps as follows:

Begin the drilling by using the center drill to start the center a hole in the center of the back end of the bullet. Now drill a through hole using the 3/32” drill. The next hole to be drilled out is the 1/8” hole. When drilling this hollow out you will need to have the cross style refill to use as a gauge for the depth of the hole. Do not drill the 1/8” hole completely through the bullet; otherwise you will have to start over with a new bullet. Drill out the bullet slowly taking small cuts in and out.

Window Casing Tutorial

Note: I used my metal lathe chuck before I received my collet chuck. I used sandpaper to help grip the bullet without damaging the copper surface.

Preparing the Casing

To begin preparing the casing we first need to drill out the firing cap starting with the center drill. (Note: The firing pin does not always hit the center of the firing cap.)The next drill bit used can be a 1/4” to remove most of the cap. The last drill used is the 3/8” or 9.5mm drill to complete the removal of the cap and part of the casing end. Clean up the hole with a deburring tool.

Once again I did not have my collet chuck at the time of drilling and I used the metal lathe aided with masking take to prevent marking up the casing during drilling.

Window Casing Tutorial

Once the casing has been drilled out, we can then proceed to the spindle sander or drum sander. If you do not have a spindle sander, a drum sander in your drill press will work also. On my spindle sander I use the largest drum (3”) for doing the 30.06 casings. Smaller casings should be done with a smaller diameter drum.

I place my casing onto the spindle sanding mandrel and secure it.

Make sure there is a container of water nearby as well. When sanding begins the casing will heat up and transfer the heat into the mandrel. Dipping the assembly into the water regularly also provides a wet sanding technique which improves the finish quality on the window edges.

Window Casing Tutorial

The table surface can be marked up to act as a guide for centering the jig. Once the sanding is part way through the casing, use a marker to highlight the mandrel. When the marker is sanded off you will have the proper depth. Turn the jig around and sand the opposite side. Repeat the sanding process. Measure the length and position of the windows to make sure they are equal in length and position.

We can now switch to the fine sanding by installing a 600 or 800 grit sleeve over the spindle. The fine grit paper needs to be wrapped tightly over the existing spindle when doing nickel plated casings. If it isn’t wrapped tightly, the flapping paper will remove the nickel at the outside edges making the window edges uneven.

Window Casing Tutorial

We can now proceed to the rotary wire brush to clean up the burrs on the inside of the window. I have two sizes of brushes, one to do the large inner diameter and one to do the smaller diameter for the bullet tip.

As a final step I also manually sand (wet sanding is preferred) the window or use a round sanding block with 1000 or 2000 grit paper to remove any remaining sanding lines. I also use 800 grit sandpaper wrapped around a 1/4” hardwood dowel to break off the burrs as well. Then as my last step; once again run the rotary wire brush through the inside of the casing.

Place the casing back on the lathe mandrel with the polishing bushings. The casing can now be polished to its final appearance. This is the last time any major polishing can be done prior to the insertion of the wood. Once the wood is installed it becomes very difficult to polish without damaging the wood finish.

Note:

Caution must be used while working on the open window casing. Fingers, jewellery, loose sleeves, rags and sandpaper can be taken into the opening because of the very sharp edge along the window.

Bullet Tip Preparation

We can now prepare the bullet tip for installation into the casing. I chuck the bullet tip in lathe making sure to only grip the bullet where the adhesive is going to be applied. The remainder of the bullet tip can now be polished and prepared for assembly into the casing. The cartridge also needs to be swaged down (swaging tool) in size to make a tighter fit for the bullet. This is done by placing the casing in the collet chuck and then pressing the swage tool against he casing end and working it around the end of the casing to make the diameter smaller. It can easily be checked by trying the bullet into the opening

Window Casing Tutorial

regularly. Now we can glue the bullet into the casing using CA glue. Once the glue has cured I chuck the casing up in the lathe and do a finish polishing to remove any marks from assembly.

Casing Wood Blank

I start off by cutting my tube 2” long and the blank @ 2-1/8” long. Glue them together and then prepare them for mounting onto the pen mandrel. Once you have the blank mounted onto the lathe, turn it

Window Casing Tutorial

down to just under 0.375” diameter. Remove the blank from the casing and check to see that the fit is tight. Once the sanding and finishing is done, the blank will slide inside the casing easily.

We can now proceed to gluing the blank into the casing. Having already made sure that the blank will fit into the casing we need to apply some CA glue to inside of the lower end of the casing using a Q-tip. Slide the blank into the casing and stop @ 1/4” and apply CA glue to the end of the blank before sliding it into the casing.

Note:

Make sure you align the blank to show off the wood grain before placing in the casing window.

Window Casing Tutorial

This completes the window casing half of the pen.

Preparing the Antler Blank

For the antler tubes I make them 2” long as well. Prepare your antler and insert the tube. Then continue with placing the antler on the lathe once the trimming is completed. Turn the antler down to suit your own design. If you are going to add a clip, then the diameter of the antler must suit, otherwise you are free to do whatever design you wish. The antler diameter closest to the casing should be @ 0.465” diameter and the end of the antler at the finial should also match that diameter. The standard 7mm finial that comes with a regular slim line kit will work. I also turn my own brass finials to give the pens a

Window Casing Tutorial

better appearance. Once the antler is turned down, I sand to 12,000 MM then apply 3-4 coats of CA glue and sand again to 12,000 MM. You can add a polish afterwards, but generally the CA glue is good enough. Now the finial and pen clip can be added to suit your pen design.

Final Assembly

Now that the Window Casing lower half and the Antler upper half are completed, the pen mechanism can be pressed into the Window Casing half with the aid of the Swage Tool. The Swage Tool allows us to press the mechanism in without damaging the bullet tip. The bullet tips are very soft and if we were to press it against a surface it would collapse the tip making it inoperable. Press the mechanism into the

Window Casing Tutorial

Casing and check it frequently with the refill to make sure it is at the correct depth. Reversing this process is very difficult; therefore it is very important to check the insertion depth as you go. Once the mechanism is located properly, insert the refill and then add the Antler half of the pen.

Your Pen is now complete with maybe one last polishing using a soft cloth. Congratulations!

Summary

Yes there is a lot of work to this pen and it is due primarily to the fact that I use spent casings. The reason I chose to do this was because of the added cost of purchasing new casings. To use new casings a few of the steps can be easily modified to suit. The other advantage of using spent casings is for the hunters who would like to have their prize deer antler in the actual casing that they used to achieve this. This is the sentimental side of it and it means a lot to them.

If you would like more information, please feel free to contact me at [email protected]

I am willing to make some of the tooling for people to use for a small fee for the materials.

Dave Bell……(Bellsy)