Author Topic: Reference for making an oblique flange  (Read 27825 times)

Offline Alphabetguy

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Reference for making an oblique flange
« on: November 11, 2014, 04:15:14 AM »
I am posting this thread as a reference for those interested in making Zanerian style flanges for their oblique pen. It's not a difficult task with a few tools such as clamps, drill bits, metal shears, a couple homemade wooden forms and a spare nib.  The 2 wooden forms are simple to make and very useful to bend a thin piece of brass into a flange. One wooden form is a small piece of hardwood with 2 slots cut slightly larger in size than the 1/4" and 7/32" drill bits in this photo. The other wooden form is the yellow piece of wood with the thin slot in the center.



The first step is to cut a strip of thin brass. This can be any width you desire in a 3-3.5" in length.



Next step, fold the brass strip in half.



Clamp the bent strip of brass over the larger slot opening on the wooden form.



Place the top end of a .25" drill bit over the brass and push down on the brass to create the first bent of the flange.



The flange starts taking shape after pressing into the wooden form.



My apology for this blurry photo.  Your nib of choice will be placed into the brass strip.



The brass strip and nib are positioned over the smaller slot of the wooden form. A clamp holds the brass in place while a 7/32" brill bit is placed on top.



A small piece of wood is placed on top.



A hand clamp is used to press the brass strip into the slot. The purpose is to bend the brass directly into the nib.



When the clamp and drill bit are removed  the strip of brass will  look like this piece in the photo.



The brass strip and nib are placed in the thin slot of the yellow wooden form. This wooden device  allows the brass shape to be fine tuned, adjusted and straightened.



A clamp is used to secure the bottom portion of the flange while fine tuning the nib alignment.



The brass strip with nib is placed on a piece of  letter size paper with a couple of drawn parallel lines. The parallel lines are reference to the to drilled opening in to the center of the pen body. A metal ruler is placed on to  of the brass strip. An X-acto blade lightly marks the angle for the next step in this process.



The brass strip with nib is placed into the yellow wooden form and tilted to line up with the X-acto blade mark on the brass. The mark on the brass should be positioned 1/8" above the top of the wooden form. Moving the mark above the wooden form ensures the nib will not be too far away from the pen body when the flange is installed.



With clamp pressure applied to the yellow form the excess brass is bent  at an angle and trimmed with shears to provide a small bend at the bottom edge of the flange. This bend in the edge allows the flange to fit snug into the center hole of the pen body. A wooden or brass pin is installed into the center hole of the pen body to provide  a secure fit with no movement of the flange while lettering, installing or removing nibs.






« Last Edit: November 11, 2014, 04:21:51 AM by Alphabetguy »

Offline Alphabetguy

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Re: Reference for making an oblique flange
« Reply #1 on: November 11, 2014, 04:20:54 AM »
Prior to installing this flange into a double sided pen holder I used a Dremel tool to curve the back end of the flange for thumb clearance. The flange was buffed to take off any sharp edges of the metal. A brass pin secures the flange. A very fine grit sandpaper will soften a brass edge the same as buffing will. A toothpick can be used as a pin to secure the flange. Its all a matter of personal preference.






Offline lyndsaywrightdesign

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Re: Reference for making an oblique flange
« Reply #2 on: November 11, 2014, 09:27:01 AM »
Thank you for posting this!
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Offline AnasaziWrites

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Re: Reference for making an oblique flange
« Reply #3 on: November 11, 2014, 09:31:19 AM »
Very informative. Thanks for posting this.
With what tool did you cut the slot in the wooden holder? Is the flange also secured with glue?

Offline joi

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Re: Reference for making an oblique flange
« Reply #4 on: November 11, 2014, 10:19:15 AM »
AMAZING!
you are awesome for sharing this thank you!

Offline AmyNeub

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Re: Reference for making an oblique flange
« Reply #5 on: November 11, 2014, 03:12:08 PM »
Wonderful! I still want to carve one, some day.

Offline Alphabetguy

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Re: Reference for making an oblique flange
« Reply #6 on: November 11, 2014, 03:25:25 PM »
Very informative. Thanks for posting this.
With what tool did you cut the slot in the wooden holder? Is the flange also secured with glue?

To accurately cut a thin slot into the pen body I built and adjustable wooden jig which attaches to a mini metal lathe. This particular jig allows me to use a miniature saw blade to cut the thin slot. I can micro adjust the width of the cut to match the thickness of the brass flange. I spent a week making the jig as I had to wing it and guess what may work for cutting the slot.




Offline Alphabetguy

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Re: Reference for making an oblique flange
« Reply #7 on: November 11, 2014, 03:43:26 PM »
AMAZING!
you are awesome for sharing this thank you!

Hi Joi,
When I met and talked to both you and Amy at the recent CCC meeting I learned a lot about oblique pens and flanges.  The time spent at the meeting helped me to find  an alternative method for doing an oblique pen. This is excellent!

Alan

Offline joi

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Re: Reference for making an oblique flange
« Reply #8 on: November 11, 2014, 05:05:02 PM »
AMAZING!
you are awesome for sharing this thank you!

Hi Joi,
When I met and talked to both you and Amy at the recent CCC meeting I learned a lot about oblique pens and flanges.  The time spent at the meeting helped me to find  an alternative method for doing an oblique pen. This is excellent!

Alan

Sooooo glad it was helpful to you!!! you are making some amazing holders!!!

Offline schin

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Re: Reference for making an oblique flange
« Reply #9 on: November 12, 2014, 12:22:53 AM »
Wow.. you are awesome for sharing!!!! It looks so hard though..
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Offline Alphabetguy

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Re: Reference for making an oblique flange
« Reply #10 on: November 12, 2014, 02:22:18 AM »
Wow.. you are awesome for sharing!!!! It looks so hard though..

Schin,
All it takes is a few practice attempts to bend thin brass into a flange and the process becomes easy. No different than shaping a brush or making a cola pen.

Alan

Offline Heebs

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Re: Reference for making an oblique flange
« Reply #11 on: November 12, 2014, 12:17:49 PM »
You ever try using bail making pliers?

Offline Alphabetguy

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Re: Reference for making an oblique flange
« Reply #12 on: November 12, 2014, 01:13:44 PM »
You ever try using bail making pliers?

Heebs,
I just found the pliers on a web search. Looks like an excellent tools for bending a flange. Can you show a few images of your bending process with bail making pliers?

My goal is to get a real clean precise bend with the flange. If I can do this with bail making pliers instead of a wood form process I definitely want to give it a try.



BTW, I saw a pen holder you made with baltic birch at the CCC meeting. Very nice!!

Alan
« Last Edit: November 12, 2014, 02:24:37 PM by Alphabetguy »

Offline Linda Y.

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Re: Reference for making an oblique flange
« Reply #13 on: November 13, 2014, 12:24:16 AM »
That looks beautiful, Alan - if you decide to make oblique pens for sale, please add me to the waiting list? :)

Offline tangledpen

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Re: Reference for making an oblique flange
« Reply #14 on: November 13, 2014, 03:25:02 AM »
Oh I can't wait until we're back in the U.S. and my hubs will have his workshop back... this is on my to-do list for him - top position!!! ;D

Thanks for sharing :)
Jana

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