Materials used in the manufacture of handles. How to make a wooden ball In which case when making wooden balls

Anvil support pad. It is used as a device in the process of minting. A simple support pad is a steel plate with flat surface without sharp corners and edges. There are also special linings, for example, an ankh (Fig. 2.6, a) (a cubic steel plate), which has hemispherical recesses of various diameters, designed to knock out spherical blanks of hollow products. In some cases, soft linings are used to weaken the force of blows during minting. Such linings are made of wood, rubber, cardboard, lead, resin mixture, special mastic.

Handmade wooden vise. They consist of two equal semicircular wooden planks with a total diameter of 30 - 35 mm, interconnected by a fixing screw (Fig. 2.6, b), which regulates the compression force of the product and, accordingly, the movement (divergence) of the sponges, which, as a rule, does not exceed 15 mm. Manual wooden vices are used for filing, sawing, drilling, scraping, engraving, back-tacking operations.

Drill. It consists of a metal solid rod, collet clamp, flywheel, handle, belt. The rod is necessary for fixing the collet clamp and the flywheel, in the upper part of which there is a hole for refueling the belt (Fig. 2.6, c). A drill is attached to the collet. With the help of a rigidly installed flywheel (metal circle), inertial rotation is transmitted to the rod. The handle is mounted on the rod and has free movement. The drill is brought into working condition by periodically pulling up - lowering the handle up and down. In this case, the belt is sequentially twisted around the rod, giving the latter a rotational movement in both directions. A drill is used to perform drilling and reaming operations.

Special clamping device. When engraving, it is possible to hold the product in hand only in rare cases, but usually it must be fixed. This is achieved using a number of devices: wooden hand vise, engraving blocks, mounting plates, ball vise, engraving pad.

Engraving pads. They are two small (20x100 mm) rectangular metal plates (Fig. 2.6, d), movably connected with clamping screws. Fixing products in them is carried out simultaneously with the use of soft cushioning materials (wood, leather).

Mounting boards. The length of the boards is different and corresponds to the dimensions of the processed flat products; thickness 20 - 25 mm. The product on the boards is attached with the help of pastes, sealing wax, carnations.

Ball vise-shrabkugel. They are made in the form of a cast-iron ball (Fig. 2.6, e) with a diameter of not more than 130 mm. The top of the ball is cut off. A groove is cut in the segment-shaped section, in which a plate with the product is fixed with the help of bolts. To ensure free maneuvering (moving the product), a leather ring is placed under the shrabkugel; as a shrabkugel, you can use the used lathe spindle chuck by adding a part in the form of a hemisphere to it.

engraving cushion. The simplest engraving device. It is a round pillow (Fig. 2.6, e) stuffed with sand. The material for the pillow is leather or canvas. The pillow is used as a lining for the fixing plate. It is not difficult to make such a pillow.

Spatula, brush. The spatula is used for applying enamel, niello, and the brush for applying flux, enamel and niello.

The working surface of the spatula should be smooth, polished, the edges should be slightly rounded so as not to scratch the metal and not "cut off" the enamel when smoothing it. Recently, a more versatile type of spatula has been used - bidrashpits. Lightly touching (as if shaking) the side surface of the product with the twisted part of the bidrashpit, one achieves a uniform application of enamel or niello.

The brush for applying enamel and niello should be hard and with a pointed end. Its size depends on the amount of enamel applied.

Letkal. Used as refractory fixtures in the soldering process jewelry. Usually jewelers use asbestos letkal on a wooden base. For soldering products that need to be soldered in a vertical position, they strengthen the letkal spring clips: products or parts are clamped between paired wire protrusions. For step-by-step soldering, a letkal-turntable is used, which is a metal base on which a rotating table is mounted on a leg (Fig. 2.6, g).

Thrust square simple and adjustable. It is necessary to check the perpendicularity of the rack, ledge, product element, to determine the deviation of the surface from straightness and flatness (Fig. 2.6, h).

Center punch (metal punch). It is necessary to designate recesses - the centers of subsequent drilling. Punching is carried out by hitting the center punch with a hammer. An automatic punch is also used.

Scriber. A metal rod resembling an ordinary pencil in shape and size, only with a lead (needle) more pointed than a pencil. The scriber is necessary for drawing marks on the surface to be marked both by hand and using a ruler, square, template.

Marking plate. When marking as a marking plate, jewelers use a non-hardened metal rectangular or round section a bar measuring approximately 150x100 mm. To reduce vibration, a proportional sheet of dense, elastic rubber is glued to its lower plane. The upper plane of the bar is even and smooth. Many jewelers use a dressing plate (flakeisen) when performing marking work.

Manual rollers. They are necessary for processing metal by pressure with a continuous change in its shape along the entire length or in some given section of the workpiece. Rollers (Fig. 2.6, and) come with rolls in the form of smooth cylinders and cylinders with cutouts of various profiles. Smooth rolls provide the rolling of sheets, strips, strips, plates, and profile rolls are used to obtain rolled products of round, square and other shapes.

drawing board. It is used to carry out the manual drawing process - pulling the workpiece through tapered bore a tool called a die or die. It happens with holes drilled directly in it (Fig. 2.6, j), but can be equipped with a set of die-dies inserted into it. Drawn from wire larger diameter wire of the required diameter, and from the tape - tubular blanks used for the manufacture of swivel joints and frames for small stones. On fig. 2.7 shows the types of profiles of blanks obtained by drawing, and in fig. 2.8 - patterned surfaces of tapes and strips obtained by rolling.

Mechanical scissors. They are used to separate one workpiece from another along a given line. Shears are available with parallel or inclined knives (guillotine shears) and with disc knives (roller shears).

Wooden balls in our country are sharpened and sold, which I recently saw at one of the arts and crafts exhibitions. But these are balls intended for further painting, and therefore, so to speak, in their naked form they do not have independent artistic value. They are turned from linden - a breed, in my opinion, completely unsuitable for turning, unless, of course, it is planned to paint, burn, texturize or carve an extremely inexpressive surface of the product in the future. I do not exclude that the domestic technique of turning balls is very different from the international one described below, but it is not presented anywhere.

When working with a tree, there are a lot of scraps that are a pity to throw away, and they take up more and more space. It is advisable to use them for turning balls, which, in my opinion, have considerable artistic value and appeal, especially if they are made of beautiful wood. On the Internet, you can find a number of foreign works on the technique of turning balls, if you type in the search box, for example, “Woodturning balls (spheres)”. There are already on sale and special devices for turning balls, the use of which, it seems, can only be justified in mass production. Sharpening balls in manual mode is quite simple.

First, a workpiece, for example, a piece of a thin trunk or a thick knot, with a diameter of, say, 80 mm, is fixed longitudinally and roughly processed (rounded) in the centers of a lathe, and then brought to the shape of a regular ball in homemade bowl-shaped clamps. These clips (front and back) are made from scraps of hard wood such as maple or beech. The front clamp can, in principle, be mounted on the headstock spindle in a variety of ways: on a faceplate with a screw (wooden or metal), using a wooden thread (see my recent message), in a chuck with cams for compression or surprise, and also using a cone Morse number 2 (KM2). The latter method is the most convenient and common, and the process of making such a clamp from a glued blank is shown in photos 1-5. The length of KM2 is usually about 70 mm with a diameter of 17.5 mm at the beginning and

15 mm at the end. Dimensions are specified in the process of turning by comparative measurements with a caliper of metal and wooden KM2 with a number of fittings in the quill of the tailstock of the machine. The evenness of the horizontal surface is checked first with a ruler, and then by forceful rotation in the quills and the removal of irregularities that have become noticeable to the eye, for example, with a scraper, jamb, or just a sandpaper. If there is dirt inside the quill, it will leave

dark marks on the surface of the wood, otherwise the compressed fibers of the irregularities will appear as a sheen, noticeable when illuminated at a certain angle. The details of making a wooden KM2 can be found on the Internet by typing, for example, “Turning a wooden Morse taper”. I made two front jaws with a jaw diameter of about 25 and 55 mm, which allows you to sharpen balls from about 50 to 150 mm in diameter, since the first value should be about 1/3 - 1/2 of the last. It is important that the jaws of the cup clamps do not have sharp edges that can leave marks on the surface of the processed balls.

Rear cup clamps, which are attached to the rear center, may have a smaller jaw diameter than the front ones, since their main function is only to serve as a support. I have three different back pivots and have made rear clamps for two of them, a 32mm crown and a 37.5mm ring. Jaw diameters were 26 mm and 35 mm. I drilled a cavity for a narrower center in a turned cylinder using a Forstner drill with a diameter of 32 mm (photos 6 and 7), and for

I turned a thicker one on the machine with the help of chisels (photo 8). Photo 9 shows the finished rear clamps for the respective live centers.

Center holes with a diameter of 8 mm are made to push out the centers in case of difficulty in releasing them.

Photo 10 shows the process of roughing (rounding) an oak billet for a ball with a diameter of about 80 mm. The wood must be dry to

avoid further warping and cracking of the finished product. The length of the workpiece with allowances is about 100 mm. A central transverse line is applied with a pencil, dividing the workpiece in half, and segments of 40 mm are laid on both sides of it, preferably with small allowances of 2-3 mm (photo 11). Further, the workpiece is rounded, i.e. cut off side corners(photo 12). I do this with the deep grooved chisel most familiar to me, but you can

use other chisels, such as finely grooved (semicircular) or oblique.

Rounding is done by eye, while the center line should remain intact. Then, with the help of a cutting chisel, the supporting protrusions are removed (photo 13), the workpiece, turned 90 degrees, is fixed in wooden clamps (photo 14) and using the same deep-grooved chisel (or any other)

its further rounding (photo 15). This eliminates the so-called "double contour", indicating the irregular shape of the ball. Further, the workpiece is again turned 90 degrees and sharpened with the same chisel, cutting off an ever smaller volume of wood. And so several times until the complete elimination of the “double contour” and the runout of the workpiece. Finishing the surface of the turned ball can be carried out both with the “wings” of a deeply grooved chisel, and with a rectangular scraper shown in photo 3, and even better with a scraper with a negative angle. The completeness of the workpiece rounding process can be indicated by the absence of vibration of the chisel placed on top of the ball. The final operation is the grinding of the ball with papers of successively decreasing grit: P80, 120, 180 and 240 (photo 16). In this case, the direction of the axis of the ball should be changed all the time, as was done when turning it. With the latest

In operations where the removal of small layers of wood, I often fix the ball in small clamps to increase the available working surface especially when grinding. Photo 17 shows a sanded oak ball ready for surface varnishing. If its surface is not supposed to be varnished, but finished with oil and / or wax, it is necessary to continue grinding with sandpaper with a grain size of at least P400-600, and preferably up to P1500.

Having turned about a dozen balls, I realized that no preliminary marking on the cylinder is needed and it is quite possible to do everything by eye. The speed of rotation of the workpiece should be about 2000 rpm, or even higher, depending on the diameter of the ball. The higher the speed, the cleaner the surface of the wood, but also the higher the risk of the ball flying out of the clamps. Strengthening the clamp, you run the risk of leaving dents on the surface of the workpiece, especially softwood, which will be difficult to get rid of. Turning a ball usually takes 5-10 minutes.

Walking somehow to the house along the backyard, I noticed and picked up a freshly cut branch of a silver poplar about 100 mm thick with a seductively prominent core on the cut. I sawed it into a series of short blanks, roughly machined them to a ball, wrapped them in newspapers and plastic bags and placed on a hot radiator. I unwrapped the wrappers from time to time and the balls were dry in about a week. I put it on the machine again and brought the shape of the balls to perfection, which at the same time showed the beauty of the poplar texture. For convenience, I used clips with small jaws, as a result of which their subtle traces were first imprinted on the soft poplar wood, which were clearly manifested during the subsequent lacquer finish of the surface. It turned out to be very difficult to get rid of them, unless a thick layer of wood was sanded off. Compressed fibers straighten all the time. Conclusion: to work with softwood balls, it is desirable to make clamps with softwood jaws. It may be advisable to glue the sponges with soft plastic, for example, a dish mat. In my practice of turning large balls, two or three front clamps shattered due to the fact that their bowls turned out to be too thin, so they must be made quite massive and glued (photo 18).

I varnished the balls, holding them in my hand and immediately drying them with a hairdryer, and then placing them to dry first in the cup-shaped recesses of wooden clamps, and then I carved the heels of simple coasters (photo 19). The surface was varnished 3-4 times with intermediate polishing and final polishing according to a single technique, which I previously described in a separate message (with some improvements). Turning balls, among other things, helps on the most simple forms bring out the beauty of different tree species in healthy and rotten condition, as well as experience a variety of surface finishes: varnish or wax, with or without oil. For example, once again I made sure that varnished wooden crafts have more appeal than waxed ones, at least for me and my loved ones. You want to touch them and at the same time you can not be afraid of the effect of “capture” of the surface.

Balls look beautiful in plates. I took out a healthy log of beautifully rotted alder from the stock and carved several shallow plates out of it. Each ball is beautiful on its own, but their combination is simply charming. Even white balls from such a seemingly meager tree as ash-leaved maple (American) are attractive. Well, it seems to me that balls of plum, yellow and white acacia, rotten mountain ash, brittle buckthorn, and birch growth have the most remarkable texture.

Most of the trunks I collected, stored on the balcony, cracked, which is quite natural, since it is necessary to dry the trunks and branches in a damp underground, especially fruit trees such as apple, plum and pear. In a number of cases, therefore, it was necessary to make inserts into the barrels and finished balls. This, on the one hand, is very labor-intensive, and on the other hand, there is no guarantee that different parts of the wood will not “play” differently in the future and the inserts will not become more noticeable than at the beginning. You should initially take this into account when choosing a material for turning balls.

Photos 20 and 21 show a significant part of the balls I have machined. Previously made bowls were useful as artistic supports for individual balls, which in themselves did not represent a special artistic value (photos 22, 23 and 24).

Photo 24 67 mm - in a stand made of birch suvel

The history of the materials that are used to make fountain pens dates back to ancient times, when the properties of natural substances such as horn, waxes and bitumen were used by people for practical purposes. These materials were polymers in which molecules (monomers) bonded together and formed chains during setting and curing. They are, in fact, plastics and, like all plastics, their main component is carbon.

Gradually, people learned that the properties of such materials could be improved by methods such as purification and modification with other substances, but it was not until the 19th century that many new industries began to feel the need for materials with properties that could not be found in nature. This stimulated the creation of a number of new materials, including the first plastics.

The metal has been widely used over the centuries for a variety of purposes, including the manufacture of feathers. A bronze feather has been found in the ruins of Pompeii.

Masters also made feathers self made, including many from precious metals, in accordance with the special requests of wealthy customers.

With the development of machine production technology and metallurgy, a wide variety of materials began to be used in production, including brass, silver and gold. Parts of fountain pens were made from these materials, especially covers and barrels. In many cases, a base metal such as brass has been coated with a thin layer of a noble metal such as gold and silver. Technological processes originally involved rolling a layer of precious metal onto a base metal surface, but the electroplating technique has now superseded this process as it provides a more durable coating. In many cases, stainless steel has been successfully used to make strong and cheap cases and lids that have been well received by customers. Occasionally, metals such as palladium and tritium have been successfully used in the manufacture of fountain pens. Back in the 1970s, lightweight but extremely hard titanium was difficult to process in the manufacture of fountain pens, but modern technology has greatly facilitated its use, and today manufacturers offer several varieties of titanium fountain pens.

The first fountain pens (in the 19th century) were made from hard carbon black-filled rubber. Them appearance has been improved by applying various patterns to engraving machines. The most attractive, however, was the appearance of fountain pens, when the body of hard rubber was covered with precious metals - gold and silver. The coating was made in the form of filigree or complex patterns.

Today, collectors all over the world are hunting for these magnificent first copies of fountain pens decorated with metal ornaments.

Wooden fountain pens were made by several manufacturers using turning or even inlay work. This has become feasible primarily due to the wide choice of wood, its beauty and convenience. practical use, as a result of which it became possible to choose certain types of wood for a variety of purposes.

However, the wood used to make fountain pens, even after being trimmed, dried, and turned on a lathe, swells, shrinks, warps, or cracks, depending on climatic conditions. It is also porous, and it is necessary to seal the outer surface to protect against external influences and reduce moisture absorption. Examples of tree species used are erica arborescens, maple, olive and the very rare snake tree.

Lacquer is a general name for all types of coatings that form a hard, smooth and shiny surface. In the production of fountain pens, the same term means two completely different types of varnish - synthetic and Chinese.

The most commonly used finish is lacquer, made from inert chemicals that are usually sprayed in multiple coats on rotating brass bodies or lids. This cover is beautiful and durable. In addition, it provides an almost unlimited variety of surface finishes, such as marble effect, and makes it possible to produce beautiful, durable and yet inexpensive writing instruments.

A more expensive coating of Chinese, or oriental, varnish is of vegetable origin. The lacquer is made from resinous sap collected from small trees that belong to the sumac family and grow mainly in China and Japan. Although the art of making lacquer pens dates back centuries and methods have changed over time, today the manufacture of Chinese lacquer-coated fountain pens requires that very focused, internal discipline, treating lacquer as an animated being that is difficult to "tame" and with whom it is not easy work. It also requires a thorough knowledge of the traditions of craftsmanship that originated 1000 BC.

Chinese lacquered fountain pens impress with their perfect surface gloss, richness of hues, excellent tactile properties, and unrivaled resistance to the ravages of time and fire. Fine examples of products covered with Chinese lacquer are produced by the prestigious S.T. Dupont, which prides itself on the fact that "if you throw one of our pens into a fire, nothing will happen to it anyway."

PLASTIC MATERIALS

The term "plastic" comes from the ancient Greek word "plasticos" (pliable). Therefore, plastics are materials that can be softened by heat and can be shaped into desired shapes. Some plastics, like horn, are of natural origin, others, like nitrocellulose, are semi-synthetic, and are obtained by exposing natural substances to chemicals. Synthetic plastics are made from components of petroleum or natural gas.

All plastics are based on carbon and contain a number of molecules in the form of chains. There are two main categories of plastics - thermoplastics, which retain the ability to transition to a viscous state with a change in shape, and thermoplastics, which take a constant specific shape depending on temperature and pressure.

FIRST PLASTICS

There are many first plastics. It has already been said that Chinese varnish is one of the very first plastics in the world. It was especially widely used during the reign of the imperial Han dynasty (starting from the 2nd century BC). The resinous sap obtained from the sumac wood (Rhus verniciflua), which grows mainly in China and Japan, is collected from cuts in the bark and filtered. In this case, care must be taken, because the resinous juice is poisonous and can cause severe burns. Under the influence of air, in the presence of laccase (an enzyme that plays the role of a hardener), polymerization occurs, and the varnish dries and hardens, forming a shiny, durable and waterproof coating.

AMBER is a natural thermoplastic, petrified resin of fossil coniferous trees from the Pinus succinifer genus, which grew 40-60 million years ago. Amber is hard, light and warm to the touch; it is brightly colored and shiny. If rubbed, it can attract other objects to itself. Amber is also credited with certain magical properties. The main methods of processing amber come down to processes that require heating, clarification and pressing into tiles. The main field of application of amber is the manufacture of beads of the same color and composition.

HORN can be heated and split, softened in boiling water, then leveled and given the desired shape using the hot pressing method. As a result, the horn behaves like a typical sheet material from thermoplastic. By the early 19th century, the molded horn industry was flourishing; mainly combs were made from the horn. Nowadays, several specialized firms produce fountain pens with barrels and lids made of horn. The most beautiful horn pens are made by the Japanese company Mannenhitsu Hakase; All handles are handmade.

View TORTOIO SHELL, commonly used in the manufacture of fountain pens, are horny large horny plates covering the bony upper shield of the hawksbill turtle; they can be cut and pressed like a horn, but always in such a way that the natural pattern is preserved. The beauty of tortoiseshell patterns encourages fountain pen makers to reproduce these colors and designs on many lacquered writing instruments. Nowadays, synthetic varnish is mainly used for surface finishing.

SHELLAC is a natural resin of animal origin, produced by tiny insects - lac bugs (Coccus lacca), which live on woody tropical and subtropical plants of certain species. Shellac is a thermoplastic patented in the USA by Samuel Peck in the 1950s. XIX century as a material for the manufacture of pressed products. Shellac can be mixed with fine sawdust and pressed into various shapes, such as photo frames. Compositions made from shellac were used until the 40s. for pressing gramophone records, and today shellac is used to make sealing wax. It is an important material used in the repair of fountain pens.

WOOD MASTIC. sawdust, mixed with albumin, form a thermoset. The material was patented by Lepage in the 1950s. XIX century. It is mainly used for making decorative plates, knife handles, dominoes, jewelry.

GUTTA PERCHA- plastic of natural origin, cut from the bark of a tree from the genus Palakvium, which grows in Malaya. Gutta-percha was used to make a wide variety of household and technical products, from jewelry and furniture to the insulation of submarine telegraph cables laid in 1850. Although this material is not very durable, it is still used today in ball casings for golf.

SEMI-SYNTHETIC MATERIALS

In the 19th century, scientists discovered that natural substances react with various chemicals to form new semi-synthetic materials. The main ones used in the production of writing utensils are listed below.

RUBBER. Around 1838, Charles Goodyear, a bankrupt American iron manufacturer, invented the rubber vulcanization process. At the same time as Goodyear, the Hancock brothers from England achieved the same success. Vulcanized rubber is called ebonite or vulcanizate. The process consists of adding various amounts of sulfur to natural rubber, which becomes harder and more elastic. Naturally, the rubber is dark in color, however, if necessary, it can be dyed with pigment to change the appearance.

By the end of the 19th century and up to the beginning of the 20s. During the 20th century, most fountain pen makers made them from vulcanized rubber. Parker's Jack-Knife fountain pens and Waterman's Ripple fountain pens are two typical examples. The former were mostly black or black with a surface finish, the latter were made from stain-free vulcanized hard rubber and were two-tone, which looked very nice; The most popular of these were fountain pens with a colorful surface speckled with red and white.

CASEIN. The product was patented in Germany in 1899 under the name "galalite" (Greek for "milk stone"). The process of preparing casein is that rennet is added to separated, skimmed milk. The result is rennet casein. It is then dried, processed and dyed. Using extrusion technology, rods were made from the material and rolled into sheets. (Extrusion is a method in which a screw moves the raw material along a cylindrical body at high temperature and high pressure. The space in which the softened material can be moved by the screw is gradually reduced, and as a result, the material becomes viscous. It is then forced through small holes in extrusion head at atmospheric pressure and ambient temperature.As a result, the material expands and takes one or another shape depending on the configuration of the hole.It is cut into pieces of the desired shape and size, and finally dried).

After exiting the extruder, the casein is cured by immersion in formaldehyde and then mechanically processed. Casein is produced with a whole range bright patterns and colors; it has found use in a variety of industries, including button making. Parker used this material to make the Ivorines fountain pens. But, unfortunately, casein is a porous substance, and over time it begins to shrink. This affected the appearance of Ivorines fountain pens: if, due to the shrinkage of the body, the pipette was damaged and the ink spilled, the casein was contaminated. In the 80s. of the last century, Waterman used a similar material to make the Lady Elsa series of fountain pens. These pens, which were refilled with refillable ink cartridges, did not get dirty as easily, and in this sense they were more fortunate than the Ivorines pens.

PLASTICS BASED ON CELLULOSE DERIVATIVES. They are produced by chemical modification of cellulose, this polymer of natural origin, which makes up about 1/3 of the entire phytomass of our planet. Cellulose can be made into a thin film (cellophane), an artificial fiber, or a thermoplastic. There are many derivatives of cellulose that play the most important role in the manufacture of fountain pens; among them are nitrocellulose, cellulose acetate, cellulose propionate and cellulose acetate butyrate. Their common physical properties include high abrasion resistance, high gas permeability, good electrical insulating properties, medium water vapor permeability and good transparency.

NITROCELLULOSE. This substance is obtained by direct nitration of cellulose with nitric acid, using various methods. Nitrocellulose can be transparent, opaque or colored. The product has quite satisfactory non-shrinkage, low water absorption and sufficiently high impact strength. It is, however, rather unstable to heat and direct sunlight. It can only be molded using a limited number of methods. It is also highly flammable.

Nitrocellulose is processed by mixing with a plasticizer, ethanol and other solvents to obtain a viscous plastic mass. This product is then subjected to compression or extrusion and aging in order to remove residual solvent. Typically, the plasticizer is camphor, which is used in the production of celluloid. Many personal items are made from celluloid, including combs and children's toys. Other brand names for celluloid are xylonite, parquesite, kodalotide, and pyramine (Du Pont).

The British chemist Alexander Parker of Birmingham invented xylonite in 1855. By adding various oils to nitrocellulose, he produced a paste that, when dried, looked like ivory or horn. The inventor called this substance "parkesine" and made several products from it, which were exhibited at the 1962 World's Fair in London. Parker was awarded an honorary award for excellent product quality.

In 1870, the Hyatt brothers patented their product, celluloid, in which they used camphor rather than olive oil, as in parksin. In 1924, the Sheaffer firm made plastic fountain pens using a similar material, pyroxylin, giving it the brand name "radit." Two years later, Parker used this material to make Duofold fountain pens, giving it the brand name permanite.

Raw pyroxylin dries for a very long time, from six months to several years. If the pyroxylin is not completely dry, the material may warp or even melt during machining as a result of heat generation. Special devices for the supply of cutting fluid during drilling and hot air drying help to solve these problems. However, the plastic components of fountain pens sometimes shrink after being manufactured.

Nitrocellulose is extremely explosive and flammable. In the mid 20s. There were several explosions at the Wahl Eversharp factory in Chicago. The problems, however, were soon resolved, and by 1928 complex patterns were created, such as the combination of mother-of-pearl and black. The mother-of-pearl color was obtained by adding "pearl essence" to nitrocellulose. The essence was prepared from the chemical compound "guanine", which forms small flat, shiny crystals on the scales of some fish species. Later, lead(2) phosphate was used for mother-of-pearl finishes. To this end, two bars of two colors were crushed into particles of the required size, and these particles were melted by mixing them with a solvent and applying high pressure. The resulting black mother-of-pearl bar could be heat-treated and dried before being made into lids and barrels for fountain pens.

The new plastics were not only attractive to look at, but also unbreakable, so the appeal of plastic fountain pens to the general public increased significantly, thereby stimulating sales. In the 30s. many fountain pen makers, including Parker with its Vacumetric models, made plastic fountain pens with a transparent reservoir or an annular transparent window, which made it possible to monitor the process of filling the pen with ink and their consumption. Vacumetric pen materials were made by pressing layers of clear and opaque nitrocellulose and cellulose esters into bars. Then the bars were painted and filled with filler. The end bars could be cut into thin layers to make fountain pen parts. The result was a pattern in the form of either a mosaic or a grid.

The striped material for the Vacumatic series of fountain pens was made in exactly the same way, using translucent and opaque nitrocellulose, which was dyed and given a mother-of-pearl color if required. The material was cut into thin layers and pressed into bars, which could then be used to make parts for fountain pens.

ACETYLCELLULOSE. As a result of the reaction of acetic acid and acetic anhydride with technical cellulose, cellulose triacetate is formed. Upon hydrolysis of this substance, cellulose acetate is formed. The use of a plasticizer reduces the softening temperature of cellulose, which allows it to be processed without deterioration in properties. By changing the dosage of the plasticizer, the level of esterification and the length of the molecular chain of the original cellulose, one can obtain a family of plastics. They differ from each other in terms of softening point, hardness, strength and impact strength.

CELLULOSE PROPIONATE AND CELLULOSE ACETOBUTYRATE. Both of these substances are formed by replacing acetic acid and acetic anhydride with the corresponding acids and anhydrides. Esters are fused with a plasticizer under conditions of high temperature and high pressure to produce homogeneous melts that are molded into rods and granules. Cellulose propionate and acetobutyrate are also available in powder form. They are more expensive than cellulose acetate, but they have increased strength and are more stable, since they are characterized by lower water absorption. In addition to writing utensils, cellulose propionate is often used to make blister packs (plastic, thermoformed rigid film) and molded containers, car parts such as steering wheels, lighting fixtures, and toys.

Firms are currently producing wide range of colored plastics using nitrocellulose and cellulose acetate; eyeglass frames, fashion accessories, etc. are usually made from these materials. latest technology allows these materials to be produced in thicker sheets, allowing fountain pen makers to use them in writing utensils.

METALS

Pure metals, as a rule, due to their mechanical properties, are unsuitable for use in production processes. On the other hand, it is possible to produce metal alloys having properties that make them suitable. An alloy is a material with metallic properties that contains more than one component. Alloys can have complex compositions, and two alloys with the same chemical composition can have very different properties when subjected to various types heat treatment.

The alloys that are most commonly used in the manufacture of fountain pens are made from brass, steel, nickel, silver and gold. Metals have a significant advantage over other materials used in the manufacture of fountain pens, since the crystallographic structure of most commonly used alloys provides highly desirable mechanical properties such as hardness, elasticity and ductility. This allows a variety of hot and cold working methods to be used to produce pen components that are easy to shape. In addition to versatility in use, metal alloys have a pleasant appearance. In addition, the use of coatings enables fountain pen makers to produce a wide range of durable and beautiful writing instruments to suit individual requirements.

Metal parts can be produced using a number of technological processes - rolling, forging, extrusion; relatively easy deformability makes metals particularly suitable for high-performance, mass and high-precision machining. Special technological processes allow you to get parts of a shape that is close to the specified one. Mechanical restoration commonly used for the manufacture of precious metal components, while injection molding is mainly used for the manufacture of base metal parts. In addition, the parts can be made either from the material alone or from material with additional coatings, such as gold and silver plating, which increase corrosion resistance and improve appearance.

Metals have a wider range of properties than any other class construction materials such as polymers and wood. For example, hard steels have a tensile strength of over 250 t/sq. inch at room temperature. Melting points can range from -39 deg.c. for mercury up to 3410 gr.ts for tungsten. Stainless alloys are resistant to most chemicals except the strongest acids, while gold, platinum and related metals can only be corroded by chemicals in exceptional circumstances. The ability of metal nibs to resist atmospheric corrosion, as well as the effects of a wide variety of inks, is extremely important to fountain pen manufacturers.

Listed below are the metals that are commonly used to make fountain pens. In the very general view they are divided into two categories: base and noble metals. Precious metal parts are corrosion resistant under normal operating conditions, but are particularly expensive.

BASE METALS

STAINLESS STEEL. The most common composition is 74% iron, 18% nickel and 8% chromium. It is used to make most structural elements. This material is hard, sufficiently ductile, and lends itself well to such types of processing as cold rolling, drawing, stamping and swaging. Stainless steel has high resistance to atmospheric corrosion; you can process it to obtain an attractive-looking surface - matte, rough or polished to a mirror finish. It is also possible to apply a thin electroplated nickel plating and a shiny chrome plating on top of it. Due to its hardness and corrosion resistance, stainless steel is used to make barrels, lids, and fountain pen nibs.

BRASS. The term "brass" refers to an extensive family of alloys based on the use various options copper-zinc systems and often containing other metal additives that give the alloys specific properties. The most common compositions are: 60% copper and 40% zinc; 63% copper and 37% zinc; 709% copper and 30% zinc. These compositions combine adequate mechanical properties, ease of manufacture and resistance to corrosion.

Coating the surface of the above alloys with noble metals can be carried out using a rolling process. For example, if gold is used, karat gold sheets can be attached to a bar of backing material (of the above composition) using a roller-fed press under high temperature and high pressure conditions. The thickness and carat weight of the gold layer are adjustable depending on technical requirements. For example, if the weight is required to be 1/10 of 12 carats, 12K gold is used and the thickness of the plating is adjusted so that the weight of the gold layer is 1/9 of the weight of the substrate material.

The finished bar is rolled on a rolling mill to reduce its thickness. Intermediate annealing operations are performed at this stage to facilitate the hardening process of the coating. Finish rolling is carried out on mirror-polished rollers. The thickness ratio of the gold plating and the substrate material remains unchanged during the rolling operations.

TITANIUM. This metal is relatively light, its specific gravity is only 50% of the specific gravity of brass or of stainless steel however, it has an extremely high resistance to corrosion. The use of titanium was considered by several fountain pen manufacturers, but they had to face production problems, mainly due to the hardness of titanium. It is believed that titanium parts of fountain pens can be made from extruded tubular blanks, and titanium alloys of various compositions have been tested. The Parker Titanium TI fountain pen was produced for only one year (1970) due to the difficulty of processing titanium. Now, using more advanced technology, some manufacturers, including Aurora, Faber-Castell, Lamy, Montblanc and Omas, are producing all-titanium fountain pens.

ALUMINUM. Pure aluminum is a soft metal that cannot withstand pressure and therefore easily deforms. In addition, aluminum is not hard enough to withstand the rough handling that most writing utensils undergo. However, it is used for the manufacture of parts that are not subject to regular wear. By fusing aluminum with other metals, a number of materials can be obtained that retain their common characteristics of lightness and durability, but also have other higher characteristics: increased tensile strength and hardness, as well as improved machinability.

PRECIOUS METALS

SILVER. Typically, 925 sterling silver is used in silver alloys, the rest is alloying elements: copper, nickel or zinc, which serve as strengthening elements. In the past, low-carat silver (800) was used, but this practice is over. In its pure form, silver is used only in those cases when it is applied galvanically to a metal substrate. Pure silver is widely used for coating metal substrates due to its excellent optical reflectivity, which gives the product an attractive appearance. Alloys of silver and palladium have been used to make nibs, but they are not true substitutes for gold. Silver polishes very well, but can darken in atmospheres containing sulfur compounds.

Sterling silver is used to make solid silver parts, including cases and lids. important characteristic feature silver is that its surface can be engraved using the "guilloche" technique. Many manufacturers produce fountain pens made entirely of sterling silver. Such pens are not only more beautiful than silver-plated, but will also rise in price over time.

GOLD. This oldest precious metal known to man is easily recognizable by its characteristic yellow color and extremely high density. The softness of pure gold makes it unsuitable as a material for the manufacture of products. Gold can be made harder by adding alloying elements such as copper, nickel, silver or zinc. Changes in the concentration of individual metals in the ligature alloy affect the appearance and characteristics of gold. For example, the color of 18 carat gold ranges from light yellow to pink to red, depending on the alloying additions. All gold alloys have extremely high resistance to water and atmospheric corrosion; that's why they almost never fade.

There are three main types of industrial alloys used in the manufacture of fountain pens:

Gold 9K (375 parts of pure gold per 1000 parts of the alloy). This is the hardest alloy of gold, it is also the cheapest.

Gold 14K (585 parts of pure gold per 1000). This is a mid-range alloy with limited use in most of continental Europe, but widespread use in the UK and North America. Most gold nibs are made from 14K gold.

Gold 18K (750 parts per 1000). Although it is softer than both of the above alloys, it is still hard enough to be used in the manufacture of solid gold fountain pens and nibs. European manufacturers produce fountain pens and nibs from 14K gold for export, however, in the member countries of the European Union, 18K gold alloy predominates.

White gold is an alloy in which the ligatures are mainly silver and palladium, along with a few other minor additions. White gold is usually produced in the 18K version, but is used very sparingly in industry.

GOLD PLATES. Most manufacturers exploit the unique properties of gold, even if the precious metal is only present as a coating on the underlying metal. This coating can be applied using two different processes: the first is by using the rolling process mentioned above, the second is by electroplating: the part is immersed in a special gold-containing solution through which an electric current is passed. Gold or a pre-prepared alloy with a high gold content is deposited on the surface of the part that serves as the electrode. For electroplating, gold alloys of 18 or 23.5 carats are usually used. The parts of the body of a fountain pen can be plated using both methods, but the holders are usually plated using electroplating.

OTHER PRECIOUS METALS. Of the noble metals used to make fountain pens, the group that includes platinum, rhodium, iridium, osmium and palladium share the same physical, mechanical and chemical properties. All these metals are white in color, have a high melting point and are extremely resistant to corrosion.

In its pure form, platinum is soft, but hardens quickly with the addition of a small amount of alloying additives, and for the manufacture of products it is used in the form of an alloy with a content of 950 parts per 1000. Since platinum is the most expensive of all precious metals used in jewelry, in including feathers, it is used very sparingly. The metal is used to make the most prestigious nibs; in this case, the pen becomes two-colored. One of best examples- the famous nib of the Montblanc Masterpiece 149 fountain pen. Several manufacturers, including Montblanc, make nibs from pure platinum, but these nibs are especially expensive.

Rhodium and palladium are used as electrolytic coatings. They are stronger than silver coatings.

Of all the metals known today, which have the highest density and hardness, osmium and palladium are mainly used to make balls, which are then welded onto the tip of a noble metal pen, cut along the split line and ground. The strength of these metals makes the feathers exceptionally durable.

WOOD

About 70,000 different tree species are known, of which about 400 are commercially available. These breeds are generally used in their country of origin, although some are exported to industrialized countries throughout the world.

The degree of hardness varies from species to species, and hardwoods are generally considered to produce harder wood than, for example, softwoods. The color of wood mainly depends on the content of extractive substances, and the wood of some species turns pale in the light; and the wood of others, on the contrary, darkens, but most types of wood acquire more juicy colors when polishing.

The natural pattern in the cuts of wood is called texture; it is due to the interaction of such natural factors as the presence of pigments, stripes and speckles, the difference in density between the cells of early and late wood, the direction of the wood fibers, as well as the nature of the arrangement of growth rings. There are eight main types of fiber direction in relation to the axis of the trunk, of which the most common are straight-grained, in which the fibers are directed parallel to the axis of the trunk (maple, ebony) and tangled, in which the fibers are arranged randomly (erica tree).

The ability of wood cells to reflect light gives a polished surface a sheen, and dense wood with a fine structure shines brighter than wood with a rough structure.

In order to determine the strength and durability of wood species intended for a particular purpose, it is necessary to know what some of its mechanical properties are, including flexural strength, stiffness or modulus of elasticity, impact strength (the ability to absorb energy under impact load). Drying of wood is extremely important because it affects the behavior of wood in use, and most types of wood are dried until the moisture content is reduced to 12% by weight. Specific gravity wood is defined as the ratio of mass to volume; It is customary to compare the specific gravity of a substance with the specific gravity of water, equal to 1.0. Thus, the specific gravity of any wood gives a clear idea of its mass, if the volume is known.

When choosing wood for the manufacture of fountain pens, one should take into account not only the color and surface pattern, but also the deformability of the wood when using a fountain pen in various conditions temperature and humidity. The surface must not crack. After curing, the wood is sawn into small bars, which usually have a square cross section. These bars are then machined on a lathe into the desired shape and size. In many cases, metal or other inserts are placed in the barrel and lid of a fountain pen. Since wood is porous, surface coating is necessary not only to reduce moisture absorption (especially ink), but also to preserve the natural beauty of the wood.

The following is a short list of the wood species most commonly used by leading fountain pen manufacturers.

Ebony (ebony). The wood is hard, the color is from dark brown to black, the arrangement of the fibers is mostly straight-grained, the texture is fine, uniform in color and pattern. The wood is extremely heavy and dense (specific gravity 1.09). It is difficult to dry and difficult to process, but it polishes beautifully. An excellent example of an ebony fountain pen is the OMAS 360 Wood.

Maple. The color of the wood ranges from cream to pinkish brown. The wood is usually straight-grained, the texture is fine, uniform in color and pattern. The specific gravity is 0.69. Maple wood dries slowly, the degree of deformability is medium. A typical example of a fountain pen made from Japanese maple is the Pilot FK Balanced model.

Olive. The color of this wood is from pale brown to brown, the arrangement of the fibers is spiral. Wood has a fine texture, uniform in color and pattern. It is quite heavy (specific gravity 0.89), dries slowly, with a tendency to shrinkage cracking and splitting. The wood can be stained and polished, but deformation can occur when using a fountain pen. An excellent example of an olive fountain pen is Waterman's Man 100.

snake tree. This is a South American tree from the genus Brosimum alicestrum; in the UK it is called the letter tree, and in the US it is called the leopard or variegated tree. The color of the wood is red-brown with black spots or vertical stripes. The wood is very hard, strong and heavy (specific gravity 1.30). It is difficult to air dry and has a tendency to warp. Although the wood is difficult to work with, it can be polished to a high gloss with a very beautiful surface. The degree of deformability is medium. An excellent example of a snakewood fountain pen is the OMAS 360 Wood.

Rosewood. The color of the core of the trunk ranges from a solid bright red to a pattern of yellow, orange and red veins. The wood is hard and heavy (specific gravity 1.10). Dries very slowly, deformation is insignificant. The wood stains easily and can be polished to a very beautiful surface. Omas manufactures round and faceted fountain pens from this wood.

Guayacum. Guaiacum wood is one of the hardest and heaviest woods, with a specific gravity of 1.23. Color - from brown-greenish to almost black. The wood is oily; the degree of deformability is medium. It is possible to polish wood to obtain a very beautiful surface. The Omas fountain pen collection, made from exotic woods in 1995, contains a fountain pen made from this beautiful material.

Indian sandalwood. The color of the wood ranges from light yellow to golden brown and brick red. The wood has a characteristic odour. Its share is on average 0.66, depending on the country of origin. Wood dries rather slowly, but deforms very little. It can be dyed and polishes beautifully. The Omas collection of fountain pens, launched in 1995, includes a copy made of sandalwood.

Erica tree. This wood is most commonly used for making fountain pens. It is extremely hard, resistant to heat and scratches. Unlike the above types of wood, which are found in the above-ground parts of trees, the wood of Erica arborescens, used to make fountain pens (and many other products), is underground. The color ranges from white with a yellowish or grayish tinge to shades of brown and purple. The wood dries very slowly, but it stains well and polishes excellently. Waterman, Sailor, Platinum, and Omas are among the manufacturers of erica arborescens fountain pens.

LAC

Although most lacquered writing instruments are made using what is called synthetic lacquer, there is a much more valuable, perfect and even finish obtained from Chinese lacquer. This varnish is a tree sap, which has one feature: it hardens when it comes into contact with air and forms a perfectly smooth surface. The raw material is obtained from the juice of three varieties of trees growing in East Asia: sumac lacquer Rhus verniciflua (Japan), sumac successive Rhus succedanea (China) and lacquer tree Melossorreha lappifera (Kampuchea). When the lacquer tree reaches the age of 8 - 12 years, its juice is collected in jugs suspended under thin cuts in the bark. The properties of the lacquer depend on climatic conditions and especially on the monsoon period. If the sap is harvested in years with heavy rainfall, the lacquer will be elastic, and if the sap is harvested during relatively dry periods, the lacquer will be hard, even brittle. A soft varnish will not be strong enough to be used in the manufacture of fountain pens, and a brittle material is not easily polished, and any blow leaves noticeable marks on its surface.

That is why it is very important to apply methods that allow mixing different varnishes and ensure optimal viscosity. The two main components of lacquer are the resin, which gives elasticity, and urushiol, the active ingredient that gives the lacquer its hardness. Urushiol is a common generic name that also applies to cyciole and laccol, depending on the type of tree from which the sap is obtained.

In order to create a surface in the manufacture of fountain pens best quality, the varnish should be applied in several layers, under strictly controlled parameters of the surrounding air - temperature and humidity, while each layer hardens. (Like wine, varnish is a living and unpredictable creature, and sometimes the mixture does not work out well)

To overcome these difficulties, it is very important to know exactly optimal conditions for each type of varnish. For example, varnish from East Asia dries only at relatively high humidity (75-80%) and at a temperature of 25-30 degrees centigrade. Nowadays, firms such as S.T. Dupont have developed a method for controlling temperature and humidity. (Not so long ago, working with varnish could cause an allergic reaction, but this problem has been solved).

Asian lacquers usually work with wood. There is a natural affinity between lacquer and wood, since both belong to the same family of organic substances, but it is much more difficult to make lacquer adhere to metal. The details of the process of preparing raw materials as well as applying varnish are usually shrouded in something of a mystery, because this process includes not only a deep knowledge of the ancient secrets of the craft, but also the master varnisher's constant search for new varnish recipes and original finishes.

SOURCES OF RAW MATERIALS AND PREPARATION OF VARNISH

The varnish used by S.T. Dupont, assembled in China, then, after primary processing in Japan, the varnish is sent to wooden barrels to France, where upon arrival it is subjected to a quality check. Using a brush made of the finest hair and attached to a strip of bamboo, the craftsman applies a small amount of lacquer to the glass plate. Two hours later, he already knows exactly what the quality of the delivered varnish is.

The successive stages of varnish preparation have magical names: the process of "nayasi" - the evaporation of moisture to obtain a raw varnish, which is used in primers; The Kurume process is a pure lacquer used to fill pores and finish surfaces.

The first mixture is prepared by hand with a spatula in an earthenware vessel, in much the same way as the most famous perfumes are made: the master does not know the exact general formula, he just knows the exact quantities of several components of the coating that he must mix. These are the pigments that give the varnish its unique colors: "blue of the midnight sky", "light tortoise shell", "coromandel red", etc.

The varnish is then filtered through a piece of gauze suspended from a wooden frame and two strings. Filtration is done by alternately twisting and unwinding the laces so that the gauze is compressed. The filtered lacquer drips very slowly, drop by drop, into an earthenware vessel, which is immediately sealed with greased damp paper. Every day, the varnish prepared the day before is filtered, and each vessel acquires its own pedigree in the form of a label, which indicates the mixing number, weight and date. After that, the varnishes are ready to be sent to the workshop, where the air is conditioned and dedusted.

APPLICATION OF VARNISH

Traditionally, varnish was applied exclusively with a brush. After hardening, each layer was manually polished for a long time using various fine abrasives, such as charcoal. Some decorations, such as gold dust, must be applied with a spatula or brush, following the aventurine powder technique used in Japan in the late 19th century.

Even though techniques have been greatly improved since then, applying varnish to a fountain pen still requires a great deal of skill. The lid or body, made of brass, is mounted on a rod that rotates over a metal plate. The craftsman must have great experience to add the required amount of varnish, which he then evenly distributes over the entire surface of the fountain pen when the brass comes into contact with the record. The layer thickness is about 70 microns (0.07 mm). The process is repeated several times, and, depending on the desired pattern, up to six layers of varnish are applied.

When applying each layer of coating, the varnish hardens as a result of natural polymerization (that is, changes chemical composition varnish: the molecules close together and form a strong three-dimensional structure). In order for the process to proceed normally, such parameters of the microclimate of the room as the oxygen content in the air, temperature and humidity are regulated. When the varnish layer hardens, the finished product is extremely carefully polished.

There is a wide variety of finishes, including solid colors, patterns using various colors and even exquisite ornaments with the addition of gold dust. Perhaps one of the most attractive patterns is the so-called "eggshell". Firm S.T. Dupont is probably the only fountain pen manufacturer in the West that has mastered this technique.

The varnish has a natural amber color and usually does not require the addition of white pigments. The smallest particles of eggshell are placed by hand on the first layer of varnish, then a coating is applied to final finishing. With subsequent polishing, the eggshell becomes visible again. This particular method was invented in France in the 1920s. Jean Dunand, the first famous French lacquer. His student George Novosilleff became the first lacquer to work for S.T. dupont.

(the article uses materials from the book by Andreas Lambrou "Fountain pens of the world")

A wooden ball can be used for various fun and serious things. This is both a toy for children and the basis for a massager for adults and children. And a large wooden ball, which can be made from a rather large chock, is a ready-made massager.

It can be put on a soft surface, for example, on a carpet, and rolling on it with your back, knead the joints, giving the blood the opportunity to roam again in the adjacent vessels. After manufacturing, a wooden ball can be treated with special compounds, mordants, varnish, etc. to give a noble look. Such a thing will look interesting on your table if you make a stand under it so that the ball does not roll down. A large ball as an element of decor can be placed on the floor, also with a stand, hung it, etc.

How to make a ball from a wooden blank?

This video shows several ways to do this in each case from roughing to .

How to bore a wooden ball with a special device

Comments
Ivan Baev
A year ago
Thank you, Grisha, for the double positive. Great music. accompaniment and accommodation. While I was looking at her work, there was a whole swarm of thoughts in my head about how I would do myself. It's a pity the video is short, I didn't have time to think it through.

Vyacheslav Bashmakov
A year ago
Grisha, great! Golden hands, though beaten. I really enjoyed watching the video. Let the young people learn how to make real videos, otherwise their “boom-boom” is sick of them. If you don’t understand shit about music, then do it without it.
Leonid Pustovoitov
A year ago
Grigory, everything is great, practically of high quality and a very interesting adaptation. And you can find out how to make one, I will be grateful for your help. Thank you in advance.