# Makin' Money!



## rwyoung (Aug 3, 2008)

*Makin' Money! (with pictures for Harry)*

Got some acrylic blanks that are made with shredded US currency. 
Shredded Money Blanks - International Association of Penturners

And picked up a click style Gatsby (Wallstreet II) with copper fittings. Seems like a good match.

Attention Harry!!! :haha: This is for you! I bought a better digital camera (Nikon Coolpix L20) to document some consulting work things. Much better than the cruddy little one I was using and a whole lot more convenient than borrowing one from my day job.

Noticed that I forgot to take pictures of the pen-mill truing the ends of the blank. Nothing exotic, just chuck the mill and center guide back in the drill press and use the handscrew to hold the blank again. 

I didn't drag a tripod out to the garage so no pictures of the turning However it was all done with a 1" skew chisel. :yes4: As I got closer to the final size, I would stop and soak the blank with thin CA glue, rub it in a bit and hit it with accelerator. This is suggested by Bruce, the guy who sold me the blanks, as they are mostly paper. The CA soaks into the ends of the paper and stabilizes them a bit for further turning.

And right before getting to the final size at the bushings I pulled the whole thing off the mandrel and soaked the ends with CA. The bushings by the way, are waxed with a little dab of Johnson's Paste Wax so they don't get glued into the tube. :fie:

Wet sand 320, 400, 600, 800, 1500 (yea, I skipped a few, don't have any 1000 or 1200 but plenty of 1500 so extra time with that one). Once more during the 400 and again the 600 I stopped to soak down the blank with thin CA. The sanding leveled it just fine. Just to stiffen up the paper that clears the PR. Final polish was with the HUT plastic polish. I was using Brasso but I started to notice some fine scratches. The HUT polish is relatively cheap and now I don't see the scratches. Even tested it by re-polishing some that were done with Brasso and it removed the scratches. Soft cotton T-shirt material as the buffing rag.

Good fun! But remember to wear your respirator mask with the CA fumes!!!


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## dovetail_65 (Jan 22, 2008)

Pretty Cool!


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## curiousgeorge (Nov 6, 2006)

Nice one, Rob. Great job!


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## chippypah (Dec 24, 2007)

Fine looking pen Rob.
Cheers
Pete


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## Bob N (Oct 12, 2004)

Nice job on the pen and thanks for the great pictorial too!


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## Hamlin (Dec 25, 2005)

Excellent job Rob. :sold: If the weather ever straightens up, I'll get with ya about stopping in sometime.


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## BernieW (Sep 12, 2006)

Rob great looking pen. Well done.


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## rbragg08 (May 26, 2009)

Good looking pen! Do you have any issue with the CA glue distorting the black paint?


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Now you're firing on all cylinders Rob, a great result. Unfortunately I don't have your patience, for me it's two grades of paper then Brasso or a shellac based finish depending on the material, 15 to 20 minutes and I'm done!


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## xplorx4 (Dec 1, 2008)

Fine looking pen, mighty fine!!! :sold:


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## rwyoung (Aug 3, 2008)

rbragg08 said:


> Good looking pen! Do you have any issue with the CA glue distorting the black paint?


Nope. I think the key here is to allow the paint to cure overnight. I'd be more worried about scratching it with the edge of the tube or the accelerator. Some accelerators contain small amounts of solvent, usually the rapid CA accelerators. The mild accelerators contain much less and as I understand, mostly water.


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