Pen Machining

• Deep drilling in challenging materials.  1/4in by 4.5in deep hole in 6AL4V Ti and 17-4ph SS 

• Single point threading with only the cross-slide

• That plastic pen cartridges aren't held to the tightest of tolerances.

• Performance of tool coatings.  I bought coated drill bits and inserts specifically for this project

I made two simple metal pen bodies as a fun lathe project along with the fact that the plastic bodies of the G2 pens that I like to use kept breaking.  I made the first body of 17-4 which was fun to work with and learn about.  Its fascinating to me that it behaves almost exactly opposite to a tool steel like A2 when heat treating.  I found the 17-4 to be a bit heavy, so made the second version out of 6Al4V titanium and it was quite a pain to drill the hole through the body.  I used a special coated CNMG insert specifically for titanium though and it turned surprisingly really well.