My Latest Custom Pen - Solution for the Fountain-Impaired

[Gregory Hardy]

My wife is new to the world of fountain pens, so there has been a steep learning curve over the past months. So much to do – fill, clean and refill, adjust one’s grasp and even change the attack on the paper – there’s a lot to learn. Compounding this, she struggled to fill from a bottle with converter on the back end of the section. (I think she was afraid the converter was going to come off mid-stream, and to her credit, she didn’t give in to the temptation to use only cartridges.) I made this pen such that there is a removable cap on the end of the pen barrel in the spirit of the old Parker button-fillers. She now can hold the pen body securely while filling and all is well. The pen still comes apart for cleaning, and the parts are then accessible for repair or exchange by the end user.

This one has a Bock #5 nib and housing and nickel clip (both from Beaufort). The main barrel of the body is a McKenzie DiamondCast “Emerald City.” The blank for the section, cap, and both finials are also by Tim – “Emerald Green.” Thanks for looking!

(The final photo taken outside was my not-so-successful attempt to show the sparkle in Tim's blanks!)

 

[Bill Mooney]

Well done Gregory. A very successful mission.

 

[Penpal]

Shaken but not stirred here we have a beaut pen on the rocks. By this I mean this is a substantial pen deserving attention. The cap thread is one of the longest so it would not unwind in the pocket. Greg you maintained a high level of finish on this one to your credit.
On the rocks or in hand the pen is a ripper.

Peter.

 

[Gregory Hardy]

Shaken but not stirred here we have a beaut pen on the rocks. By this I mean this is a substantial pen deserving attention. The cap thread is one of the longest so it would not unwind in the pocket. Greg you maintained a high level of finish on this one to your credit.
On the rocks or in hand the pen is a ripper.

Peter.

Uh...wow....

You know...Peter, my friend - you are a tough critic. (Sometimes you are even a little short with your comments!) I started reading your post and then was starting to swallow my stomach. ("Oh, damn - he's going to rip this one apart.")

And then I finished reading.

And read twice more (and then a third time aloud to Carlene).

Thank you, sir, for the words. It's been a really bad day at work, and the place I come to hide for peace - the place where I make pens - just got better. Making the "good ones" that make writing better is everything to me. I hope I am on to something with this one or the three on the bench. Thanks again, Peter (and all).

 

[Terry Q]

That is a sweet looking pen.

 

[Penpal]

Greg every pen I view affects me some more than others,I noticed too lately I have been more frank and earnest. Decided if I have a negative comment I will divide it from the overall.

Kind regards Peter.

 

[Gregory Hardy]

Greg every pen I view affects me some more than others,I noticed too lately I have been more frank and earnest. Decided if I have a negative comment I will divide it from the overall.

Kind regards Peter.

I think I need to learn from that wisdom myself! I am thankful for the positive nature of this forum in general. Seeing the work that men and women around the planet are doing and learning from it really makes for a nice escape from the daily grind. Thanks again for the positive feedback, Peter.

 

[AllenN]

Gregory that is a beautiful piece of work, so much more personal than a kit. I am very impressed.

 

[wm460]

That is a beauty Greg, well done.

 

[Les ELm]

Very nicely done.

Les

 

[xjr1300]

Very nice Greg, well done

 

[Phil Dart]

Love the concept Greg, and the execution of course. A great looking pen.

 

[Gregory Hardy]

Thank you, gents. This was a really fun pen to make...solving a problem for the end user ("fountain impaired" or not!) is always a good brain exercise. New Major Problem: This might have been my last Bock nib. I got so damned excited that I forgot to plan for "the next problem!" Thanks again, guys. The encouragement paves the road to the next project, right?

 

[Penpal]

Wait until Carlene gets the inevitable smudge or droplet of ink on her best dress mate,fountains are beaut to write with but like all good things require constant care and maintenance. All worthwhile IMHO restoring the quality of writing and control as you mentioned. Lucky lady to get such a neat pen.In our house if it is typical the search is always on to find a pen in a hurry using telephones that are satelite in the sense they use no cords. Wilma my wife sends cards to our family twice a year ie 75 immediate and shares with another woman cards to all the female members of our church. Invariably I find one two or more at my slot in the breakfast table to be signed Papa or Dad,we have 50 GC and GGC included. Every fortnight I pick up one or two giveaway pens from our Credit Union,they are everywhere now and a great source of springs that sit on the refills.

Peter.

 

[wm460]

This pen makes me want to go out to the shed to my lathe, but the wife said we are going out to tea.

 

[Penpal]

Mark in our early years of marriage I had to travel a lot for Civil Aviation after one trip home at last just in time for food. Came 9 pm and I tactfully said I,m hungry the Chef said I asked you if you had tea so we established a new family rule breakfast lunch and dinner doing away with my birth family names for meals as Sth Australian born. Never lost a meal since. Lesson learned in keeping with where we live.

Peter.

 

[Gregory Hardy]

Ho-hum. I am crestfallen.

Epilogue to the Thread
As it turns out, Carlene was not aware that I had all of the lovely Beaufort Ink colors in cartridges. (Perhaps it "turns out that way" because I intentionally did not tell her. I thought it was high time she learned to fill her own damned pen, but I digress.)

I made another fountain pen for her for Mother's Day - that's tomorrow on this side of the ocean - and she discovered it on my bench whilst I was working on another project. She didn't need one. I just made it because she deserves as many pens as she would like to have and...well...I am just a very sweet husband. She is the mother of my three sons, and she is very good to my own mother, and I make pens for her. It's what I do.

But now she has spotted the pen. No hiding it, so the conversation ensued...
C: "This pen is adorable!"
G: "Happy Mother's Day." [grumble, grumble]
C: "That really is cute, but it's so small!" (No the first time I have heard that from her but - again - I digress.)
G: "I made it to use only cartridges - Bock chrome nib and section - easy to carry and no fuss or bother."
C: "Too bad I can't use the Beaufort Roasted Red in this one..."

[Silence]

[Damn...I am in so much trouble right now. Pray for me, my brothers.]

The rest of the conversation included language not commonly used by the Jewel-Without-A-Flaw-To-Whom-I-Am-Married, She Who Is Without Fault. Suffice to say that she is aware of the entire Beaufort Ink inventory at our house now.

Short version: I suspect that the pen about which I started this thread (you remember - there was a pen at the front end of this thread) will likely find its way out of Her Most Royal Majesty's possession and onto the table at the next show.

Moral of the Story: No good deed goes unpunished, my friends.