Pen Number 8

[irtuk]

Here's number 8 in my journey of lockdown learning a new hobby.

This is in Ice Kirinite, Bock number 6 rose gold nib ( I bought 5 to start with so they are all going to be like this until a new order comes in! )

Its the first time I have attempted to fit some "furniture" to a pen, making these bands out of some wire I had lying about in the garage. I still don't know how I am going to do a clip, think I have the basics but I am going to have to get better with consistency.

Problems during the build ... Cap not deep enough resulting in a bent nib, too many threads on the barrel, not sure how I am fixing that in future, section exploded on lathe after a nasty catch with a gouge.

Other than that. pretty happy. this is a gift for my wife and I will be making a copy of it for a colleague.





-Ed.

 

[fortress]

Very unique Ed, well done on that build, looks good.

 

[Pierre]

Hi Ed I have watched from No 6 and for that many in so short a time I am envious of your skills; your manufacturing skills that is, in that you are beyond me.

However, this pen has for me a couple of elements that don't sit right, first the finish is still showing the sanding marks and this particular pen is very chunky in its fit of the cap to the main body. Now having been the butt of some very nasty criticism on another forum, I am conscious of criticism from me so all I would say that it is my personal opinion and is not meant in anyway to denigrate your capabilities which are obviously very skillful. I believe that if you put as much effort into the finish as you obviously do into the technical creation, you have the capability of becoming a serious competitor in the kit less pen making business where people get original bespoke pens and are prepared to pay the real rate for them, I am talking about competition with Mont Blanc at similar pricing, remember they are only good because of their marketing and consistency in finish but they make a lot of the same, but if a person has a 'one off' it adds kudos to their portfolio of originality.

I look forward to no's 9-500 and I learn from your conversations about drilling and threading etc one day I might take a chance and try, scary isn't it?

 

[Bill Mooney]

Well done Ed. A pen your wife will treasure I’m sure.

 

[Penpal]

Happy wife happy is the day long Ed.Continue being adventurist in pens,cheers.

Peter.

 

[irtuk]

Thanks for the feedback Pierre, and everyone to be honest.

Personally I don't much like the colour, I would not have picked it. I have a red and a sky-blue to do for my daughters next, neither of which I particularly like!

So the shape and the form at the moment is being largely dictated by which taps and dies I have confidence in. The barrel tenon is turned to 15.95mm to take an M16 die, threaded then drilled with a 15/32 drill ( 11.9mm ) to take an M12 tap.

The back of the section is turned to 11.85 then threaded with an M12 die. IF I had the confidence to turn that to M10, which to this point has never succeeded, then I could use an M14 thread to take the cap and I would have a slimmer pen but my M10 die however is from a cheap set off Amazon that I regret buying, the M12, M14 and M16's are from Beaufort and are in another league

The cap finally is drilled with a 25/64th's drill 55mm into 58mm of material. All of these measurements are "or thereabouts" but I am slowly getting better!

The cap and body are a little thick, in terms of material, I think its about a millimetre which, as I have taken up turning I am beginning to realise is "a lot" I could have tapered that cap down a bit and made it a bit more refined. I think I was running out of patience with it after busting a couple of nibs.

Thats actually the reason for the band on the body, I had to take some threads off the barrel to stop the cap crushing the nib and as an afterthought I bunged a ring on it for the cap to meet when it was screwed down.

You might be able to make out the ghost of a removed thread just above the ring!

As for sanding I can guarantee there are no sanding marks on it, I wet sand from 230 to 1200 then micromesh from 1500 to 12k however the material does look very much like there have been some gouges out of it that have been lacquered over, here's some extra close pics with my super macro lens:






This one looks particularly like a gouge




I think its just the nature of the material, I didn't much take to it to be honest but I will see where I am after two more.

Seriously though, thanks for the honest input, I am here to learn and I aspire to make some pretty good stuff and I am not going to get there without honest feedback so, its all welcome all the time.

-Ed,.

 

[irtuk]

actually ... are those sanding marks I can see in pic 3 ?

 

[ValleyBoy]

I think it's very creative to use stuff you've got lying around in this way.

For info I wouldn't consider a millimetre to be a thick wall for a pen at all. For the barrel in many ways the thicker the better as it gives you more options for shaping the outside and you can't really see the thickness. Very few people would be able to feel the difference as these resins are generally so lightweight. For the cap then its different as the opening is visible but anything much less than 0.75-1mm thick can, in my humble opinion, look a bit fragile and prone to chipping.

Cheers
Ash

 

[wm460]

Great looking pen Ed.