Some kitless resources

[mChavez]

Hi All,

As I'm spending some time researching kitless pen making, and I've come across a few links that I found particularly useful. A forum search only brought up a couple old threads with many dead links, so I thought I'd start a new one.

So far I found:
Excellent intro from Beaufort:

Beaufort Ink - An introduction to custom pen making

An introduction to custom pen making

www.beaufortink.co.uk

Crafting a kitless pen with simple tools:

Crafting a Kitless Ebonite Rollerball Pen with Simple Tools

Learn how to make a kitless rollerball pen from Ebonite using basic tools. Affordable, straightforward steps for DIY enthusiasts. Perfect for beginners!

woodworkersinstitute.com

An article on cap rings.
https://newtonpens.com/cap-rings-and-how-theyre-put-together/

IAP kitless write-up

http://content.penturners.org/library/pens/kitless_pen.pdf

Den's Pens article on making the section (there's also other articles on the website)

Making the Section

Safety guidelines: Got long hair? Tie it back. Long sleeves? pull them up and secure them. Rings, other jewelry? Take them off, wedding bands too. Goggles over your eyes? Good, if not, get them. Go…

denspens.co.uk

IAP article on using powerpoint to draft plans, including some very useful technical drawings. Unfortunately, in thou instead of mm, so all values will need to be converted. The SK88 clicker project should be quite a good starter, imho, and i believe M7x0.75 is a staple in any metric general purpose tap & die kit.

Using PowerPoint for Kitless Pen Design

I wrote up this article to show how I have been using PowerPoint to develop Kitless Pen Designs over the last couple weeks. As a former draftsman of 10 years and an Engineer for 25 it at first seem a major step backwards from my training. However, PowerPoint is what I had on my computer and I...

www.penturners.org

file:///home/zoidberg/Downloads/PowerPoint%20Drafting-1.pdf
Note: Personally, I'm not convinced that PPT is a good technical drawing tool. I prefer Inkscape: free vector graphics editor.

Still quite a few questions in my head:
Is there anything else that's a must read before I go butchering acryllic blanks?
Is there a repository of threads used for various nibs, clic mechs, inserts (cross, different pencil mechs)?
A good repository of what drills/reamers to use for threads common in penmaking?

Hopefully this list will be useful so other newbies, and I hope others can contribute to it.

 

[mChavez]

And I've posted a link to my hard drive instead of IAP for the powerpoint article

Here's the correct one:

https://www.penturners.org/attachments/powerpoint-drafting-pdf.237934/

An inspiration from this forum and a great idea:
Hybrid blanks! Let the resin handle the threads, and get the natural look without sleeving!
Perhaps, more experienced members can advise: is resin good at holding the threads in the long term? Are these blanks sold specifically for kitless pens, so you get enough resin to position the threads on it?

Kitless journey - Pen 3 - Elm Hybrid

Overall I'm happy with this one and I didn't waste any material. The challenge for me with this one was using an Elm hybrid blank (1.5 blanks actually). It's not perfect and has a couple of problems. 1. I could not get a good polish on the section. Its Alumilite. it took a thread well and the...

penturners.co.uk

Also, a question to experienced pen makers: I do not see any mention of reamers being used in penmaking - folks seem to use drill bits of varying sizes. If I was making a tube with multiple internal diameters, my kneejerk reaction would be to drill the center hole and then ream the steps into it instead of drilling. Is there a particular benefit in using drill bits vs reamers here?