WELCOME!

Welcome to my Custom Fountain Pen website/blog. I put this site together a while ago so that I could let some of my fellow pen enthusiasts and penmakers, as well as my customers, see what I have been up to lately in the workshop. I don't publish all of my pens here, but good percentage of them.

A Little About My Pens: I love doing fine work on the lathe, which is what got me into this work. That is, I enjoy the focus on the details of a project - the material and colour selection, the form, the fit and finish of the pen. I also test all of the my nibs before shipping. I fill the converter, run ink through the nib and feed, and write with it. I spend a significant amount of time smoothing and adjusting the nib of every pen that I sell. My goal, with each pen that I make, is to create a writing piece whose fit and finish will impress you when you first pull it out of the packing, and that will serve you well as a great writer when you fill it up with your favourite ink.

Have a look at my posts to see some of the work I am doing lately, or see my pricing guide in the link below to the right, or check the link to my current inventory of already-made pens (usually small, as most of my work is by commissions/orders).

Or, if you are interested, you can see some of the work I have done previously in my Custom Pen Gallery on Photobucket!

If you have a Twitter account, I am @drgoretex

If any of my posts generate particular interest, I will pin them as links on the right (eg 'Basic Nib Adjusting 101').

* ORDERS: Please contact me at kencavers@gmail.com to place an order.

* PRICES: Please see the link on the right side of the screen 'Pricing Guide' for an idea as to the cost of a pen.

* REVIEWS:
Have a look at the bottom of this page for some reviews done by previous buyers!

* HOW LONG WILL MY ORDER TAKE?:

IMPORTANT NOTICE: I am happily overwhelmed with pen orders. This gives me great joy in that my work is so well received, but saddens me that I cannot fill orders anywhere near as quickly as I would like. I am still trying to work through back orders, but if you have ordered from me and heard nothing for some time, feel free to email me and ask how things are going.
I still only make these pens in my spare time, when work and family time permit, and even then the productivity slows down during the coldest winter months thanks to my unheated workshop.
Given that I make these pens primarily as a hobby, I also reserve the right to pursue some other interesting pen projects in between filling orders.
I apologize for long delays in order fulfillment, which may in some case be over a year and a half. In the meantime, you are welcome to contact me to inquire about new pen orders, or to check up on a previously submitted order.

-Ken Cavers








Wednesday 3 April 2013

A World of Writing - The 'Earth Pen'



Here is a pen that I just finished last night.  This one was for a very special recipient - my wife.  When I got my last shipment of interesting pen blanks in from Bear Tooth Woods, she immediately picked this out and requested that, eventually, I make a pen for her out of it.

Well, I was really rather curious to see how this material would look turned, so after finishing another project, I pulled this stuff out and started working on a pen for the most important pen person in the world.



Like the resin used in the 'Van Gogh' pen, this one was somewhat more brittle than acrylic, but I found it to be quite a bit less so than the 'VanGogh'.  Not sure why - maybe just because the garage is a bit warmer now...  In any case, it was a pleasure to work with this time, and took to threading very nicely.



I decided to try 'framing' the blue and green resin with black ends and a black grip section, in order to accentuate the colour.  Once I finished polishing this pen and shut down the lathe, I was shocked at the rich, beautiful swirls of green and blue - and it immediately reminded my of pictures of the Earth from space.  So, I called this one 'The Earth Pen'.  It is actually made in a similar style to my previous 'Shirt Pocket Fountain Pen', though just a touch longer in the barrel, as my wife doesn't need to carry her pens in a shirt pocket.



Got it fixed up with a fine steel JoWo nib, and a nice ball-end clip, and a converter now full of Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue, smoothed and tuned the nib, and passed it on to its new owner.  And I believe the new owner likes it :-))

Thanks for looking.

Ken

8 comments:

  1. Another nice one! For writing placid thoughts.

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  2. Beautiful pen Ken! Would you be willing to share how you thread the pens, i.e., what tools you use specifically and tips? I really love the way they look with the acrylic going right into the threaded part. I've only used kits up to now but I've started making my own poly resin blanks.

    Thanks,
    Grant

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    Replies
    1. Hi Grant,

      Thanks very much! I would be happy to share some tips. Feel free to drop me an email (my email link is on the main page of this website), and I'll tell you what I can.

      Cheers,

      Ken

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  3. Hi,

    i would love to own this pen... how much it cost ?

    Kind Regards,
    Sami

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Sami! Please feel free to send me an email, and we can talk. My email address is on the main page on my website. :-)

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