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








Tuesday, 9 April 2013

'Earth' Micro Pocket Pen - Another New Design!


You know how when you mess something up, it can have unexpected consequences?  Well, that was what happened here.  I was turning one of my new 'Pocket Fountain Pens', when I absentmindedly turned the grip section about a half millimetre too narrow.  A half mm there can make a big difference, so I had a choice: scrap it and make a new one, or...nope. I didn't want to waste the material, so I decided to redesign the pen I was working on, and make a smaller one to hold a #5 JoWo nib that I had in stock.  But I decided that since I was doing something different anyway, maybe I would see what I can do with some cutoff pieces I had leftover from another project (The 'Earth' Pen, that I put up recently, using 'Ocean Lava' resin from Bear Tooth Woods).


So, in the spirit of ultra-portable mini-sized fountains pens like Stipula's Passaporto, or Kaweco's AL Sport, the 'Micro Pocket Pen' was born.  Like most other mini fountain pens, it is designed to take standard sized cartridges.  Also like other pens in this category, it is extremely compact when closed, but posts to a pretty decent and comfortable size for writing.  As well, the barrel to cap threading (on both ends of the barrel) is all triple-start, so the cap screws on with only a quarter or half twist - very convenient for repeated capping and uncapping...



The dimensions are 85mm (3 3/8") closed, which is a bit smaller than the Passaporto, and 119mm (4 11/16") posted, which is also just a  touch smaller than the posted Passaporto.   I have pictured it here with a Passaporto, a Kaweco, and a larger size Sailor 1911.  When the Micro Pocket Pen was posted, I found it to be quite comfortable for writing - despite my large hands - similar to the Passaporto, and to an unposted 1911 (I usually write with that pen unposted).


I'm reasonably happy with how this came out, considering that it is just a prototype.  I have had a number of requests for mini sized fountain pens, so chances are pretty good that I will be making more of these :-)

Thanks for looking!

Ken
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1 comment:

  1. Terry Murray9 April 2013 at 20:30

    This is fantastic! What a great inspiration to turn a "mistake" into a new line that I'm sure will be popular. I'd like to get one of these... when my piggy bank starts getting full again. Nice job! Always something new from l'Atelier Cavers!

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