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








Thursday, 4 July 2013

'Double-Taper' Style Fountain Pen in Amboyna Burl with Glossy CA Finish and 18K Fine nib

Finally, found some more time in the shop and got to finish part two of a the pen order I mentioned in my last entry.  This one was to be fashioned out of a piece of exotic wood - best of all, the choice of wood was left to me :-))



I chose to make this one out of one of my favourite of all woods, amboyna burl.  Wonderfully intricate figuring and warmly coloured, it is a truly lovely wood to look at.  The bonus for me is that it smells great while turning it.

The shape that was specified was my 'Double-Taper' style, with its matching midsection diameters but  shorter and slightly wider cap.   The finish that was requested was the high-gloss cyanoacrylate finish.  The burl wood was first sealed inside and out with thin CA before applying and polishing the outer coat.



The nib section, as well as the threaded parts inside the cap and barrel were all fashioned out of black acrylic.  The nib is a fine 18K JoWo nib, to be smoothed and tuned prior to transport.  The fill system is no surprise, cartridge/converter.



I am once again struck by just how involved a process it is doing these wood pens with the resin thread inserts - quite a lengthy project!

Here is one final pic of the two pens together.  Now, to do the nib work and get them shipped to their new owner...



Thanks for looking!

Ken

4 comments:

  1. These pens were made for me and I have just received them from my wife for my birthday. I have inked the Ruby Red Acrylic (Delicious colour) and the gold fine nib writes easily and with smooth flow. I am a leftie so the fine nibs seem to work better for me. Balance of the pen is good and the overall feel is of wonderful quality.
    I am very pleased!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks so much for the kind assessment - am very happy that you like them!

    ReplyDelete