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








Saturday 29 November 2014

Charger Lava Cigar Style Fountain Pen


Back to the basics - the Cigar style fountain pen.  When using a very colourful, interesting resign like this Charger Lava alumilite, the Cigar style is perfect for showing off the brilliant swirls and iridescence.



This pen is posing with a JoWo medium two-tone steel nib, which is about to be ground to a cool, smooth italic stub.  In other words, I get to play with this one for a bit longer before it ships out :-))

Thanks for looking!

Ken

Friday 21 November 2014

Orange Crush SPFP

 
Here's the latest to come off my bench - first time I have made this style of pen out of the Orange Crush acrylic.   One of the things that I notice about this acrylic is that it seems to have an even lower melting point than most other acrylics.  Not sure why, but wow - slow drilling here…




Turned out to be a fairly translucent material this time.  I think I might try polishing the inside of the cap and barrel the next time I use this stuff, see about making a 'semi-demonstrator' with it.

In any case, this cheerful little pen is fitted with a fine JoWo steel nib that I have ground to an EF, but in  an 'Architect' grind, allowing extra fine verticals, and fine to medium horizontals.  Adds a nice flair to the writing!

Thanks for looking!

Ken

Monday 10 November 2014

'Fall Foliage' Cigar Style Fountain Pen


Nothing like a good cigar   A good cigar style fountain pen, that is!  The great advantage of the Cigar style is that it very simple.  Sometimes, the simplicity of the shape is itself the focus of the pen - when using a uniform material with a single colour, the shape of the pen can speak volumes.   On the other hand, when using a very beautiful material, the simple shape of a Cigar style becomes the canvas, and the brilliant swirls of colour become the focal point.  Such is the case with this gorgeous material, which was called 'Fall Foliage' where I bought it (Slabs, Blanks and Boards).  And with its bright swirls of red and gold, the name certainly seems appropriate!



I have fitted this Cigar pen with a broad steel two-tone JoWo nib.  The filling system is cartridge or converter.

Thanks for looking!

Ken

Thursday 6 November 2014

Blue Tiger SPFP


Here is another material that I have not used in quite a while.  Similar to the 'Tiger' acrylic that I seem to use quite often, this one has the same stripe and swirl, but with blue instead of orange.  So, what the heck - 'Blue Tiger'.

This is another 'Shirt Pocket Fountain Pen', the style I seem to do most often lately, and my personal favourite for an every day carry pen.  Fits great in the shirt pocket, comfortable to use unposted, but posts deeply and securely too, for convenience with long periods of writing.




As I often do with this model of pen, I have framed the blue tiger acrylic in black to compliment it.  This pen is fitted with a steel JoWo medium nib.

Thanks for looking!

Ken

Wednesday 5 November 2014

'Arctic Nights' Shirt Pocket Fountain Pen


Well, I so liked this material (which I last time called 'Blue Nebula') that I just had to get more.  So, back to Jonathon Brooks, who kindly mixed up a batch for me.  This time, I decided to make the blank into one of my 'Shirt Pocket Fountain Pens' ('SPFP).

This material just keeps grabbing my attention.  When I was looking at this pen last night, something kept tugging at my memory, when it it suddenly occurred to me that it evoked memories (not so distant) of cold, cold mid-winter starry nights, with their cold light sparkling off drifts of fresh snow, and of the beautiful eerie blue northern lights.  I decided I just had to give the material a different name for this pen - so, for this pen anyway, it's 'Arctic Nights' :-))




I have fitted this one with a broad JoWo nib for the pictures.

Thanks for looking!

Ken