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








Friday 26 December 2014

Caramel Swirl Cigar Style Fountain Pen


I have had this material sitting in my blank box for well over a year, and have really been wanting to try it out.  So glad I did - I just loved the warm golden brown look of it, and finally landed on 'Caramel Swirl' as the name I wanted to give it.



This is another one of my Cigar Style fountain pens, decked out with a polished steel medium nib (ran out of two-tone mediums), and fitted with a converter for ink.

Well, I guess that's it for now.  Thanks for looking!

Ken


Wednesday 17 December 2014

Root Beer Float Cigar Style FP


Here is another 'first go' at a material I have been waiting to use (one that is not commissioned), and finally just decided to jump in and make something with it.  This is another one of Jonathon Brooks' great alumilite blanks, with warm shimmering tan swirls in the black background.  I decided to label this one ' Root Beer Float' as it is pretty reminiscent of just that - though truth be told, it reminded me even more of the lovely black and tan of a nice Guinness stout being poured into a glass…



Here the pen is posing with its JoWo two tone steel broad nib, which I think I plan to grind to a smooth stub to add a bit of writing fun to this pen.




Thanks for looking!

Ken

Tuesday 16 December 2014

Jade Pebble 'Bamboo' Style Fountain Pen


Well, I have had this lovely Jade Pebble acrylic sitting on the shelf for a long, long time while it waited out (along with the new owner of this pen) the crazy long wait list.  But, finally got to have a go at this material.  I have never used it before, but I can certainly say I will be using it again.  I really like it!


The only tricky part of this process was the diameter of the blanks, which were thin enough to make it very difficult to pull off the Bamboo style pen.  In the end I had to make the whole pen a bit slimmer to allow for the nodes.


This pen will be headed for hot and sunny Australia (yes, I am envious).

Cheers,

Ken

Friday 12 December 2014

New Style of Fountain Pen - the 'Compact' in Charger Lava


OK, so it's really more of a modification to a previous style, the Shirt Pocket Fountain Pen.   A little smaller, no clip, and rounded ends.

The idea behind this was essentially to make a pen about as small as I could, but while still using the large #6 nib, and allowing the pen to still be able to use a long cartridge (such as a Waterman long) or the standard converter that it comes with.   Long and short of it (pun intended - sorry) is that it comes out to nice compact 130mm (a hair over 5") closed, and since like the SPFP it posts quite deeply, the posted length is only 138mm (or just under 5 1/2").  A nice carrying size for purse, backpack or briefcase.  





This one is going out to my Mum - so Mum, if you are reading this, pretend you didn't, and act surprised  :-)

Thanks for looking!

Ken

Monday 8 December 2014

'Cool Mint Water' Cigar Style FP - (first go at using transparent acrylic)


Once in a while I get an acrylic that is relatively translucent, and as I finish off the pen, I wonder how it would look with the inside polished.  Well, here was a great opportunity to experiment with that.  I had an order for a Cigar pen using this 'Cool Mint Water' acrylic, which I have ever used before, largely because it is not just translucent, but actually quite transparent.   After talking with RenĂ©e Meeks (Scriptorium Pens), a fellow pen maker (with a much cooler website than mine) who has really done a stellar job of mastering the technique of polishing the inside of these transparent blanks, I decided to bite the bullet and give it a go.



I must say that I am reasonably happy with the result, though I am looking forward to practicing it a bit more to work out a few kinks.



The pen is posing here with a polished steel nib in the first two pics, and with a two-tone steel nib in the  second last.  The converter can also be seen in the barrel.

Thanks for looking!  Thoughts and comments welcome.

Ken