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, 4 September 2012

Tiger-Stripey Clipless Fine Nib Commision




This particular fountain pen is quite like one which I did some time ago.  In fact, the buyer pulled up a picture of that previous pen for me, and requested that I create a similar pen for him.



The acrylic here is a cool shimmering black and amber material which is a lot of fun to look at.  The nib is a fine nib, as requested, and has been adjusted and smoothed for optimum writing.  The filling system is cartridge/converter.


I really, really like working with acrylic - to me, the best material for these fountain pens.  It is not particularly brittle (a bonus for those of us who drop our pens a lot), and has a very nice feel to it.  It also takes on a brilliant shine when polished properly.

Thanks for looking!



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4 comments:

  1. Unknown4 September 2012 at 20:14

    Hey Ken -
    Another beauty of course. How do you feel about using PR or Alumilite in comparison with acrylic?
    Do they all hold threads about the same?

    Nice pleasing form to this pen. The blank has a bright tortoise shell look to it.

    Dave

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  2. kcavers5 September 2012 at 06:12

    Hi Dave,

    I have not used Alumilite per se, but similar materials, and plenty of polyresin. I have to say that these materials can be quite beautiful, but at the same time, fairly brittle. Some hold threads better than others, but I find the feel and resilience of acrylic to be much more satisfying.

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  3. Kite Chong5 September 2012 at 09:16

    How about celluloid? Price aside, I love celluloid much more than acrylic and ebonite; it has a smooth oily and slippery feeling that you can't get in an acrylic and ebonite pen. It feels better than an urushi pen too!

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  4. kcavers5 September 2012 at 16:32

    Hi Kite!

    Yes, I couldn't agree more. Real celluloid (nitrocellulose and camphor) is a wonderfully silky stuff, and makes a brilliant pen. I have only limited quantities of this, as it is very hard to import into Canada (often seen as a 'dangerous material' given its flammability) - but I am hoping to make a couple of pens out of the material I have left.

    As for urushi - well, this is whole different ballpark. The art of urushi pen making is well beyond me...so I will just have to make do with buying one :-))

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