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

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

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

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

'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 Renée 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