Ken Cavers Custom Pens: May 2015

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, 28 May 2015

'Cosmos' Cigar Style FP

Here's my latest pen to finish up - just done last week before I went away on a bit of a holiday, so now time to put up some pics.

This material is a very cool alumilite that I picked from Bear Tooth Woods, where it goes by 'Abalone Explosion'. The person who ordered it noted that it reminded him of a 'cosmos style swirl', which I thought was very fitting, so I'm calling it that - 'Cosmos'.

The style is my usual Cigar, and the nib is a broad steel JoWo nib, smoothed to make the writing a joy.

Thanks for taking the time to look.

Cheers,

Ken

Sunday, 17 May 2015

Blue Cowrie Cigar Fountain Pen with Black Trim

This is only the second time that I have ever used this Blue Cowrie acrylic - and I have to say, I love it. Very appealing mix of blues with bits of pearl thrown in. Very cool.

The order I received was for a flat-ended Cigar style, with a simple 'framing' black trim on the ends.

The nib is a fine feel JoWo nib, custom ground to a 0.4mm stub/cursive italic - smoother than a standard CI, but more line variation than a standard plain stub. The fill system is cartridge/converter, though with a bit of silicone grease, it could certainly be used as an eyedropper.

Thanks for looking!

Ken

Friday, 8 May 2015

Water, Water Everywhere

Here is another of the Cool Mint Water Cigar style fountain pens. Having fun working on these transparent acrylics. Takes well over twice as long to do a pen in this material, but pretty eye-catching result :-)

This one is fitted in the picture with a fine nib, but I will be doing a custom grind to EF or possibly EEF.

Going to have to find some other colours to work on…

Ken

Thursday, 7 May 2015

Understated Elegance: Clipless Shirt Pocket Fountain Pen in Cumberland and Black Ebonite

Here, the one who ordered this pen was looking for something elegant and portable, yet understated with subtle contrasting detail. Cumberland ebonite was chosen as the most appropriate material to use, and after much discussion, we settled on the 'Shirt Pocket Fountain Pen' style, but without the clip. I believe we have achieved what we set out to accomplish!

The grip section is in black ebonite, and both the cap and barrel are trimmed with black ebonite to frame the cumberland, and to give it just a bit more of a 'sober' quality.

The nib is a two-tone steel JoWo fine nib, and the fill system is cartridge/converter.

Have I mentioned how much ebonite stinks as you turn it? I'm pretty sure I have, because wow. Still, the smell wears off after a few months, and leaves you with the rich, warm feel of this very traditional material.

Thanks for looking!

Ken

Sunday, 3 May 2015

'Simplicity' Style FP in Golden Smoke and Black Trim - With Duofold Centennial Nib and Grip!

Here's a first for me. I had a request to make a new pen for an orphaned Duofold Centennial nib and grip section. Wasn't sure what the thread specs on the grip section were, so asked around and got various responses. So, easiest was just to lay hands on the thing and spec it out. Turns out it takes a bizarre M9.5 x 0.75 thread. Well, not going to come across that every day, but fits well enough into a barrel threaded with an M10 x 0.75 tap. Good to go! I was given artistic licence in coming up with a new body for this pen, and no constraint to make it 'Duofoldy', so away we go.

I had a few alumilites that I thought would look good with this grip with its golden trim rings, but my wife wisely picked out the Golden Smoke as the best option. I decided to tie it to the grip section with some black trim on the ends, and put it all in the form of one of my 'Simplicity of Heart' (or just, 'Simplicity') style pens.

Hmmm…. may need to make a roll stop for this one, though… If I do, I will update this post.

Thanks for looking,

Ken

Friday, 1 May 2015

'Nemo' Inlaid Shirt Pocket Fountain Pen

The order this time was for a glossy black barrel, a colourful cap, and matching inlays to tie it all together - all in the form of one of my Shirt Pocket Fountain Pens.

So, looking through my short pieces, I came across this piece of red, white and black pearly swirl acrylic, which I have used before - a kind of red version of 'Finding Nemo' (if you get the reference).

Here, the pen is fitted with a medium polished steel JoWo nib, and uses a cartridge/converter fill system. The converter installed is a good quality Schmidt K5 converter.

Thanks for looking!