Ken Cavers Custom Pens: February 2017

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

Sunday, 12 February 2017

Guiness (Mirkwood?) Cigar Style Fountain Pen

Finally, we come to this Cigar style pen which is done up in what I initially thought was a Mirkwood alumilite blank (from Jonathon Brooks), - which is what the customer ordered - but as I turned it, and saw no green, I realized that it was actually a Guiness (or Root Beer, depending on your drinking habits) alumilite. But now, as I take a few pictures of it in good lighting, I see a few hints of green, and am starting to wonder if this may in fact be Mirkwood, but with very, very little green. Honestly, I don't know. Here too, I will let the customer decide if it fits the bill in terms of taste. if not, it will be up for sale.

Anyhow, it is my usual Cigar style of pen, and is fitted with a broad steel JoWo nib, and is a cartridge/convterter filler.

Cheers,

Ken

'Mirkwood' Compact Style Fountain Pen

OK, so this order was actually supposed to be a Cigar style pen, but somewhere along the way while making this, the picture I had in my head of a Cigar pen turned into a Compact style pen. No idea why, but just as I was finishing it, I realized that I had made the wrong style (*facepalm*). So, I will check with the one who ordered it, but you may see this one go up for sale soon...

Anyhow, the 'Mirkwood' alumilite, another of Jonathon Brooks' blanks, is a cool mix of brown and green. The actual ratio, is of course impossible to know until the pen is actually turned. In this case, as you can see, it is mostly brown, with just a bit of brilliant green poking through.

My Compact style is nice in that it posts quite securely for convenience while writing, and is not a super large pen, so reasonably portable.

The nib on this one is medium two tone steel JoWo, ready for my write-testing, smoothing and flow adjusting prior to shipping.

Thanks for looking,

Ken

Purple Haze Cigar

Hey all,

Just a quick post with one of my recent Cigar pen orders.

This alumilite material, originally Ghost Koi purple - made by Jonathon Brooks - got renamed somewhere along the line with one of my previous pens, and 'Purple Haze' has kind of stuck.

The pen is a converter/cartridge filler, and is fitted with an EF steel JoWo nib that will be write-tested, smoothed, and flow-adjusted as desired prior to departure.

Cheers,

Ken

Friday, 3 February 2017

'Fall Foliage' Cigar Style Fountain Pen

Hello everyone,

Finally got some time in my workshop this week. As usual, the cold winter is making it hard to use what little time I have free to get work done, but things came together this last few days for some pen making.

Here is a pen in the good old Cigar style, done up in 'Fall Foliage' alumilite, a very cool material.

The nib is a steel JoWo medium, and the pen is cartridge/converter fill.

Not much else to say, really - going to write-test and smooth the nib, and get it all packed up to ship!

Thanks for looking!

Ken