Clipless 'Classic' Style in Charger Lava

Just finished this one this afternoon - nice having a bit of time away from work.   Still, the garage could be warmer...

This is another example of one of my 'Classic' style pens, clipless, and as the title suggests, made from a  piece of Charger Lava resin.  Beautiful stuff, but sometimes the little voids in it can be a pain to fill in while finishing.  Given the amazing glowing swirls, pretty much worth the effort, I think!

This pen is fitted with a fine nib, a steel JoWo, which I will tune and smooth prior to shipping.  The pen is cartridge/converter filler, and comes with the converter pictured.

Thanks for looking!

Ken

Something Completely Different - a Walnut Nib Holder for Glass Nibs!

Hello folks,

It has been a while since I have had opportunity to post one of my pens.  Over the Christmas Holiday, we needed the room where I usually keep my photo gear set up, so away it went - which meant no decent pics of the pens of recent pens.  Mind you, since we were hit by a serious deep freeze here in Manitoba through December, my workshop was crazy cold, and not a lot of projects got done during that time...

In any case, here is a special order I got some time back.  The one who ordered this nib holder sent me the glass nibs so that I could ensure a decent fit.  We settled on a darker wood colour, and since I have a good stock of walnut, walnut it is.

The holder is long - around 7 1/2 inches, but very light.  Feels good in the hand.  The nib itself fits by friction into an acrylic sleeve which is inset about 3/4" into the wood, sealing the nib off from the wood itself completely.  The walnut is finished on the outside with several layers of thin CA, nicely soaked in to seal the wood against ink spills.

This was an enjoyable project, as it is something I have not tried before.  I may actually pick up some more of these glass nibs and try another at some point...

Thanks for looking!

Ken

Red, White and Black 'Shirt Pocket Fountain Pen'

OK, so here is another example of turning a disaster into an opportunity (something I am a big believer in - at least in pen making...).   A couple of weeks ago, I was turning the nib section on this pen, but it was for one of my larger longer pens, and I accidentally turned the nib section too short.  Well, that wasn't going to work, so I had to start all over again and make a longer nib section.  But before I did that, I figured I would finish the foreshortened nib section that this one had become, and then put it aside.

Well it then occurred to me that I generally use shorter nib sections in my 'Shirt Pocket Fountain Pens' (SPFP), so this became an opportunity to turn some acrylic that I had long been wanting to have a go at.

So, here it is - the red, black and white swirl acrylic, framed in black, as one of my favourite styles - the SPFP, which is the ultimate in practical for those who carry their pens (as I do) in their shirt pockets.  It is a perfect length to sit in the shirt pocket, and it posts deeply to a comfortable writing length.

This pen is fitted with a medium polished steel JoWo nib, as well as a converter for filling.

Yep, good fun.

Ken

Ivory Celluloid and Black Acrylic

I LOVE turning celluloid!  Too bad it is so hard to obtain...
It is a wonderfully nice material to turn on the lathe, and yet produces reams of incredibly tough shavings.  But the coolest thing of all is the powerful camphor smell while working this stuff.  I had a cold while turning this one, and it was very soothing to work on - like working with a giant cough drop!

Celluloid is cool stuff.  It is the first thermoplastic invented (back in the late 1800's!), and while not made very often any more, it is still much loved by pen makers and fountain pen aficionados for its appealing feel and smell.  Of course the historic value as a vintage pen-making material doesn't hurt either...
The ivory celluloid is particularly lovely, with its prominent striations.  I decided for this pen, rather than make the whole pen out of the same celluloid, to frame this material in black to help bring out its amazing grain.

I decided to make this pen a non-posting pen, as I didn't want to risk marking up the celluloid.

The nib on this pen is a JoWo steel 1.1mm stub, great for calligraphy (of course, since the nib units are threaded, the nib can easily be swapped for another).  The fill system is, no surprise, cartridge/converter.

Thanks for looking.  Comments welcome as always.

Ken

Coned Cigar in Ocean Lava 'Earth' Resin

Just finished this one after work today.  This pen is the second of a two-pen order - the first was the mosaic pen I last posted.

This Cone-ended Cigar style pen is done in this lovely Ocean Lava resin that I pick up from Bear Tooth Woods.  With the green swirls in the midst of the blue, it is incredibly reminiscent of an aerial view of the Earth...

I made this particular pen with a slightly longer grip section and an extended tenon to make the grip easier.  The nib installed is a medium steel JoWo nib, smoothed and tuned to medium flow.

Thanks for looking!  Comments welcome.

Ken

Introducing The 'Lau Cigar' in Blue Mosaic and Black Acrylic!

This pen (number one of a two-pen order) is one that I just finished today.  What is most interesting to me about this one is that it represents both a new style and a new acrylic for me.

The shape of this pen was largely steered by the fellow who ordered it, and resulted from a long series of email exchanges in which we tried to sort out what he was looking for in his custom pen.  He wanted lines somewhat like my Shirt Pocket Fountain Pen, but not quite as slim, and did not need to be postable; the cap and barrel were also to have matched diameters where they meet, like a cigar pen; the finial was to be rounded, while the barrel end simply convex; the material was to be the blue mosaic acrylic, but the nib section in black acrylic.  The pen was also to have a clip.  As this is unlike my other pen styles, I decided to name the shape after the one who ordered it.

I have had a batch of this lovely blue mosaic in stock for some time now, but have not had a chance to make anything out of it until I received this order.  I like it!  I think I will have to order some more of this material...

The black nib section I think was a good choice - it works very well with the mosaic, suiting it perfectly, and breaks up the pattern a little.

This pen is fitted with a polished steel JoWo medium nib, as well as an excellent quality converter.

Thanks for looking!

Now on to pen #2...

Ken

Large Cumberland Ebonite Cigar with Clip

Hello folks.  Here is an example of a clipped Cigar style pen.  I don't often put clips on my Cigar pens, but it was requested.  In this case, I think the clip suited the pen quite well!  The pen is done in my larger sizing (12.7mm diameter nib section), and has a capped length of 153mm, and 135mm uncapped.  The diameter is 16mm.

The material is cumberland ebonite, a very nice looking hard rubber, and good quality stuff.  Smells a bit sulphurous and like burning rubber while turning, but fortunately this famous 'ebonite smell' fades after a few weeks.

The nib is a good old medium JoWo steel nib, no special grind.  I'll be packing this one to ship to Korea shortly.

Thanks for looking!

Ken

Cone-Ended Cigar in Charger Lava with 1.1mm Stub Nib

Another excuse to use this lovely resin from Bear Tooth Woods!  Charger Lava is one of my favourites (yes, I say that a lot) with its amazing swirls of glowing colour.  Here is have just finished a Cone-ended Cigar style fountain pen in this resin, and will now have to decide whether to part with it, or to keep it myself :-)

I have a few JoWo steel 1.1mm stub nibs, and have fitted one onto this pen for the pictures.  It is of course a cartridge/converter filler, with converter installed.

Well, then.  Not much else to say about this one.  The pictures pretty much say it all.

Thanks for looking.  Comments welcome!

Ken

Classic Brown Classic :-)

I have been waiting for a chance to use this lovely material again, and finally got the chance.  This lovely resin, which is made in Italy, sold as 'Classic Brown', is much more than just brown flakes.  The lighter pearly flakes along with the flecks of green, combined with the iridescence of the resin make it truly gorgeous.

I was asked to use this material in making one of my 'Classic' style pens (and so, 'Classic Brown Classic'...)

While it is made using my standard sizing for the nib section, it is nonetheless a fairly big pen.  Here I have it posing, capped and uncapped with a Pelikan M600 and a Visconti Wall Street for size reference.  It might be a reasonable comparison with an M800, but alas - I don't have one to picture it with.

The nib pictured here is a broad nib, which is slated to be ground to a smooth stub before shipping.

I hope it serves its new owner well!

Thanks for looking!

Ken

Trio

Hello all,

Here is a trio of pens that I made over the past couple of weeks, finished last night.  This is a three-pen order headed for the UK.  All three are fitted with two-tone medium steel JoWo nibs, and are cartridge/converter fillers.

The first is a Cigar style pen in Ruby Flake acrylic, done in the Large size (thicker section, slightly thicker barrel).  The richness of this red is just amazing!

The second of the three is also a large sized Cigar style pen, this one in 'Charger Lava' resin from Bear Tooth Woods.  Beautiful stuff - always reminds me of Van Gogh's 'Starry Night'...

Finally, the third is a Curvy style fountain pen in Black and Yellow swirl acrylic with black framing.  The cap also has an axial inlay of the yellow acrylic on the finial.   This one was done in my regular (medium) sizing.

Thanks for looking!

Ken