Damascus Steel Pens

[EdCaffreyMS]

I recently joined the forums. I'm a full time Bladesmith/Knifemaker, but also produce pens. After watching my Dad turn wooden pens after his retirement, I decided to try pens with Damascus barrels. It took a while to work out the tooling and methods, but the pens have become a nice auxiliary item to offer customers. I have built a number of pens making everything myself, but the time involved forced the end price to a point where most couldn't afford them, so for the majority, I now use kit parts, in order to keep the price of the pens affordable. The Damascus is created with 1080 steel and pure nickel sheet, hot blued, and finished off with clear Gun Kote.

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[Charlie_W]

Beautiful work!

 

[stuckinohio]

Those look nice! Good work

A small piece of advice on kits. I've had a couple bolt action tec pens have problems. The bolt broke off on two of them after a year or so. I have also developed a dislike for click pens. If they are dropped they will often jam up or break. It doesn't bother some on the forum and some don't have the same opinion, so take it for what it's worth.

Figured since you are using "high end" materials on kit pens you might want to know. Parker based twist pens and rollerball and fountain pens are where I would concentrate use this material for.

Lewis

 

[eharri446]

Just in case you ever have to disassemble the TEC Bolt Action pen, make sure that you unscrew the bolt first before trying to know out the mechanism, otherwise you will break it off.

 

[EdCaffreyMS]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's experienced those issues! I've had both the click mechanisms fail, as well as the "bolt" break over time.
Another issue that I used to have were the clip screws on the bolt action pens....then would work themselves loose, and folks would loose screws/clips. Now I make it a habit to "locktite" those screws, and have pretty much solved that issue.

 

[Jim15]

Awesome pens.

 

[More4dan]

Ed, I've admired your Blades for years and your new pens are beautiful. I would be interested in how the clear coat holds up on the blued carbon steel pen body after some time in use. I've made one Damascus pen so far and used Stainless Damascus from Chad Nichols so I wouldn't have to worry about rusting after handling. It is VERY expensive though and makes it hard to get my investment back. It also requires tungsten carbide tooling to drill and turn even annealed. Is it possible to make a 316SS and Nickel Damascus? Unlike blades the pens don't need to be made of tool steels. I was thinking the 316/Nickel would heat blue similar to the pens you made without the long term concern of potentially rusting.

Danny

 

[Curly]

Beautiful work. Would you ever consider selling Damascus blanks to those with metal lathes?

 

[jttheclockman]

These came out beautiful. I do not like any of the kits you used because I believe this is a material that is a highend material and belongs on a highend kit. I believe you can get more value for your work. From what I have read from others here that do these there is quite abit of work that goes into this. Now you may be more equipped and the process may be quicker and somewhat easier. Now there are some look alike materials out there but i believe these are the real thing. just an opinion. They sure are nice looking.

 

[Paul in OKC]

Sweet!

 

[EdCaffreyMS]

I would be interested in how the clear coat holds up on the blued carbon steel pen body after some time in use.

Gun Kote holds up surprisingly well! I went through a bunch of products trying to find a coating that holds up. I have pens that have been hot blued/Gun Koted in the hands of daily users for several years with no visible signs of wear. I know it's not a "perfect" solution, but it's the best I have found to date.

I was thinking the 316/Nickel would heat blue similar to the pens you made without the long term concern of potentially rusting.

I personally don't produce a 316/nickel mix, I'm just not equipped to do it the way Chad does. This mix would heat color, but the problem with heat coloring is the durability.....one of the most fragile finishes on steel. In a pen scenario, it would require some type of tough coating, otherwise I suspect it would get returned within a few months for the finish "wearing off".

Would you ever consider selling Damascus blanks to those with metal lathes?

I do sell the material, if your interested, you can PM or email me for details.

I do not like any of the kits you used because I believe this is a material that is a highend material and belongs on a highend kit.

I agree! I'm not overly fond of the "kit" parts, but have had trouble finding/keeping a source for what I would consider "high end" parts. I can, and have made all the parts myself, but it drives the retail price so high that most people swoon when they hear/see the price. If you have any suggestions for "higher end" parts/kits, please share it!

 

[jttheclockman]

Ed, to me when people swoon over a pen, sets that pen above all others and makes it a special pen with special materials. I would rather sell one pen for $1000 than to sell 10 for $100. It devalues the work and the material. I believe every pen turner needs those special high $$$$ pens in their arsenal. You have a material that you can do that with. Put it on a Emporer or an Imperial or even Majestic and the value just went up. Any of those kits you shown I will give you $100 for. Tell me all about the material and it still did not increase the value in my mind. As I said maybe this is something that comes easy for you to make and I am not seeing it like you.

I realize not everyone thinks like me but I am just voicing an opinion. It is a a unique material that is not easy to make. I know a person here that sold a pen for over $1000 made from twisted Damascus steel. It looked somewhat different because it was not blued like you are showing but the material is something that is not seen everyday.

Good luck and the pens are really nice. Thanks for showing.

 

[stuckinohio]

I suppose the problem with using higher end kits would be the fact that you have two bodies, so twice the work. But I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong with spending $40 more dollars on a kit and making a huge profit.

I would also do a kitless clicker. Much less work than kitless rollerball or fountain pen and minimal investment for the parts. Acually less investment than most kit pens, even the cheap ones.

Lewis

 

[Curly]

Not as decorated as the ones John mentioned but if it lives up to the early reviews it might be a contender for you. Your metal with it would look great.
Exciting news edit; shipping 1 April 2017!

 

[thewishman]

WOW!! Just checked out your website - you do amazing work! Your pens look great and the prices are good. LOVE the hatchet!

 

[EdCaffreyMS]

Ed, to me when people swoon over a pen,

Maybe I should have been more clear on using the word "swoon"....I should have said that when they see the price for a pen that I've made ALL the parts for, they freak out at the $1K+ price tag.

But I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong with spending $40 more dollars on a kit and making a huge profit.

I wouldn't balk at paying that amount for QUALITY kit parts at all! My problem has been that when I could find a source for quality kit parts, it was either in very limited quantities, or I'd order once, then the source dried up.
When I started building the damascus pens, I never really thought of them as something to sell. The initial intent was to give them away to clients who purchase high end custom knives....as more or less a "Thank You" and/or "Value added" sort of thing. Then at a particular knife show, I had another custom knifemaker come up to me and literally throw money down on the table and say "I want one of the pens!" I told him to take his pick....and that's how they came to be "for sale".

WOW!! Just checked out your website - you do amazing work! Your pens look great and the prices are good. LOVE the hatchet!

Thanks for the kind words! I'm truly blessed in that although I've been doing this for a lot of years, I wake up every morning and look forward to "going to work"....even though it's only about 20 yards out my back door.

 

[stuckinohio]

Did you say "hatchet"? Please don't tell my wife. She has this crazy obsession with axes and Hatchet. It's weird!

 

[thewishman]

Lewis, please tell your wife NOT to go to this link:

available_knives

 

[Skie_M]

I wouldn't balk at paying that amount for QUALITY kit parts at all! My problem has been that when I could find a source for quality kit parts, it was either in very limited quantities, or I'd order once, then the source dried up.

Hmmm ... mind telling us exactly WHICH KITS you found that you liked? I'm sure there's someone around here who knows exactly how to get in touch with the manufacturer for bulk ordering of the exact same kit.

 

[EdCaffreyMS]

The first "quality" kits/parts I found were out of Germany.... but that outfit simply disappeared... website gone, and any sent emails came back undeliverable.
Later I found an individual in Spain who was making them to order (I had him make me a run of 2 dozen "click" pen parts.....and when I went to reorder, he was gone too.) Since then I've purchased samples from individuals and small companies who claimed their parts were "Best Quality", but in reality they were no better then the PSI kits.

I've also thought about sourcing different parts from different places.... but that brought up the issue of parts "matching", both in quality and fit/finish.

I certainly don't claim to know all the sources for pen parts.... but am yet to find any that are a reliable source, with a level of quality that I'm willing to take a chance on. If anyone does know of such a source, I'd sure be happy to take a look. At lease with the kits that are readily available (such as those import kits from PSI) although the quality could be better, the sources are reliable and consistent. Using the "kits" certainly isn't an ideal situation, however, since the pens I make are an auxiliary part of my business, I've compromised to make it work.

 

[stuckinohio]

Lewis, please tell your wife NOT to go to this link:

available_knives

Wow, those things are a work of art. My wife agrees:biggrin:

 

[edstreet]

Ed, interesting to see you again. On your kit issue you need to decide what route you want to go first and foremost. As with any one new to the art you need to pick a path and make it happen. For most in the higher end market the can easily sniff out kit parts and that's two gross negatives you have the deal wth, the first being excess weight due to the meta blank.

Also 1080 and 316 makes for some bad Damascus pen blanks. There are far better mixes you should be using.

 

[EdCaffreyMS]

Also 1080 and 316 makes for some bad Damascus pen blanks. There are far better mixes you should be using.

I think you might have misread something long the line...... there was another individual asking me about the 1080/316 mix. Personally, I use 1080/Nickel 200 for my damascus pens.

Pens are a ancillary item for me.... so I know far less about sourcing for them versus knives.... which is one of the reasons I'm on these forums.... trying to learn.

 

[Jgrden]

Shoot A Mile, those are way over my head. Beautiful pens.

 

[Ambidex]

I love them Ed...they look great and well executed. Also I think they look wonderful on those kits...just my uninformed humble opinion. :RockOn: