First kitless body

[Woodguy95]

First off I want to raise my hat to all of you that can make kitless pens those are a pain in the a**. I love the challenge but man it's hard. Anyway I am excited since this is my first kitless body and section (that worked many many failed attempts) made out of my own PR cast. The cap will not be done untill later.
I personally do not like it much since I intended it to be able to have an ink converter but failed since I didn't calculate the thread section.........

Also any tips for the verry low budget kitless pen maker? I lost my job back in christmas time and running low on budget since I'm a student?

 

[MikeinSC]

It looks like you're off to a good start.

I haven't found there to be a lot of wiggle room in doing this cheaply. But once you've got the tools once, you're pretty much set until you need something else.
If you sell your pens, price accordingly to be able to upgrade or buy additional tooling to make life easier.

If you have or know of someone with a metal lathe, they might be able to cut taps or dies for you. Those are the single biggest upfront costs you'll face, as I'm sure you know.

Keep an eye on the ads here and maybe make a post telling people what you're looking for. Someone might have what you're looking for.

Keep notes too

 

[jalbert]

Good first kitless! Much better than my first. I would agree with Mike...There really isn't a "cheap" way to get into making kitless pens. From my own experience, I would suggest that if there is any possible way you could swing the purchase of a small benchtop metalworking lathe in the future, then I would make that my priority. It will make your life much easier. Learn how to cut threads on it, and you will never need to purchase any specialty taps or dies, saving you tooling costs. Additionally, it will allow you to make all the necessary mandrels and such that you would need. Others might disagree, but from my own experience, a metal lathe has been the single greatest asset to my kitless pen endeavors, and if I were doing it over again, it would be the first thing I bought. Hope this helps some!

-John