Manu Propria - Pen Clip

[manupropria]

Since a while I was thinking about a practical anddifferent clip to be used on my urushi fountain pens.
Since my pens are rather large, regular clips cannot do.
This is a clip that is glued directly on the cap. The glue is urushi lacquer and a very strong adhesive also used for "Kintsugi" mending broken porcelain.
The clip is cast in Beryllium bronze. This special alloy can be hardened after finishing to a hardness of Vickers 140, almost as hard as steel.
In the same time it can be used as a clip and as a stoper.
It took a lot of experimenting to find the riht shape.
I wanted the clip to look like an origane (soritsuno, kaeritsuno are some of the alternative names) - a small hook that fastened onto the underside of the obi (sash) and kept the sword saya from moving around too much when drawn. They were not used universally - presumably to the owner's taste, and were more common on wakizashi than on longer swords.

Best regards,

Martin

 

[ossaguy]

Wow,that's a neat pen!

Nice custom work!



Steve

 

[thewishman]

I really enjoy seeing your pens (and watch dials) they are works of art.

Making clips is so different from the rest of pen making, a different set of skills. Your inspiration for the clip design sounds so logical, once you explain it. Is the design traditional in Japanese pen making?

The clip on the second pen seems like a traditional placement, the clip on the first pen is placed quite differently, is it intended more as a stopper, or is the pen much longer than it appears?

You can probably tell by my questions that I am fascinated by your work.

 

[manupropria]

Thank you Chris,

Thank you very much for your interest.

That's a clip I have developed myself. The red pen is - let's say regular size. The black pen is large, 200 mm long and the cap width is 20 mm. The clip can be fixed wherever the customer wants. This one is monuted to function as a regular clip in a jacket pocket

 

[MikeL]

Great job. Like your work.

 

[ironman123]

Very nice pen and clip.

 

[hobbyist2013]

Those are really nice pens! I like the neat concept.