Mothers' Day (FINALLY!!) Turquoise/Black

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InvisibleMan

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Feb 13, 2011
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San Jose, CA
Kitless #2 is finally in the books!

This pen was a pain in the butt. Nothing went right, but in the end I like it. And I think SWMBO likes it too. I asked her to pick a blank, any blank, and I'd make her first fountain pen. She picked an experimental PR pour that I knew would be trouble. It looked nice, but I knew it had some bubbles in it. It did have a few, but nothing major and they didn't pose a problem.

Everything else did pose a problem. I can't even remember them all. You are looking at barrel #2 though. The first was sacrificed to the dull tool gods. They were ticked off and I just gave it to them.

The cap was supposed to be a hidden clip, but I turned it too thin and didn't see a thread where cutting a piece of the clip out was mentioned until it was too late. No biggie, just expose the clip. Looks good anyway. Well, except for the fact I tried to hide it first and ended up just shortening the cap until the nib wouldn't fit with any threads in the finial. So, I just cramped both hands up holding it all together until the epoxy dried enough I could move it to the pen press. It'll fall apart eventually, and then I'll get to start over on it, which I should have done anyway.

Let's see, oh yes, then I managed to file the housing threads down to nothing in the section when I was opening the back hole just enough to get the converter in. Not too bad of a problem - just glued a piece of PR inside and re-drilled, re-tapped.

Anywhoooo, here she is. Blue Turquoise w/Black Web PR I poured a couple weeks ago, and some black PR accents. I really like how the pour turned out - the color is just fantastic, and the bubbles I thought would be a real problem were actually quite minor. I do need a better pressure pot though.

The finials are just segmented on - too lazy to try to inlay them. That'll be my next pen probably. And it's postable, per customer request. I was worried about weight issues, but it's actually quite comfortable to write with the cap posted.

Any comments, critiques, tips and tricks are welcome:) Thanks for looking.

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Robert111

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Apr 12, 2011
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Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
Sounds like a real battle, Lyle, but you won. Pretty nice pen. In the spirit of constructive criticism, here's a thought from another novice in the field of kitless design:

The black bands seem to me to be too wide. The repair at the finial would have ended better with a larger blue segment and a smaller black, very small in fact. Then the other black bands would be reduced similarly.The blue material itself, because it suggests stone of some sort, gives much weight to the design. So narrower bands would I think help in reducing the feeling of weight. That, in my opinion, is the crux of the matter-heaviness.
 

InvisibleMan

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Feb 13, 2011
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San Jose, CA
Sounds like a real battle, Lyle, but you won. Pretty nice pen. In the spirit of constructive criticism, here's a thought from another novice in the field of kitless design:

The black bands seem to me to be too wide. The repair at the finial would have ended better with a larger blue segment and a smaller black, very small in fact. Then the other black bands would be reduced similarly.The blue material itself, because it suggests stone of some sort, gives much weight to the design. So narrower bands would I think help in reducing the feeling of weight. That, in my opinion, is the crux of the matter-heaviness.

Thanks for the input. I actually toyed with the idea of no bands at all, but then went with these. I decided I wanted that "jewel" look in the finials, but segmenting didn't really pull it off. I think the "jewels" need to be inlayed for best results. As it is, I think I agree thinner would be better.
 
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Dustygoose

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Jan 16, 2010
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Greenbrier, Arkansas
I like this one. The simple lines of the section, the cap.....
I think the black sections detract a little from the rest of the blank. Smaller IMO would look better.
 

InvisibleMan

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Feb 13, 2011
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San Jose, CA
Thanks everyone.

I'm going to take a photo when I get home tomorrow of this pen with a black section. I liked it more with these black bands with a black section. SWMBO wanted the blue section though. Who am I to argue?:eek:
 

Brooks803

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Sep 13, 2009
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Aiken, South Carolina
Awesome! The overall shape and size is really nice. The blank is killer btw! I don't know if I'd like it with shorter black bands or not. I really like the size of the centerband, maybe a touch shorter on the cap and finial. I'd also like to see the black section on this one. I think it'd tie it all together. Again awesome job!
 

InvisibleMan

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Feb 13, 2011
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Location
San Jose, CA
Here are the photos with a black section. Not the best photos on 2 hours of sleep last night:eek:. Now I'm not sure. This probably isn't the best section for the taste test - it's from my first kitless pen and the shape could be better. It looks loooooong, but that's what's necessary for this nib from what I can tell. I'll be trying to bury some of the section down into the barrel next pen. I always like a black section just about any time, but I'm undecided on this one.

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