My First (Fountain Pen)

[Lee K]

...oh yeah ... I also just finished my first Fountain Pen. And, it also marks the first time I have written with a fountain pen. Not having anything but ball points to compare to ... I kinda like it.

The wood here happens to be roughly 125 year old heart pine from a house being dismantled here in town. Its really nice wood (and I LOVE the smell).

I used the Artisan Component set, so now that I have the hang of it, can't wait to upgrade a step or two!

Once again .. if ya'll see anything I can improve upon, please let me know!

 

[65GTMustang]

WOW that wood look incredible
Nice job on the pen.
Any chance you have some extra boards lying around you can share / swap?
I like the two tone coloring
Nice Job
Please let me know about availability
Kevin

 

[seamus7227]

good job Lee! thats a nice piece of wood

 

[G1Pens]

I agree...looks good...and I like the wood

 

[drgoretex]

Nice pen indeed! Sorry to tell you this, but t his is just the beginning of the demise... Fountain pens are incredibly addictive. If you are not already a member, you MUST get onto fountainpennnetwork.com ASAP. You will like it. Probably too much...mwaahaahahahah!

Ken

 

[ToddMR]

I like the work you did on this pen very much. Nice start on a fountain pen for sure. It is so cool you have wood that is old and you know where it comes from. Things with stories make them even more interesting. Only suggestions I personally have is it looks like you have material hanging over on both ends of the pen compared to the kit. So that is my only tip. Still the pen is very nice and you did an excellent job!

 

[monophoto]

Nice looking pen!

I've made a couple of Artisan's, and it's one of my favorites. I have one that I use as my everyday pen, and it writes very nicely. But there are two aspects that I wish were different.

First, the snap cap. A snap cap may be fine for a ballpoint, but it's not ideal for a fountain pen because it allows the ink in the section to dry out. If a snap-cap pen is not used regularly, there will be problems getting the flow to start. And in the Artisan design, the adjustment of the snap is a very poor design. The small plastic thingie is supposed to thread onto a threaded stud on the bottom of the finial, but getting it to thread is a major hassle, and then getting it adjusted is another pain. CSUSA sells an adjustment tool (naturally), but the instructions suggest using a Phillips screwdriver. I've found that a square drive screwdriver actually works better than a Phillips, and also that tapping the plastic snap cap prior to assembly makes it attach easier. But the best solution would be to make the cap screw onto the body.

The other thing I dislike is the tacky metal post on the end of the barrel. I made a closed-end version to avoid that design flaw.

 

[Lee K]

I like the work you did on this pen very much. Nice start on a fountain pen for sure. It is so cool you have wood that is old and you know where it comes from. Things with stories make them even more interesting. Only suggestions I personally have is it looks like you have material hanging over on both ends of the pen compared to the kit. So that is my only tip. Still the pen is very nice and you did an excellent job!

Thanks Todd!

I wasnt exactly sure how it would 'finish' out and what impact the CA would have on the final diameter, so I chickened out and didnt push my luck knowing that if I under cut it ... it WOULD look bad.

Now that I know a little more about how it fits together, I will sneak up on the components a little tighter.

Thanks again!