Opera Pen #1

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workinforwood

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Joined
Mar 1, 2007
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8,173
Location
Eaton Rapids, Michigan, USA.
This is my first opera pen made from a telescopic opera glass holder. It is now a Parker style twist ballpoint pen. It was originally the one in the bottom pic, the smaller of 3 that I have to make pens from. I boiled the holder to soften the glue to remove the finial..well that worked, but all the pieces boiled out, leaving me a pot full of parts and all the MOP was on the bottom of the pot as well. I decided the top section was too long, so when I re-assembled the PIA MOP, I only used two sections instead of the original three, then made a transition piece to step down to the smaller tube. The transition and the nib are solid brass. I used an ivory corian piece to transition the nib to the barrel so as to help break it up since the brass and gold are slightly different in color and the white matches with the MOP on top somewhat. It is a bit top heavy for my taste, but not so heavy on top that you can't write with it. The length is identical to that of a cigar pen from clip to nib..the finial piece adds an extra 1/4" on top as opposed to a typical cigar finial. The gold clip is from the parts bin and it is recessed inside...I think it might be an El Grande clip. Hopefully the customer will like it, because I'm not rebuilding it. It certainly is a one of a kind pen. Now I have to figure out what to do with the big plain gold one.:confused:. Supposed to try and get 2 pens of whatever type I want from that. Stuff is a bugger, it's thin and easy to damage. The parts aren't even really round..it's like someone just beat these to resemble round and when I make parts they are truly round, so it's a tough to make them match. This pen was a 6 hr re-build.
 

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skiprat

Passed Away Mar 22, 2022
In Memoriam
Joined
Oct 19, 2006
Messages
7,812
Location
In a Skip in Wales
You're not gonna believe this Jeff, but I finished both pens ( from one holder) about ten minutes ago!!!!

I'm afraid to say that yours looks a lot nicer than either of these.:redface:

I am however EXTREMELY glad that I'm not the only one that struggled:mad:

I thought I was imagining things with all the out of round bits.

I'll take some pics and post soon. Both of mine are Parker style refills with twist mechs.

Back soon......
 

workinforwood

Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Messages
8,173
Location
Eaton Rapids, Michigan, USA.
Yes, my upper barrel is straight and looks and feels good, but when I had it between centers to clean and polish the MOP, it certainly spun like a drunken sailor! :biggrin: The pen is certainly a lot cleaner and sparkly than it was as an opera holder. I'm sure yours are as good or better than mine. There was no criteria on these..heck, I didn't even have to put a clip on it if I didn't want to. They guy just wanted affordable functioning pens.
 
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