PITH Pen for Monty

[Gilrock]

Here's the PITH pen I made for Monty. In the spirit of the activity I attempted something new which was to make my first metal pen. I was going to use aluminum for the body and cap but at the time all the aluminum I had lying around wasn't big enough so I said what the heck I'll use a piece of steel. So this was made from one of those zinc plated steel rods from Home Depot. My taps and dies are still complaining they did nothing to deserve that torture. The finials were made from brass. One of the trickiest parts for me was getting the taper on the body. I manually backed out the cross slide dial by hand as the power cross-feed was driving the cutter into the part. It took several passes.

Then I had no idea how to polish metal. I started with a file to fix the taper then I ended up starting with 80 grit sandpaper and working my way up just like I would with an acrylic pen. It worked...it just took longer. In fact not sure if it's an accepted method for metal but I wet sanded with micro-mesh. I wasn't sure how to protect it either so I'm afraid it might need a rub down with oil periodically like a rifle barrel.

I was worried about the pen being too heavy. I didn't weigh it but when I let friends check it out you could see their hand drop a little as the unexpected weight of the pen took hold. So Monty if it's too heavy for writing it could be used as a weapon...I was calling it robo-pen.

Hope you enjoy it...it was tough to part with my first metal pen.

 

[Gilrock]

...added as attachments in in case the embedded photos get blocked for anyone. I'm always worried my astronomy website will get filtered since it has the word "butt" embedded in the name.

 

[glycerine]

That's pretty sharp right there! Do you know the weight? Just curious.

 

[Gilrock]

That's pretty sharp right there! Do you know the weight? Just curious.

No I forgot to weigh it. But Monty has it if he wants to weigh it and share with us.

 

[Monty]

The picture doesn't do it justice. I like the contrast of the brass finials to the barrel.
Yes it is a little on the heavy side, 107.2 grams, as weighed by my HF scale I use to weigh out my PR, but it seems to balance out nicely in the hand with the cap off for writing. Plus he used an nice tu-tone Heritance nib on it. (Although a 14k gold nib would have really made it an outstanding pen. :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin
He also included two great looking blanks he poured himself and a hand painted Sierra blank of 3 crosses on a hilltop his wife painted.

 

[RSidetrack]

That pen is sharp!

Also - if you want any aluminum "blanks" to play with let me know via PM - I make blanks out of recycled aluminum cans. The only downside is aluminum cans are a lower grade aluminum, so it is pretty important to do a CA coat and finish otherwise it can discolor or be easily scratched

 

[Carl Fisher]

WOW! Absolutely beautiful.

Simple clean classy lines and I agree that two tone look carried throughout the pen (including nib) really show well.

 

[Fishinbo]

I am having such a hard time finding words to describe it. WOW.
I am beyond amazed.

 

[mrcook4570]

Great looking pen!

 

[wiset1]

This is what I like to see, truly inspirational work!

 

[ironman123]

Gil, you outdid yourself on that one. For a "first metal pen", that is a beauty and the overall design is superb.

That is enough patting you on the back, wouldn't want your head to swell.:biggrin::biggrin:

Ray

 

[Dalecamino]

Gil, that is a very impressive pen. I always liked the look of brass and metal. You did this great.

 

[Gilrock]

Thanks for all the wonderful comments. I'm glad we have the PITH activity because it forced me to get back out in the garage and make a pen and renew my passion for the hobby.

 

[skiprat]

Very slick!!

 

[glycerine]

The picture doesn't do it justice. I like the contrast of the brass finials to the barrel.
Yes it is a little on the heavy side, 107.2 grams, as weighed by my HF scale I use to weigh out my PR, but it seems to balance out nicely in the hand with the cap off for writing. Plus he used an nice tu-tone Heritance nib on it. (Although a 14k gold nib would have really made it an outstanding pen. :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin
He also included two great looking blanks he poured himself and a hand painted Sierra blank of 3 crosses on a hilltop his wife painted.

I'd like to see that if you have pictures.

 

[Gilrock]

The picture doesn't do it justice. I like the contrast of the brass finials to the barrel.
Yes it is a little on the heavy side, 107.2 grams, as weighed by my HF scale I use to weigh out my PR, but it seems to balance out nicely in the hand with the cap off for writing. Plus he used an nice tu-tone Heritance nib on it. (Although a 14k gold nib would have really made it an outstanding pen. :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin
He also included two great looking blanks he poured himself and a hand painted Sierra blank of 3 crosses on a hilltop his wife painted.

I'd like to see that if you have pictures.

I didn't photo the painted blank. If Monty wants to take a picture that would be great. We have a lot of painted blanks we've worked on but I seem to find something not quite perfect about a lot of them. That one had two spots where for some reason the brass tube is showing a little. I can't remember if it was me touching it with a toothpick trying to move a bubble. But it still looks kinda nice and someone might like it.

The other blanks I included were pieces from the only pours I've done so far...they were one from each lot shown in the following posts. I've got two more gallons of PR sitting in the garage...I'm itching to get back at making some blanks again.
http://www.penturners.org/forum/f43/first-color-mix-95623/#post1381803
http://www.penturners.org/forum/f43/my-second-pour-95760/#post1382907

 

[Toni]

Wow awesome pen!! Just love it

 

[Monty]

The picture doesn't do it justice. I like the contrast of the brass finials to the barrel.
Yes it is a little on the heavy side, 107.2 grams, as weighed by my HF scale I use to weigh out my PR, but it seems to balance out nicely in the hand with the cap off for writing. Plus he used an nice tu-tone Heritance nib on it. (Although a 14k gold nib would have really made it an outstanding pen. :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin
He also included two great looking blanks he poured himself and a hand painted Sierra blank of 3 crosses on a hilltop his wife painted.

I'd like to see that if you have pictures.

I finally had some time to take pictures of the blanks Gilrock sent along with the beautiful pen.


This is the Sierra cross blank


These are the ones he cast.