desk fountain pen set

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Dan_F

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Can anyone point me in the direction of information and supplies for making a fountain pen desk set (pen and stand)? I guess the main question would be how to do the cap part that wouldn't involve threads, would either snap or just slide in, but would have to be able to seal, in order to keep the nib from drying out. The pen would need to be of Statesman or El Grande proportions, no skinny pens allowed!

Thanks.

Dan
 
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rherrell

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I turned a funnel, drilled it with a Uni-Bit(stepped drill) and turned a little recess for an O ring. Only problem was getting the O ring to stay put. Gave up.
 

Firefyter-emt

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If I am correct, don't the larger CSUSA kits like the Gent still come with that hard plastic sleeve on the nib? That could be used as a snap cap design like the Americana kit.

You could build it off of a 10mm kit, but the nib is small like the Jr. Gents
 

Dan_F

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Lee---By Jove, I think you've got it! What sort of glue might work on what appears to be polyethylene? Gorilla glue?

Rick---My first thought was an O ring too, but like you, couldn't see a way of getting it to stay put.
 

Dan_F

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Re: threaded coupler... I'd rather not have any exposed threads on or next to the section, and I don't want to have to screw and unscrew the pen to use it or put it away.

Dan
 

igran7

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Dan, this is a desk pen I made for a customer a couple of months ago. The body and receptical are made of Black Onyx acrylic. The body of the pen is made with an El Grande kit, the receptical is from a Gentlemen's kit and the lower portion of the receptical is outfitted with a 7mm tube to accept the swivel. The inside threads of the Gentlemens portion were eliminated and a black plastic sleeve was pressure fitted inside to accept the El Grande nib portion. Not quite a pressure fit, but pretty close. Yhe base is made of Ebonized Cherry with three coats of Mirror Coat Epoxy finish. The base looks like it has ridges on the chamfered edges, but it is the lighting.
tn_Desk%20Pen%2007.jpg
tn_Custom%20El%20Grande%20Desk%20Pen%20FEB%2008.jpg
 

Dan_F

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Joe---That's pretty close to what I was thinking of. Would it be possible to use the El Grande cap instead of a Gentleman, or do the whole thing with a Gentleman, so as not to end up with two unused half kits? I guess the question is, is there a reason why the same cap and body can't be used- is a bigger tube necessary to accommodate the pen with the plastic sleeve in the cap? Where did you get the ball swivel? Thanks

Dan
 

Firefyter-emt

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Dan.. I would have tp look at one of those Gent inserts, but it may have the same "nipple" like the Americana that yopu screw to a stud. You "could" drill a 7mm hole for the lower swivel, and then drill a hole to accept a bolt that can be screwed into the insert from the swivel end. That method would hold the insert with a mechanical fastner not glue and require just the hole sized for the pen.

Now lookin at a Gent pen, the threadded coupler is quite long. It is the internal and external threads for the cap and the nib. Looking close at the kit, I think you can remove the extra threads for the cap and the nice chrome nib section might mate up to the chrome ring for the body leaving a seemless look to it. The internal threads go in about 1" which will leave more than enough for the section to thread into. HOWEVER, you may need to make this a closed end pen to make more room inside the blank for the converter.

Lastly, I like a "tulip" shaped holder that flares outward myself.

Here is the Gent style coupler. PS... Sadly, yes that is heavy pitting on the section.
31207.jpg
 

igran7

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Dan, the reason I used two different kits is because I didn't want to have to screw the pen into the receptical. The Gentlemen end is just big enough for the El Grande to slide in with a little slop. Once the plastic sleeve is inserted in the Gentleman cap portion the slop is eliminated.

Fortunately at the time I had the parts lying around from different kits, so this design was cost effective for me to make. The only thing I used from the Gentlemens kit was the brass tube (.50 cents) from CSUSA. You could also make your own centerband, or eliminate it all together on the receptical side. The El Grande end of this set up would require the Brass tubes (.50 cents) from AS, or Woodcraft and a nib ($4.00 from AS) The only other thing you would need is the nib coupler. Don't know where you would get that without buying a kit.

I purchased the swivel thing from Augums, I think the site is www.augums.com but I could be wrong, just google search them. PSI and Woodcraft may also have them. Unfortunately I could only find them in Gold, I would have killed or died for Chrome or Rhodium.

Hope this helps Dan. Good luck.
 

Dan_F

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Originally posted by Firefyter-emt

Dan.. I would have tp look at one of those Gent inserts, but it may have the same "nipple" like the Americana that yopu screw to a stud. You "could" drill a 7mm hole for the lower swivel, and then drill a hole to accept a bolt that can be screwed into the insert from the swivel end. That method would hold the insert with a mechanical fastner not glue and require just the hole sized for the pen.

Lee, by "insert", are you meaning the protective plastic sleeve that comes over the Gent nib/section? If so, it is indeed threaded.

I probably will make this a closed end pen.

Joe---Thanks for the additional info. So if I use the Gent kit for the pen, I'll have to find some tubing that's a little larger for the cap. Well, this ought to be an interesting project.

Dan
 

Firefyter-emt

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Yes, I know the 10mm kits have that little stud drilled and threaded, but I have never looked close to the larger kits.

So if you slip up from the bottom (swivel end) of the pen holder, you should be able to screw that inner cap right into the wood pen holder. This would require you to drill a hole for the pen & inner cap (not all the way thru) and a small hole for the bolt. Then the 7mm hole from the bottom, but not drill all the way tru into the upper hole. Get that??

I personaly, would use a small piece of 7mm tube and a long bolt to the inner cap so you do not need to worry about drilling a hair too far. You will need to trim the bolt so that the metal part of the bolt does not exit the inner cap and damage the nib of the pen.
 

Dan_F

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Lee---The stud on the bottom of the plastic sleeve is tapped on the OUTSIDE of the stud, so it would screw into a nut, but a bolt would not screw into it. On the other hand, I might be able to find a flathead screw that would fit into the inside of the sleeve and not interfere with the nib. Another potential problem is the fact that the Gent section fits rather tightly into that sleeve, and I'm not sure that attempts to pull it out of the holder wouldn't result in the the whole set being dragged across the desk, which might nullify the whole coolness factor, if you know what I mean. The El Grande fits a lot looser, but I'm partial to the Gent section, so I may have to find another solution for the sleeve. I wonder if an El Toro/Presidente sleeve is any bigger than the El Grande? If so, it would probably work.

Dan
 
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