New some expert advice

[Manny]

Friend of mine has asked me to make a pen as a gift for a collage buddy who is starting a collection

Here is a photo of the pens he has now.

any suggestions on what I should make would be awesome.

I see some Mont blancs an Aurora and some watermans. Seems he has a taste for black. I was thinking black Bakelight but not sure what kit. Can anyone identify the middle pens?

 

[holmqer]

The braided metal ones look like Porsche Design TecFlex. The blue one looks like a Dunhill Sidecar. The Carbon Fiber one looks like a Dunhill Sentryman.

The easiest would be a Euro kit which looks like the Montblanc on the left. Given his taste for dark, but considering that he already has a Montblank, I would go for ebonized oak or ebony instead of Bakelight. An alternative would be to get one of the carbon fiber blanks that some folks cast and use it in a Patriot / Carbara kit as a merger of the Dunhill and Porsche Design pens.

 

[BRobbins629]

Seems like most of these are ballpoint or rollerball. I would go with a nice fountain pen, a Jr Gent if he can afford it. Get some ebonite from exoticblanks.com. It will fit right in and is a classic material for collectibles.

 

[stolicky]

I believe the 3rd and 4th from the right are also Montblancs. I don't know the middle ones.

What about something like a Jr. Statesman? I wouldn't go any bigger based on what's here. Keeping to a darker and more conservative color definitely seems to be the way to go. Unless, you think he might want a wild one in canary yellow or something...! We all have have those days at some point. Sorry, that's about all I have this time of day.

 

[pianomanpj]

I think a Churchill dressed in ebonite would fit nicely in this group. YMMV

 

[Rifleman1776]

A snake Gent or Jr. Gent; or a knock-out burl such as Big Leaf Maple; alternate ivory Emperor; cartridge. For a collector, there are many styles and materials one could build on.

 

[gketell]

personally i'd go with something like a platinum sedona w/ african blackwood and a "shadow celtic knot" where the segments for the knot are layups of aluminum/african blackwood/aluminum. subtle, yet showing a bit more class than anything in the collection so far.

my second choice would be a black ti sedona w/ snakeskin.

gk

 

[TowMater]

I think I'd go a different direction here. A nice two toned amboyna burl on a black ti Jr statesmen or emporer/lotus whatever. Stand out from the crowd a bit. Everyone who looks at his collection will see your pen first, as will he.

 

[jkeithrussell]

I think I'd go a different direction here. A nice two toned amboyna burl on a black ti Jr statesmen or emporer/lotus whatever. Stand out from the crowd a bit. Everyone who looks at his collection will see your pen first, as will he.

Ditto.

Plus, it will be nicer than any of the pens that he already owns.

 

[Manny]

Awesome advice. Thanks guys!

 

[Sabaharr]

I tend to follow the thinking of TowMater. I would do a Cambridge in a two toned burl, or at least in a wood with nice chatoyance. I am actually doing one in Red Morrell burl now myself. Careful the kit you choose if you decide to go this way. The wood gets REALLY thin on a Cambridge. Shattered one blank already, but the second one is holding up with a LOT of TLC in the turning process.

 

[Munsterlander]

If you stay with the darker theme of much of the collection, african blackwood burl, ziricote or maybe a darker piece of mun ebony on a nice rhodium fountain pen. But I do like TowMater's suggestion, and something like two-tone amboyna would definitely draw the eye - although, maybe overwhelmingly so. Recently did a rhodium (or is it chrome?) Panache with Ziricote - it looks very classy _and_ unusual.