Pen Request

[PacePens]

Hello, I am new to this forum so please go easy on me. I have a request from a very good (and wealthy) customer for solid gold fittings on his pens. I cannot find any and since we all know how soft solid gold can be, I can't imagine finding a solid gold clip. Do you have any suggestions? I have been turning for about 2 years but only have about 200+ pens to my credit. I don't fear the quality but this fella will need to leave a deposit. Thanks,
Brett

 

[gerryr]

You don't really have any options, unless you want to buy 500-1000 kits from China to your specifications. That might get pretty expensive for just one customer. When he says solid gold I would guess he doesn't mean pure gold, which would be pretty useless in the clip. The technical requirement for something be to be solid gold is that it be at least 50% pure gold. Anything 12K or higher is technically and legally solid gold. 10K "gold" is not really gold since only 10/24 of it is actually gold. Bruce Boone probably knows more about this than I do, but I think 18K is about where it starts becoming too soft to be usable for things that are under tension.

The best you can do is Gold Titanium plating, unless you want to try making your own fittings out of 14k or 18K gold, which would not be easy and would still be very expensive.

And welcome to the madness.[]

 

[Dario]

WELCOME!!!

(sorry can't help you w/ a source). Most expensive pens I've seen are gold "filled" which is similar to plating but much much thicker. I bet that is the way to go atleast for the clip. Good luck!

 

[Chuck Key]

I would talk to a jeweler about this project.

Chuckie

 

[Randy_]

I suspect that you are out of luck. I doubt that you are likely to find over-the counter gold parts for crafting pens. You might see if there is a craft guild in your area that has some jewelry makers. They might be willing to cast some parts for you??

Another thing to try would be to contact the local colleges and see if any of them have art departments that teach jewelry making.

Use your favorite Internet search engine and plug in "craft guild lynchburg virginia" and you will get a bunch of hits that might lead you to some help??

Lynchburg is the home of Central Virginia Community College, Christ College, Liberty University, Lynchburg College, Randolph College, and Virginia University of Lynchburg. The Lynchburg MSA also includes Sweet Briar College.

 

[woodbutcher]

A good Jewler can fix you right up if the money is right.

 

[thewishman]

Welcome to the IAP and congrats on a unique project! Sounds like an interesting adventure.

Find a master jeweler that does his own casting. He can make molds using your regular pen parts and cast them. He can advise you on alloys as well. Once the molds are made, you can make the parts out of just about any metal/alloy.

Does the pen need a clip? If so, does the clip need to be functional?

Please let us know how the project progresses!

Chris

 

[ed4copies]

Plan B:

Use an existing kit, have in plated in 24 kt gold, then clear powder coated.

TELL the customer what you plan to do so you are not misleading him. This will give you a "pure gold" outside and the durability of powder coating.[][]

Yes, I have a source for 24kt gold plating if that is your next question. But I don't powder coat (yet).

 

[PacePens]

Thanks for all of your comments. I met with the customer briefly today and I am going to determine his actual level of interest. Wow on the responses. This forum is great. I plan on contributing eventually but I need more experience. This pen thing is certainly addictive and the interest from buyers keeps growing. I will be considering the Gold Titanium plating first and if he wants more I can see that the resources are available. Again, thanks.
Brett[:0]
Lynchburg Va