Kits with more "meat" on the tubes

[thewishman]

Hey Ed, saw your new Ambassador kit and the announcement of new kits in the works. Will any of the new kits provide for a thicker body - more "meat" on the tubes?

It would be nice to have extra room for things cast in resin without having to worry about making them bulge-y (if that is a word - to make the very ends of the barrel slope greatly to match the hardware while the rest of the barrel is fat.) A two barrel pen with an extra millimeter of room would be a great thing for me.

 

[ed4copies]

I have seen you ask for this before, in sections of the forum where I was not really encouraged to participate. HERE, we can explore this idea.

THANKS!!

A "meatier" pen will have to do one of two things: Reduce the diameter of the tube or
increase the outside diameter.

Are we thinking ballpoint, rollerball or fountain???

Bear in mind one of the "big beefs" you see on IAP is the Jr. Gent RB and FTN is too fat for women. The baron is better but it would still be nice to be "slimmer". So, one might think a fatter RB and FTN is a "non-starter". Of course that would be overlooking the Imperial, Lotus, Emperor, Majestic, etc. So, is this the direction you want to explore?

Or, in a ballpoint, the tube has to stay large enough for the parker refill (the Cross is not likely to succeed as a heavy pen). So, we might look at the Aero interior tube. NOW the problem is trying to find "stuff" that makes a cool pen, but will bend to that small diameter. Most gears are not going to co-operate. What other things are we trying to cast, where the extra "meat" is needed.

Yes, we are open to exploring new designs. And, now that I have a couple years of experience and purchasing records, I have SOME idea of what will sell enough units to merit exploration.

So, either here or in PM, be more specific, please.

Ed
The resinator (still) thanks to you!!

 

[edicehouse]

I recently got the Majestic squire, it seemed that there was more "meat" left when you turned down the blank. It is a classy looking pen, and not too over the top expensive. A single tube.

 

[navycop]

Whatabout Sierra or Wall St, Le Roi?

 

[edicehouse]

I don't care for (personally) the bottom twist. The Le Roi has about average amount it seems.

 

[thewishman]

Measurements taken from:
Pen Kit Bushings and Tubes
Revised 7-23-2010
Contributed by: Wayne Racinowski

SierraTwist BP 0.474 0.474

Sierra Vista 0.551 0.523

That .049" difference makes possible abalone, scorpions, circuitboards, coconut, watch parts and other things. What creativity would be unleashed with another pen style, say like a Zen or Electra. What about a Baron or Jr. Gent - who would have guessed that a Vista would have sold before it was launched.

Could not the difference in the thickness be divided between the tube and the overall diameter. That way neither would have to be too dramatically altered.

My sales are more dependent on interesting things that overall diameter - nobody has picked up a circuitboard pen and said, "I like it, but it is 5 one-hundredths of and inch too fat."

 

[commercialbuilder]

I agree that more meat left on the tube would be a great help if you have any slop in the drilling process. I do not see why a lot of the pen kits could not stay the same finished diameter and the tube size be reduced especially for rollerball kits, the tube only needs to be big enough for the cartridge.

 

[edstreet]

So something like the euro's perhaps?

 

[yaroslaw]

With RB/FTN kits diameter of upper tube is dependent on the coupling threads and size of a nib.

 

[Russianwolf]

especially for rollerball kits, the tube only needs to be big enough for the cartridge.

The hardware has to press into the tube, so you have to have space for that around the refill.

how much beefiness is on the hardware tennon? The thinner it is the more likely it could break or bend while pressing it into place.

All things that have to be considered.

I think the driving force to be honest is the brass tube.

My belief is that they have certain sizes available (have a look at the tube/bushing chart at how many are the same diameter) and build the hardware to suit the needs.

Some sizes (7mm) could never be used for a Rollerball/Fountain due to the refill size, hardware needing to press in.

As the tube diameter increases, the amount of meat needed to reach a finished diameter decreases. Meaning they can use less meat on the hardware and reduce the weight of the pen.