Advice on Local Commercial Pen Makers?

[johntdavis]

Hello. I hope everyone reading this is having a good day. I needed some advice and apologize in advance if this is the wrong sub forum. I wasn't quite sure where to post it.

A friend and I have a small online pen company in the Dallas area. We are interested in marketing a fountain pen we have designed (we have sketches, measurements, and written descriptions of what we would like to do). Our next step is to get a prototype made so we can test and refine our design.

Is there anyone in the area that does this sort of work? If not, who would you recommend elsewhere?

Thank you for your help.

 

[Skie_M]

Talk to Smitty. He's in the vendor forums, and he's just finishing up pre-orders on his Great Palace Vine pens that were recently designed using super-premium materials. Way too expensive for my pocketbook, but I'm sure he knows exactly where to send ya!

 

[johntdavis]

Talk to Smitty. He's in the vendor forums, and he's just finishing up pre-orders on his Great Palace Vine pens that were recently designed using super-premium materials. Way too expensive for my pocketbook, but I'm sure he knows exactly where to send ya!

Thanks. I'll send him a message.

 

[thewishman]

John, Smitty was placing an order for pens that were already designed by the manufacturer, not designing new pens. If you want to do a one-off you can go a few different ways:

Ask a pen maker to make on from your plans (this will probably need to be paid for, depending on the maker) - you can ask in the classified forum here, you'll use a free Wanted posting.

Have someone draw up your design in cad/cam and get it done by a machine shop or 3d printer. Both options will likely require you to pay for services - is there a maker space in your area? Or a school with engineering or design programs?