kitless

My dry cleaner is closing shop. I made him and his wife a gift for their retirement. He frequently told me to “Have a high quality day. “ I hope he has a high quality retirement.

Apologies - I hardly belong in "advanced" anything, as I've never turned a pen before. But it seems the most fitting place for the question. My friend has a particular snap cap rollerball pen that he uses pretty exclusively. I'd like to basically try to replicate it, except turned on the lathe...

You can never predict when inspiration will strike. The Mrs. made a dessert that got me thinking. This was the result. I casted the blank in Alumilite clear slow, Jowo #6 nib. I transitioned the colors at the section. I need to improve my inside sanding but it’s ok for my first try. I asked her...

All black Japanese ebonite with an Atrax clip. I was focused on the polishing and I’m happy with it. I usually go for way more color in my pens but the shine on this one is the appeal for me.

I was asked to make a Fountain Pen for the retired religious Education Specialist of a local Unitarian Universalist Church. Their emblem is a burning chalice. The client provided a gold bock nib. She wanted a heavy pen in spalted maple, which tends to be very light. I used brass sleeves to...

The following are Bock and Jowo #6 fountain pens 13mm triple start thread 10x.8 mm section thread Midwesthybrids Blanks: alumilite, glitter and stabilized maple burl inserts and sections in house poured from alumilite CA sealed the glitter Oddie’s Oil sealed the wood after full sanding and...

Hello IAP, I have been looking for a blank for a while and can’t seem to find it. I was looking for tortoise shell style blanks and haven’t quite found what I was looking for. Then I saw it in the Esterbrook Estie. They call it honeycomb. Does anyone know where I can find something similar...

Just finished up with my first three kitless pens. The first was the prototype so it's not worth showing here but the second and third turned out ok, I think. I made my own alumilite blanks and turned them on my smallish Rikon wood lathe using Easy Wood Tools negative rake cutters (they are...

I have a few kitless pen blanks made with alumilite clear slow resin cast in a bespoke mold from ptownsubbie. They range from translucent to transparent with swirls. These are excellent demonstrator fountain pens, asking $15 each plus priority shipping. If you're interested in more pictures...

Thank you for taking the time to check out our new vendor forum on the IAP! My brother and I started making pens in 2013 after our grandfather wanted to try his hand at working on a lathe. The Pensmiths was born when we started experimenting with our own custom blanks. We specialize in quality...

Friends, I find myself struggling to add space behind the body’s threads where it will work with a cap. (see attached images) Naturally, it’s not difficult for me to simply turn down extra material behind the threads, but when I go to put the cap on, the cap wants to stop twisting as it...

Kindly ignore the dirty threads. I still need to wipe it down. But this was a pen that I started and finished yesterday afternoon. This one marks my second completed kitless pen, and while still not perfect, proved to be yet another learning experience. I accidentally snapped the threads of...

After approximately 15 failed attempts, and a lot of help from you fine folks, I finally was able to finish my first kitless pen this afternoon. Feedback and critiques are of course welcome. I am gonna churn a few more out I think before I start venturing into clips and accent rings...

There is a couple of reference guides here and a couple of YouTube vids out on making clips but besides that,I don’t see much. I see Castro has a great vid on turning 50 cal brass into clips but is there a place I can go to learn how to make these things from scratch like cutting and bending...

Greetings Here is my Birthday Bash entry. I started designing in November and barely made the Feb. cutoff. Counting my previous Bash entry I made four pens in a year. Three kitless and a one kit. I gotta get faster at making pens! The pen is a syringe piston filler. I used two o-rings as the...

So, I want to transition from kit pens to kitless fountain pens. I need triple or double tap and die sets. Turners Warehouse is out of several sizes. Is there another place I’m missing in the states to buy these things? I hear about group buys? Just curious on how these work as well. And is...

Hi all. This is a great site for a newbie like me, a big thank you to all the members. I'm running into an issue joining a kitless pen cap and a pen body. I made my own mandrel, as shown below. I plan to use it to hold the pen body and pen cap when I shape them on the lathe. I used a...

I haven't post anything for a while. This was my latest creation submitted to the PAG Best in Show 2019. Now that the competition is over, I can post photos. This is my largest pen so far, at 15.8mm body and an 11.5mm cap. The material is Tasmanian Myrtle Burl with Japanese Ebonite and Bronze...

Hi, folks. I am looking for some entry-level guidance. I want to learn more about fitting rings on bodies and caps of kitless pens. I have ideas of how one "might" do it. I'm just not willing to entirely reinvent the wheel today. Any help/advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

First things first: A huge shout out to MRedburn! I messaged him with several questions and he was incredibly helpful. Thanks again! This is my first attempt at a kitless pen. I made the blank using alumilite and pearl ex powders. The nib is a #6 Jowo stub from Meisternibs. I used a 9MM X...