Directional Casting?

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How to face a label on a two part pen lower barrel

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jttheclockman

jttheclockman

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I am sure many are asking what in the world is he asking now? Well you do not see this much here so thought I would throw it out there and ask for examples if you have them. When casting items that have sort of a top and bottom to it or correct facing and upside down facing as you may. When casting in a two part kit and you cast the object on the nib section of the pen, do you cast the top facing the nib or the cap portion? Now say you are casting something that has direction in both the cap and the lower barrel of the pen, do you face both the same way or face the tops looking at each other? For example sake in case you are not following, You want to cast a watch face in both the cap section and the lower nib section, which way do you face the dials. I assume the cap is always top gets the 12. It is the nib section that the decision has to be made. This can be other things and not just watch dials. Take label casting and you use face or objects that have direction. Which way do you face the lower barrel item. ?? Thanks for playing along and would like to see examples. I ask because you have to think. When pen is closed you look at it one way but when you open to write with you look at pen a different way. I am sure there is no right or wrong way but a personal preference and would interested in seeing the consensus. Thanks.
 
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Look at the photos in show off you pens. The nib is generally pointed down or on the left. The design needs to flow from the left to the right. It is the way we read, and the photos in show off your pens tend to agree. If a pen is vertical when one picks it up they tend to look at it from left to right.
 
John; Interesting; I never thought about this until you brought it up. For any watch face, 12 toward the cap. but; I started to think of this in terms of text / writing. The label should appear readable when being used. If the person is left handed, one orientation, the other for right handed.

I suspect there is no right / wrong answer, but just personal preference of the user.
 
I make them so that they are going the same way when the pen is closed. That is the way a person will first see a pen. I understand what you're asking and to my eye, I think it would look odd if they were facing opposite but to all things in penmaking , to each his own.
 
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This is an old photo that I found I did many years ago here because I think I asked this question when I first started pen making. But I think we are combining 2 different questions but that is good also. My question here deals with photo "A" and "C" . On a 2 part pen like most rollerballs you want to put items in both the cap and the lower barrel. These parts have a top and bottom to them such as a clock face 12 being top and 6 being bottom. (As I said a decal can be used instead of a clockface) When the pen is closed and displayed or if someone picks it up to look at it they usually hold it with the cap up. If you use photo "A" the decals look right to the eye. But when you go to write with it and take it out of the cap the decals are now facing upside down as you write and those looking at the will hold it with the nib pointing down. The opposite of all this happens with photo "C" Weather you are right handed or not does not come into play with this part of the question.

But being right handed or left handed does come into play when using decals or other directional objects in Photo "B" because now you are looking at pen from the side or center. Then what Dogcatcher says about reading from left to right can play a part in the decision.

Hope this clears up the query somewhat. I tried looking for my very old thread on this but had no luck. I will look some more and see what we said back then. Thanks again everyone for your thoughts.
 
I'm now curious...when someone picks up a pen, how do they hold it?

I guess, for me, now that I'm paying attention, I almost always seem to hold my pens, or any pen for that matter, with the nib to the left, clip to the right. For a capped pen, its the same way, regardless of whether the cap is screwed/pressed over the nib or on the finial. In which case, if a label were running the length of the blank, it would make sense to have it read left to right, in the orientation I'm holding the pen. So, start of the label would, in this case, be towards the nib.

Is it just me that holds pens like this? I'm curious now how other people hold pens. Is this a handed issue? I'm right handed...would be curious to know if left handed writers hold pens the other way, while right handed hold the same way I do? Or, is it just random?
 
I always orient the castings toward the cap with the pen closed. That means the castings for the body would be oriented toward the nib. I also believe the castings should be consistent between both the Cap and Body which would be example A in your diagram.
 
TDahl said:
I always orient the castings toward the cap with the pen closed. That means the castings for the body would be oriented toward the nib. I also believe the castings should be consistent between both the Cap and Body which would be example A in your diagram.
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The square part on the bottom of my pens is not the nib. Those pens represent a closed 2 part pen.
 
The key time to appeal to the customer is when they are considering making a purchase. The pen has to look right when they first examine it, otherwise they will pass it by. Make the pen look right in that setting.

A. Displays best
B. Okay
C. Does not look right
 
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