How did they make this ??

[wizard]

There may be a simple answer to this question and if so I apologize in advance for my lack of knowledge of machining. This is a pen in my collection made by Pilot Namiki called the MU/M90. I would like to know if anyone has any idea as to how this was made out of a solid block of stainless steel ? Can something like this even be possible on a metal lathe? Doc
Edit:
I know it's made from stainless steel and nib and pen are one piece:
Namiki :: Limited Editions - MU/M90 Fountain Pen

 

[paintspill]

i can't answer your question but that is cool. can you post a picture of the underside of the nib?

 

[Andrew_K99]

Best guess would be a piece of rolled steel that was laser cut. The seem would then be soldered just like the nib was. A picture of the underside might confirm this.

 

[MarkD]

That's a pretty cool pen. I have no idea how it was made but it looks like something Skiprat would come up with.

 

[wizard]

Underside of nib posted. Doc

 

[mredburn]

It will take more operations than a metal lathe can preform. most of the shaping can be done on a lathe easily, the grind for the nib underneath the slit could be done by other tools while on the lathe. My bet is a 5 or more axis cnc machine. Not just a cnc lathe or cnc mill. Some of the machines they have can do amazing things

 

[mredburn]

Doc does the feed unscrew to have the ink refilled?

 

[Russianwolf]

Can it be done on a metal lathe? Should be.

All this looks like to me is they made a section/housing for the feed that is shaped like a nib and then cut the slit and welded on the tip as they would for any nib.

The feed likely just slides in and out with a friction fit.

Likely done on a CNC lathe or mill in their case.

 

[wizard]

Doc does the feed unscrew to have the ink refilled?

Mike, This is the refill mechanism. The "converter" is not removable and you can't use cartridges. Not sure why it was designed that way? That pretty much shot my usage of this pen because I'm not crazy about carrying an ink bottle in the hospital to refill it. Doc

 

[glycerine]

Interesting... I think I'll try that with one of my brass tubes!! :biggrin:

 

[Russianwolf]

oh its removable, just not easily.

yeah, to be able to see how they did it exactly you'd need to take the pen apart all the way. The feed may be some one off design that is made specifically for this pen.

But think of it this way.

The feed in our kits or kitless pens is round. it may have a keyed portion or may not. So the nib is also round. All they've done here is made the nib the holder.

Thinking about it, I'm betting that feed is pressed in from the back end, or may even come out with the rest of the converter mechanism when disassembled. Some kind of stop on the back end that provides a seal for the converter mech.

 

[Texatdurango]

Doc, I'm curious, in their ad they say..."The MU/M90 comes in a fine and medium, one-piece steel nib with blue ink cartridge".

I wonder why they say "Blue ink cartridge" when it only comes with a converter, or are they calling the converter a cartridge?

 

[Russianwolf]

apparently this was done before too..


1970 vintage PARKER T-1 Fountain Pen w/Box - TITANIUM | eBay

The Parker T1

 

[jd99]

My guess is the pen body was made by metal spinning, then the nib was cut with a laser.

not neccesarly made from a tube, but from a flat peice of metal.

shear forming - spinning - machining on a ZENN CNC metal spinning machine - YouTube

Used to run one of these towards the end of my Tool and Die Career, it's a scary machine, loud as H, and you don't want to be around it when a blank spins off the end of it.

Or maybe a smaller version of this, (It's still a spining operation)
Tube Tapering Machine - YouTube

 

[frank123]

I'd guess a piece of DOM tube further roll (spin) formed to shape on a mandrel then laser cut and welded.

At least that would be my amateur first approach, but I'm certainly not an engineer.

Could probably be hand done an a lathe -metal or wood- and the nib cut made with delicate sawing, grinding, and welding operations, but not very efficient that way for manufacturing purposes.

A reference to consider when thinking about how to do it Metal spinning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[wizard]

Doc, I'm curious, in their ad they say..."The MU/M90 comes in a fine and medium, one-piece steel nib with blue ink cartridge".

I wonder why they say "Blue ink cartridge" when it only comes with a converter, or are they calling the converter a cartridge?

George,
Have off this A.M. so.. I dug out the box.. and read the instructions...:redface: jeez..the converter did come out ..very tight fit...and I put in a Private Reserve Cartridge and good to go... The box didn't come with a blue cartridge but came with a bottle of blue ink which was also still in the box...and been there a while:redface:. When I put the cartridge in, it goes in almost all the way in the body with very little left showing. The converter is extremely long and only 1/2 is visible.
Doc

Edit: It's weird..as long as the converter is...I couldn't get it to hold much ink..

 

[penmaker56]

The M90 is basically a re-issue of the old Pilot Murex of the '70's-80's, as they were trying to copy Parker's T-1, which was made out of titanium, which was only made for 1 year due to the manufacturing difficulties of titanium, and if memory serves me, CNC's were not around then.

 

[Russianwolf]

The M90 is basically a re-issue of the old Pilot Murex of the '70's-80's, as they were trying to copy Parker's T-1, which was made out of titanium, which was only made for 1 year due to the manufacturing difficulties of titanium, and if memory serves me, CNC's were not around then.

punchcard NC machines were though.

 

[Texatdurango]

.........Have off this A.M. so.. I dug out the box.. and read the instructions...:redface: jeez..the converter did come out ..very tight fit...and I put in a Private Reserve Cartridge and good to go............

......Edit: It's weird..as long as the converter is...I couldn't get it to hold much ink..

Now you can just fill your pockets with cartridges and head off to work!

As for the converter not holding much ink, have you tried this... Dip the nib fully into a bottle of ink and squeeze the converter until air bubbles stop coming out into the ink bottle then upright the pen allowing the ink to run down into the bottom of the converter then lower it back into the ink bottle again then squeeze some more? When you do this and see tiny air bubbles coming out again, you know you are drawing more ink in.

When you repeat this process a third or even fourth time and see no more air bubbles then you know the converter is full. Never just rely on squeezing it a few times and calling it good.

 

[PTsideshow]

Have to agree with JD99 on the spinning machine, With the computer controlled equipment they have today it could be micro welded then micro ground and then chemical/electrically polished so the would be no sign of the seam.
A very nice piece of work.
:clown:

 

[joefyffe]

I was thinking more like a piece of turned Amboyna!!! :biggrin: Sealed with Shellac, CA, and Renaissance, of course!!

Interesting... I think I'll try that with one of my brass tubes!! :biggrin:

 

[btboone]

It's probably CNC lathe turned from solid bar then lasered for the tip. (Or the tip part swaged into its conical shape from a stainless tube.) You can see the laser cut in the nib view. Not terribly hard to do with the right equipment. I don't know if the nib slit was done with a laser or slitting saw like usual. If the part is very thin, it could be done by a fiber laser without too much in the way of burrs. I'm working on getting a cutting fiber laser that could do stuff like that pretty efficiently.