wiz9777
Member
I have only been turning about 5 months now and I wanted to do something ridiculous. I wanted to see how ridiculously small I could make a fountain pen with a #5 nib that I pulled off an old kit. That was the 1st criteria because that is nib I had. As I was sketching out some designs I decided that using a cartridge would make the pen to big. So my 2nd criteria became that the ink capacity would be no more than 1/4 of a cartridge. Then I realized that I could save some space if I made a smaller feed. Voila, my 3rd criteria.
Here is my attempt:
This was made with one Aquapearl White Pearl 3/4" round by 5" long blank. I made a very small (peg) jam chuck for the section/barrel, and a small (screw) chuck for the cap. The chucks where made from the same blank and used to sand the ends of the pieces.
The cap is 0.75" at its widest, and 1.25" tall. I used a 7/17" drill and tapped with a 1/2"x20 thread.
The section/barrel is 1.25" long, 0.688" at the base and 0.485" at the threads. The hole was drilled 1" deep with a 13/64" bit and widened a little at the top to fit the nib with a 15/64".
The feed is the (peg) jam chuck that I used to sand the bottom of the section. Then I carved it based on Lewis Edson Waterman's 1881 design as described in Richard Binder's webpage " RichardsPens.com • Pens That Write Right! ". I also carved it so the nib sits flush with the circumference of the feed.
The nib and feed are pressure fit into the section. This gives about a 6.35mm by 5.16mm empty cylinder that is used as the ink reservoir. If I did my math right that gives an ink capacity of 0.133 ml. The pen is filled by removing the nib and feed and dropping a FEW drops in. (BTW, When you put the nib an feed back, use a paper towel. You WILL put to much ink in.) Just to make it even more ridiculous, I gave it a Mario Brothers paint job.
The math that I used for ink volume:
volume = Pi * radius squared * length
132.79 cubic mm = 3.14 * (2.58mm * 2.58mm) * 6.35mm
1 ml = 1000 cubic mm
133 cubic mm / 1000 = 0.133 ml
I have to say this was a lot of fun. Not just turning it, but the whole design and calculations also. The biggest laugh I got was when I inked it up AND IT WORKED!!! The ink stayed in the pen and it worked better than the kit that I took the nib from.
Please feel free to critique this. I can't learn unless someone points out what I have not seen.
Here is my attempt:
This was made with one Aquapearl White Pearl 3/4" round by 5" long blank. I made a very small (peg) jam chuck for the section/barrel, and a small (screw) chuck for the cap. The chucks where made from the same blank and used to sand the ends of the pieces.
The cap is 0.75" at its widest, and 1.25" tall. I used a 7/17" drill and tapped with a 1/2"x20 thread.
The section/barrel is 1.25" long, 0.688" at the base and 0.485" at the threads. The hole was drilled 1" deep with a 13/64" bit and widened a little at the top to fit the nib with a 15/64".
The feed is the (peg) jam chuck that I used to sand the bottom of the section. Then I carved it based on Lewis Edson Waterman's 1881 design as described in Richard Binder's webpage " RichardsPens.com • Pens That Write Right! ". I also carved it so the nib sits flush with the circumference of the feed.
The nib and feed are pressure fit into the section. This gives about a 6.35mm by 5.16mm empty cylinder that is used as the ink reservoir. If I did my math right that gives an ink capacity of 0.133 ml. The pen is filled by removing the nib and feed and dropping a FEW drops in. (BTW, When you put the nib an feed back, use a paper towel. You WILL put to much ink in.) Just to make it even more ridiculous, I gave it a Mario Brothers paint job.
The math that I used for ink volume:
volume = Pi * radius squared * length
132.79 cubic mm = 3.14 * (2.58mm * 2.58mm) * 6.35mm
1 ml = 1000 cubic mm
133 cubic mm / 1000 = 0.133 ml
I have to say this was a lot of fun. Not just turning it, but the whole design and calculations also. The biggest laugh I got was when I inked it up AND IT WORKED!!! The ink stayed in the pen and it worked better than the kit that I took the nib from.
Please feel free to critique this. I can't learn unless someone points out what I have not seen.