Looking for a collaboration/comission

[Sworist]

Hello,

I've mostly delved into the world of pen making about a year ago when I fell in love with Sailor's nibs. However I am not a fan of their ppma resin bodies that they come with. They just feel cheap to me. I've tried their KOP line and others but the pens are too large. So I embarked on a journey to custom make a barrel/cap/grip to fit the nib/feed of the pen.

Anyways, long story short- I only have experience in machining metal. So I started off by designing and making a pen out of brass/aluminum. Countless hours later (I prototyped etc) I have a fully working version which I was going to have lacquered with urushi. However, it just is too heavy for comfort. Capless, the pen weighs around 30 grams currently which will only get heavier when finished, with the cap the weight is around 50+ grams. I am not too happy with the profile either, to be honest.

Originally, I was going to learn how to turn ebonite to finish making a new pen, but time is my enemy currently since I am bogged down with stuff to do - I want to learn just right now it seems impossible.

The finish is not necessary since I've reserved some slots for Ernest Shin to do his urushi work on them . This does provide a complication with threads however since you need to have a little bit of play in them for the lacquer: the threads for cap/barrel need a 75-80% tolerance.

There is no need for a clip, since I seem to not be able to source them anywhere.

I am wondering if there is someone who would be willing to manufacture the barrel/cap for me out of ebonite if I provide the material/costs? The grip is already finished and I am happy with it.


Anyways thanks for the consideration, I've attached a picture of the brass pen that was made in custom for the feed system, just as food for thought

Best,
Nam

 

[FGarbrecht]

You might want to try the Fountain Pen Network website. There is a list of people who take work on commission. I know there are a number of people here also who have the skills necessary to do what you want but I don't know if any actually work on commission; hopefully someone will chime in.

As an aside, ebonite is not too difficult to work with, and I do all my ebonite work on the metal lathe. If you already have the appropriate tooling, you can turn out a cap and barrel set in an hour or two, particularly since you already have a section and there isn't much shaping necessary for the profile of the pen you want (could be completely shaped between centers and then parted off). And since you are having urushi put on, all you need is a nice smooth surface, not a finished glasslike ebonite. I have been learning urushi finishing, and the threading obstacle is not actually a major problem. I use standard triple start tap and die sets on urushi'd barrel threading, and although it can be a bit tight, it is doable especially if you use acetone thinned lacquer so the you get the nice appearance without adding more than a thou or so of additional thickness.

Good luck with your project, hope you are able to find someone to help out.

 

[Sworist]

You might want to try the Fountain Pen Network website. There is a list of people who take work on commission. I know there are a number of people here also who have the skills necessary to do what you want but I don't know if any actually work on commission; hopefully someone will chime in.

As an aside, ebonite is not too difficult to work with, and I do all my ebonite work on the metal lathe. If you already have the appropriate tooling, you can turn out a cap and barrel set in an hour or two, particularly since you already have a section and there isn't much shaping necessary for the profile of the pen you want (could be completely shaped between centers and then parted off). And since you are having urushi put on, all you need is a nice smooth surface, not a finished glasslike ebonite. I have been learning urushi finishing, and the threading obstacle is not actually a major problem. I use standard triple start tap and die sets on urushi'd barrel threading, and although it can be a bit tight, it is doable especially if you use acetone thinned lacquer so the you get the nice appearance without adding more than a thou or so of additional thickness.

Good luck with your project, hope you are able to find someone to help out.

Worst comes to worst, I will put the project off for a couple of months till things die down and I have time to learn. The profile I want is not what is shown here - I am thinking of a more Nakaya shape which complicates things as well.

Another problem is that people with their own business generally refuse this type of commission, since it's working with sailor's proprietary parts - which I totally understand. I'll try the FPN network too, thanks for the reminder!

I am not sure what Ernest will do with the threads but I guess a tap and die set is a choice I could make.

Thanks,
Nam

 

[FGarbrecht]

I drew up a design and drawings for a Nakaya style FP recently; it's on my queue of ebonite/urushi pens to start working on. I've done a few pens in this style but can't put myself out there as an expert yet (otherwise I'd help you out). Just curious, whats the threading spec for the feed on this pen?
Wish you luck on this. In worst case you'll have a good reason to put some ebonite on your lathe

 

[Sworist]

I drew up a design and drawings for a Nakaya style FP recently; it's on my queue of ebonite/urushi pens to start working on. I've done a few pens in this style but can't put myself out there as an expert yet (otherwise I'd help you out). Just curious, whats the threading spec for the feed on this pen?
Wish you luck on this. In worst case you'll have a good reason to put some ebonite on your lathe

The grip/barrel threads were 0.5mm pitch. 8.9mm was the diameter I cut into ..... maybe 8.8mm OD on the grip barrel?

 

[TonyL]

Woops...I just saw the thread sizes.