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NGLJ

NGLJ

Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2021
Messages
386
Location
Surrey BC, Canada
As you will have perhaps noticed that I am quite new to bespoke pens. Today I found out that our older son is getting re-married. My thought was to make a "custom" fountain pen for signing the marriage register, and as a keepsake. The earliest that the marriage will take place is August. I have never made any kind of fountain pen let alone a custom one. Do I need my "Phrenology Bumps" read or with help here is this doable? I should point out that I don't yet have any of the specialist equipment needed. What is considered to be the "minimum" kit to make this practical? Which fountain pen nib should I consider as a good starting point? Cost may prove to make this a non-starter at this point, and I end up using a high end fountain pen kit, perhaps with an open-ended body as minimal customization. All help is of course much valued, and appreciated.
 
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NGLJ said:
As you will have perhaps noticed that I am quite new to bespoke pens. Today I found out that our older son is getting re-married. My thought was to make a "custom" fountain pen for signing the marriage register, and as a keepsake. The earliest that the marriage will take place is August. I have never made any kind of fountain pen let alone a custom one. Do I need my "Phrenology Bumps" read or with help here is this doable? I should point out that I don't yet have any of the specialist equipment needed. What is considered to be the "minimum" kit to make this practical? Which fountain pen nib should I consider as a good starting point? Cost may prove to make this a non-starter at this point, and I end up using a high end fountain pen kit, perhaps with an open-ended body as minimal customization. All help is of course much valued, and appreciated.
Click to expand...
As David @d_bondi already said, a great middle step is the Bullseye kits. These are excellent kits, in the traditional build style of a kitless pen. The kits eliminate the need for threading by design and give you a really professional looking finished product while eliminating the high cost of special tooling beyond the mandrel. Kate Harrow and her family run the biz and their stuff is quality!

If you really want to go the kitless route, you can significantly reduce the cost of putting together a pretty nice custom pen by limiting your threading to single start threads. The real only downside is it will take a couple more turns to open the pen (only a pen snob will know!). The upside is you can do grain or pattern matching in the blank between the cap and the body, as the threads always start and stop in the same place vs the random hit with a triple thread. You will need a tap and die for the cap to body thread and a tap for the section to nib housing thread. I suggest using a Jowo nib - #6 is the most common and a 13 x 1 thread for the cap connection - just be sure to buy the correct tap for the section to match the nib. Blank, drilling, and most finishing steps are the same as a kit pen, so you should have those covered. I also believe that no matter what you choose, the shear fact that you made the pen for the happy couple will make it special, so I wouldn't sweat the small stuff!

Kevin
 
NJturner said:
As David @d_bondi already said, a great middle step is the Bullseye kits. These are excellent kits, in the traditional build style of a kitless pen. The kits eliminate the need for threading by design and give you a really professional looking finished product while eliminating the high cost of special tooling beyond the mandrel. Kate Harrow and her family run the biz and their stuff is quality!

If you really want to go the kitless route, you can significantly reduce the cost of putting together a pretty nice custom pen by limiting your threading to single start threads. The real only downside is it will take a couple more turns to open the pen (only a pen snob will know!). The upside is you can do grain or pattern matching in the blank between the cap and the body, as the threads always start and stop in the same place vs the random hit with a triple thread. You will need a tap and die for the cap to body thread and a tap for the section to nib housing thread. I suggest using a Jowo nib - #6 is the most common and a 13 x 1 thread for the cap connection - just be sure to buy the correct tap for the section to match the nib. Blank, drilling, and most finishing steps are the same as a kit pen, so you should have those covered. I also believe that no matter what you choose, the shear fact that you made the pen for the happy couple will make it special, so I wouldn't sweat the small stuff!

Kevin
Click to expand...
Thanks Kevin for the most helpful response. For expediency, I will definitely consider the Bullseye kits. The results do indeed look good. However, I do wish to try and develop general skills for kitless pens. With that in mind I have contacted Rick Herrells about a tail-stock die holder. Many of my efforts so far for Cross style refills without that are producing slightly mis-aligned cap and body results. At this point, I don't see myself getting into the intricacies of starting threads, but who knows what the future holds!
 
NJturner said:
As David @d_bondi already said, a great middle step is the Bullseye kits. These are excellent kits, in the traditional build style of a kitless pen. The kits eliminate the need for threading by design and give you a really professional looking finished product while eliminating the high cost of special tooling beyond the mandrel. Kate Harrow and her family run the biz and their stuff is quality!

If you really want to go the kitless route, you can significantly reduce the cost of putting together a pretty nice custom pen by limiting your threading to single start threads. The real only downside is it will take a couple more turns to open the pen (only a pen snob will know!). The upside is you can do grain or pattern matching in the blank between the cap and the body, as the threads always start and stop in the same place vs the random hit with a triple thread. You will need a tap and die for the cap to body thread and a tap for the section to nib housing thread. I suggest using a Jowo nib - #6 is the most common and a 13 x 1 thread for the cap connection - just be sure to buy the correct tap for the section to match the nib. Blank, drilling, and most finishing steps are the same as a kit pen, so you should have those covered. I also believe that no matter what you choose, the shear fact that you made the pen for the happy couple will make it special, so I wouldn't sweat the small stuff!

Kevin
Click to expand...
I have a M13 x 1 set for the cap to body connection. As far as I can see I need an M7.5 x 0.5 tap for a Jowo #6 for the nib to section, and M10 x 1 for the section to body. Is this correct?
 
NGLJ said:
I have a M13 x 1 set for the cap to body connection. As far as I can see I need an M7.5 x 0.5 tap for a Jowo #6 for the nib to section, and M10 x 1 for the section to body. Is this correct?
Click to expand...

The M13x1will absolutely work for Cap/Barrel, and the M10x1 is a good pairing for Section/Barrel. Technically the Jowo #6 tap is a M7.4x.5.

If you are ordering something from Rick (@rherrell), pick up one of his Step Drills for the Jowo #6, it will replace drilling with 4 different bits and I think he charges only $15 labor plus the material cost of the bit itself. It really makes the section drilling much easier!
 
NGLJ said:
Just found out that the wedding has been brought forward to next month. So, I will go with the Apollo kit and mandrels for now. I believe Rick makes step drills for that.
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He does. Just FYI, I have not had problems making the Apollo using standard drill bits and following the instructions.
 
d_bondi said:
He does. Just FYI, I have not had problems making the Apollo using standard drill bits and following the instructions.
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I agree with David - measure carefully and use standard bits for the Apollo. The stepped bits from Rick are really excellent- I use one for my Jowo sections - but the Apollo drilling is not as complex and the parts are much bigger than a section, so some of the advantage of the step drill are lost. If you do order one from Rick, take a look at his section mandrel as well - another time and aggravation saver.

As for the Jowo tap - it sounds like you may have also seen or been in the first IAP die/tap group buy where the Jowo tap was slightly off sized. The 7.4 x .5 is the way to go.

Good luck!!!
 
Apollo/Artemis kits: The easiest "error" to make on these kits is epoxying the cap insert flush with the end of the cap. You want it set back at least 1mm to 1.5mm. This allows the cap to drop over the shoulder of the body insert and gives you a touching body to cap meeting.

Hope that made sense. Reach out to Kate Harrow at Bullseye, she is awesome to work with.
 
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