Dr Robert
Member
Greetings!!!
Several years ago a colleague approached me while I was teaching at Temple University and proudly showed me a slimline pen he had turned. From that point on I was addicted to the hobby. I have thoroughly enjoyed turning "kit pens" from a lot of different manufacturers along with casting blanks from all different kinds of resins along with natural and man made materials. I have obviously accumulated a myriad of instruments and equipment to facilitate this. I am now however ready to move on to the custom realm of turning. I have ZERO experience with taps and dies to,create custom threads. What I have seen on YouTube videos seem to be limited to acrylic threading. I am not adverse to getting a metal lathe to turn metal,components, not the body or cap however. At the Philadelphia Pen Show I met an extraordinary young man with an impressive display of wooden and antler custom pens. It seemed to me that all of the fountain pens had housing holding nib and feed "grip" sections made from Ebonite. These were all so uniform and perfect to lead me to believe they may have been mass produced and purchased to fit the pen diameter. The threaded cap end was metal along with the section receiver or coupler. What I am leading up to is learning to perhaps turning closed end pens first with prefabed metal couplers and Ebonite "grip" sections. What resource or course could someone recommend for me as an introduction to "semi-custom" turning using a few prefabed components? Where could I obtain these couplers? Once I get my "feet wet" I may jump to a metal lathe and learn to cut custom threads. Thank You .... Dr Bob Starner
Several years ago a colleague approached me while I was teaching at Temple University and proudly showed me a slimline pen he had turned. From that point on I was addicted to the hobby. I have thoroughly enjoyed turning "kit pens" from a lot of different manufacturers along with casting blanks from all different kinds of resins along with natural and man made materials. I have obviously accumulated a myriad of instruments and equipment to facilitate this. I am now however ready to move on to the custom realm of turning. I have ZERO experience with taps and dies to,create custom threads. What I have seen on YouTube videos seem to be limited to acrylic threading. I am not adverse to getting a metal lathe to turn metal,components, not the body or cap however. At the Philadelphia Pen Show I met an extraordinary young man with an impressive display of wooden and antler custom pens. It seemed to me that all of the fountain pens had housing holding nib and feed "grip" sections made from Ebonite. These were all so uniform and perfect to lead me to believe they may have been mass produced and purchased to fit the pen diameter. The threaded cap end was metal along with the section receiver or coupler. What I am leading up to is learning to perhaps turning closed end pens first with prefabed metal couplers and Ebonite "grip" sections. What resource or course could someone recommend for me as an introduction to "semi-custom" turning using a few prefabed components? Where could I obtain these couplers? Once I get my "feet wet" I may jump to a metal lathe and learn to cut custom threads. Thank You .... Dr Bob Starner