Black Palm Safari

[PenWorks]

This is something a little different. One of the best pens I sell is a $25.00 Lamy Safari FP. German engineering at its best. I hate to say it, but I write with one everyday, you can't break it, and writes in demand every time. I think one of the reasons the ink always is wet on the nib, is the air tight snap cap they designed. Very simple yet effective. Also this is a one piece front section molded together which is air tight & leak proof.

Anyways, a couple pen barrels made it threw, black palm & spalted yellow birch, two others broke while threading the inside of the wood.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Old Griz]

Now that is real cool... it is a shame you can't do the cap also... but I love the idea...
How did you tap the wood for the nib section...

 

[PenWorks]

Tom, I used a hand tap to cut the threads. Wood does not take to cutting fine threads to well. I think the next ones I do. I am going to insert some type of poly tubing into the wood pen barrel and thread the tubing, this way I should avoid the pressure and splitting that happened on the other two. I was going to do a cap as well, but I know I would not have been able to duplicate the presise tollerances they have and that's one of the things that keep this pen writing all the time. they way the cap snaps over the front section, and the clip is pretty cool.

 

[Ryan]

Nice stuff. I like the yellow birch. Where did you get them pens?? I kinda like the idea of a square grip.

Ryan

 

[Paul in OKC]

Those are cool pens.

 

[DCBluesman]

Very cool, Anthony. Do you think stabilized wood might be easier to tap? Also, what size is the tap for this pen?

 

[PenWorks]

Thanks for reminding me Lou, I toasted two $5.00 stabilized blanks [V]
I thought the stabilized blanks would be better, so all of them were stabilized. I went by the tap & die chart and had the right size hole drilled...... The thread size is a 10 x .75 metric.

Here is what the original pen looks like, They don't make a black so I thought the charcol was the best color to match with the wood.

 

[JimGo]

Those turned out really neat Anthony! I like the idea of being able to do color, too. Do you think you could remove the clip and basically build a cover for the cap (then put the clip back on)?

Oooo...you know what might be a REALLY cool thing? To make "skins" for these that can be added and taken off like the face plates for cell phones! You could embed a rare earth magnet in the top of the cap and the bottom of the base, and use matching magnets in the ends of the "skins" to keep the "skins" in place.

 

[btboone]

I like the look Anthony. Do those nibs come out of the front plastic part? Maybe they unscrew from it? Looks like they could be used for other projects as well. I like the clearance under the nib. I'll buy a couple of the kit parts if you can spare some.

 

[swm6500]

Those are pretty neat looking Anthony.

 

[rtgleck]

Anthony,

Those are some great looking pens. I really like the look of them, and sounds like they are really great fountain pens. I also think Jim might be onto somthing... basically using the exsisting cap and making a shell for it that could be used if desired... might make for an interesting pen look. Fine work as always.

 

[woodscavenger]

I love the innovation! Strong work!

 

[jdavis]

Nice craftsmanship, Anthony

 

[melogic]

Love those pens Anthony. They are AWESOME!

 

[dubdrvrkev]

Anthony, being a local AZ'n, have you tried to turn any of our local Palms? It seems like there is a lot of those for the taking around here.

Nice pens BTW!

 

[MDWine]

Very nice looking pens... stake are a bit high, though, huh?

I like that black palm, very rich looking!!

 

[atvrules1]

Very nice pens Anthony, And a very nice idea to even try in the first place. I think even without having a cap done those have achieved the look that you wanted in the first place, which is the natural wood. Thanks for sharing.

 

[darbytee]

Very nice Anthony. What a great idea.

Now, for the last time, quit raising the bar until the rest of us can catch up.[][]

 

[PenWorks]

Thanks for the comments. I wasn't sure what to think of them, except I thought they looked better than the all plastic ones.

Kevin, never turned any Arizona palm, just might have to find a hunk and try it.

Bruce, in the Safari line, you can not just buy a nib. It is just the complete front section that is a molded one piece unit. The only thing you can do, is slide the steel nib off and replace with a different nib.

 

[WoodChucker]

Anthony, nice work! I have to agree, yours looks much better then the original. Your choice of wood really compliments this pen and gives it a much richer look. So, how much did you raise the price? []

 

[Fleabit]

Anthony: Would a brass tube from another kit work to insert in the front for tapping? Since I dont know the sizes of the pen it is just a suggestion.

 

[pastorbill1952]

Nice looking pen. Will be interesting to see how you or someone designs the cap from wood. That is what makes this group so great.

 

[low_48]

Very nice Anthony!! Did you try tapping before turning, or after? How about putting on a hose clamp before tapping? I've got to try some of those. Really nice.

Rich

 

[PenWorks]

I tapped after turning. Good idea, I will try before turning, but I was afraid, since the bushing is in the nib end when I turn, that it would screw the threads up. The hose clap is another good idea, because the wood just barely split when I was running the tap in.

 

[tipusnr]

Really neat idea but clearly beyond what I want to get involved in at this point. Great job! Keep pushing the envelop.

 

[driften]

I think you did a great job and I want to thank you for thinking outside of the "kit". I think we all need to be more creative and try and make something more unique. Have you tried any other using any other nibs into custom pens?

 

[WoodChucker]

Originally posted by driften
<br />I think you did a great job and I want to thank you for thinking outside of the "kit". I think we all need to be more creative and try and make something more unique. Have you tried any other using any other nibs into custom pens?

OH, stop it, his head is big enough! []

J/K, I agree with you 100%, I just don't seem to be able to get out of the stupid box. []

 

[PenWorks]

RT, I did have a hard time putting my shirt on yesterday, almost couldn't get it over my head [] But after I scrapped two more special pens last night, it shrunck back real quick [] I'm down to 4 good ones left out of 8 I started with. I hope they make it []

 

[Jim in Oakville]

Hi Anthony,

Great imagination, excellent looking pens my friend..

[]

 

[Glenn McCullough]

Very nice looking pen. Good wood selection.
I would be interested in seeing a site to order some from and try your alteration idea. Perhaps a bulk buy is in order?

 

[Darley]

Originally posted by penworks
<br />I tapped after turning. Good idea, I will try before turning, but I was afraid, since the bushing is in the nib end when I turn, that it would screw the threads up. The hose clap is another good idea, because the wood just barely split when I was running the tap in.

Anthony your pens are very nice, you can tapped them before turning if you tapped a male bushing, I explain, when you tapped your blank ( who is female ) try to do a bushing size male tapped ( with hard wood or better still corian )screw your tapper bushing into the blank and turn, when you're finish just unscrew the bushing and screw the nib.

Serge

 

[PenWorks]

Thanks Serge, I think the next ones I do, I am going to thread them before turning. Also have to figure out a way to thread them on the lathe. When threading, if you are just a touch off, it realy shows, as in out of square. Part of the problem when using hand taps & dies. Also, trying to do machinest work with a wood lathe and by hand. Not that it can't be done, but it sure would make life easier with the right tools. Now I got to look for a small metal lathe []

 

[btboone]

Anthony, Enco has some pretty good value ones.

 

[JimGo]

http://www.use-enco.com/ is the link for Enco. Prices aren't bad, although still a LOT more than I paid for my woodworking lathe! []