My wife asked me what I wanted for Father's Day. I chuckled a little and said I would like to make a nice pen for myself. All the pens I have are the cast off and the really nice ones keep walking away from me. So here is my question, if you could make any pen kit and any pen blank for yourself what would it be? I am leaning towards Jr Gent rollerball with a stabilized burl. The one thing is I still have not quite perfected my CA glue finish and that may lead me towards using an acrylic. I also really like the watch part blanks. So many choices!!!!
I have a piece of mineral stained Afzalia burl that I've been saving till I think I'm good enough not to screw it up. And when I do make it into a pen, it will be a custom rollerball.
But I'm not there yet. I still need to get some better results from my metal lathe.
I have 2 that I carry. The everyday carry pen is a 7mm twist with a Water Moccasin inlay between guitar pickguard material finished off with Maple Burl. My Sunday or "Fancy" Pen is a 7mm twist with an inlay of a Cloth Texas Flag and a Texas Quarter between soda can aluminum bands finished off with a jet black acrilic blank.
I'm more about function than form (I prefer the "less is more" approach), so my daily use pen is this one, and looks almost exactly the same - I used walnut burl, so a little more brown than reddish. I enjoy the feel of it, and it writes well. Magnetic cap still makes me nervous (mostly about accidental uncappings) but that has not actually ever happened yet, probably because I'm careful about it.
However, there is a part of me that would like to make one of these for myself - I just haven't been able to justify/convince myself yet.
As for blanks, I like wood - walnut and red mallee burl, but also like amboyna and thuya burl... tough choice, not sure which, but it would have to be burl for me.
It's funny. The pens I really like did not necessarily start off being something special. Sometimes a pen just feels right in my hand and the color somehow is soothing or attractive to me in some way.
I still think my favorite pen was an experiment attempt to use landscaping bark from my back yard. The center band is some yucca from my front yard. I guess it kind of defines my space. (Good thing I didn't make this for my PITH entry. I would have had serious separation anxiety!)
My "dream" pen, one made of Gabon ebony and striped ebony, I never seem to pick up. Not sure if it is the profile or the weight, but it just sits on my dresser.
So, I guess my feeling is to try to copy the pen you most like but maybe in a wood you are drawn to. Try to understand why you like your favorite pen. Color? Weight? Length? You never know when that perfect pen for you will escape its outer wood cloak and reveal itself to you in an unexpected way.
This all seems pretty touchy-feely but something draws us to one or two specific pens over and over. Is this true of anybody else? I just want to know if I am weird or not.:bulgy-eyes:
I think I am starting to get a handle what I like. I like simplistic. I am going with a stabilized burl. The woodworker in me just can't be convinced to use an acrylic. Even though I think acrylics can make some of the most beautiful pens. I want the wood to be the showpiece so don't want too flashy of a kit. But, I still want a rollerball because at the end of the day I want it to write well and to this point I despise all cross refills I have ever used. Parker refills are ok but the pen kits seem limited.
I am starting understand how collections start to form. End of the day I like them all!
If it's for you look to Silver Pen Parts for the kit. Then carefully consider something no one will ever have as a blank. something you picked up on a vacation with your wife. Then make a smaller version for her as a surprise for letting you make yourself one.
My personal pen is a Rho/Blk Ti Jr Statesman with a Bock nib wearing red alligator jawbone. Not only is it way cool, it has sold more pens! Like a triple hook - FPs aren't seen that often, it is eye-catching red, and a rarely seen material, pretty hard not to notice - plus the top quality hardware says this is not a hobby pen. Of course, it's for sale
