Finding inspiration...and how would you do this?

[jrista]

I've been taking time to look at other fountain pens, commercial ones, those made by other people, to find inspiration for my own future creations. I've been making kit pens so far, and will continue to do so, but in the not so distant future I intend to try my hand at the bespoke, or "kitless" pens. I came across this pen today:

Monteverde Regatta Sport Fountain Pens - The Goulet Pen Company

Fountain pens with alternating bands of carbon fiber, with a magnetic cap.

www.gouletpens.com

I find the design to be quite intriguing. I like the knurled bands. Now, I know I could create a pen with solid bands that I could simply segment into the blank and turn down...but, I really like the knurled bands. I'm now curious about two things. First, if you were going to create a pen along these lines, is there a source for items like knurled rings in various metals, or similar items? Second...how would you go about turning something like this? You couldn't turn the knurled bands, that would destroy them...so how would you go about actually creating a pen like this, where the bands are sandwiched between blank segments?

 

[crokett]

The non-metal parts are turned down to the diameter of the copper segments, then segmented and the pen body is assembled. At least that is how I would do it. It would demand a lot of precision to keep all of the segments aligned while cutting them. I would probably drill the non-metal parts and turn on a mandrel and have the metal parts with very short tenons that line up with the drilled holes in the segments.

 

[magpens]

Knurling is a metal-working operation. . You can buy tools to do knurling; some have interchangeable rollers to produce different knurl patterns.

Usually the knurling is done on a metal-working lathe at low rotational speed.
You could probably do it on a wood-working lathe if you can dial up the appropriate speed. . You'd need an appropriate headstock chuck also.

I don't know of any source to buy knurled rings. . It's unlikely there is such a source because they'd have to stock so many different diameters for various pen needs . . . the inventory costs would be too high to make it practical.

You would need to make your own parts and arrange/assemble to suit.

Plating after knurling would be an additional challenge.

 

[Curly]

If it were me I would take a bar and knurl it, then bore in a ring or three deep and lastly part off the rings, possibly bevelling or putting a radius on the edges of the knurl before parting off. Never done it mind you but that sequence makes sense for thin material.

Pete

 

[civilwartalk]

Could you just use a product like this, and then use a drill press to bore out the center?

[ J&J Products ] Brass Insert STKB-0420, 1/4-20 Thru-Threaded, 9.9mm OD, 7.9mm Length, Molded in Inserts, 25pcs: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

[ J&J Products ] Brass Insert STKB-0420, 1/4-20 Thru-Threaded, 9.9mm OD, 7.9mm Length, Molded in Inserts, 25pcs: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

You would need to find inserts that were the right OD, and maybe even use the right ID and epoxy them straight to the tube between your segments, no drilling required?

I've never done it, but this looks like a place to investigate. Let us know if you make a successful pen!

 

[jalbert]

If it were me I would take a bar and knurl it, then bore in a ring or three deep and lastly part off the rings, possibly bevelling or putting a radius on the edges of the knurl before parting off. Never done it mind you but that sequence makes sense for thin material.

Pete

Your senses are well-attuned, Pete. Knurling takes a tremendous amount of pressure. Performing this operation on thin-walled tubing would result in disaster.

 

[dogcatcher]

My 2 cents, the parts are made separately to exact specifications then assembled. How would I do it. I would start at Mudhole fishing supply and buy some of their decorative mother of pearl shell to create the blank. For the knurled copper, on a metal lathe I would cut the pieces to size. The mill them using the lathe and mill, not the knurling tool. Indexing and cutting that on a Taig or Sherline lathe and mill would make a person crazy, but it would be perfect.

If I was making a bunch of them to sell, I would call a friend with a CNC Sherline, and watch him machine do the work.

 

[PatrickR]

I could see this being done fairly easily for a kit pen or adapted to a kitless without all the metal parts.
find knurled thin nuts (commonly used in lighting fixtures) with an OD you can live with and then get some precast abalone blanks and segment them together.

 

[rherrell]

I would turn a solid piece to the correct diameter, knurl it while solid, then bore it to size.

 

[Aurelius]

My two cents: I would turn a solid bar to the correct diameter for the abalone sections and then bore it out. After boring I would cut it to the proper lengths for each section and then thread the inside of both ends. Why you ask, because, on a metal lathe, I would machine however many knurled pieces you needed with threads on either end to mate with the abalone sections, bored to the same diameter. Then you could screw the pieces together and (carefully) apply epoxy at each of the joints to hold it all together. Honestly, this is going to be pretty heavy with all the metal anyway so it might not be a bad idea to just bore it a couple mm more and put a tube down the middle to reinforce it even more.

 

[jrista]

Thank you all for the replies!

So, it sounds like to make pens similar to the one I linked, that a metal lathe and working the metal parts myself would be the way to do it. I'd noticed people talking about metal lathes on these forums...I guess I didn't quite get that till now!

Anyway, thank you for the insights. This is something I'd like to get into, but, I think it'll be down the road a ways. I'm still a beginner...made my first pens last year, but really got into it just end of spring/early summer this year. I just picked up a bandsaw, and I think I'll try my hand at some "Traditional" segmented pieces, with just wood, some layering materials, and maybe some thin metal stock layers, and see how that goes.

Would be fun to do some metalworking with a metal lathe, but with the addition of the bandsaw, my shop is FULL FULL! I barely have room to squeeze around some of it now. The metal lathe will have to come if and when I can buy that nice "out of town" home on some acres of land and build a proper workshop.