If you were to--------

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jttheclockman

jttheclockman

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If you were to design your own pen kit what would it look like??? What design features are you concerned with??

There are so many pen kits today and alot are just clones of each other with different names. I would love to see a plain classy kit. No bling. Something in a rollerball 2 piece style. Small center band, small clip that is set down from the end with abit of material on the top to either be able to do your own finial or have a plain cap to match centerband. Same cap on bottom. The Baron and Gent is about as close that I have seen. Mount Blanc makes some very nice kits that if you look at them they are just plain and yet jump out at you without any bling. I will look for an example latter. Just wanted to see if anyone else has thought about this.

I know ther has to be because the kitless faze was born from this idea. But I am looking for that kit pen that can be made for corporate work or large orders and has that look of elegant, functional, good balance and no bling. Of course the best platings.
 
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I am not certain that we need new kits but rather more interchange options for kits that are existing. If you look at the Slimline options, there are all kinds of platings, colors, clips, etc. so that you really can make a pen that is "one of a kind."

With the other kits, the options just aren't there. Consider the cigar pen. I like the looks of the nib, but the two choices for clip (Cigar and Ultra Cigar) both leave me wanting something else. When you look at kitless clips, there still aren't a lot of designs, but at least there's enough to make something look unique.

2. I like the looks of the Slimline, with all the possible options. But too many people tell me the pen is too small for their hands. Why not make a Slimline pen that takes a 9 mm drill bit instead of a 7 mm? Then you'd have the heft of a larger pen, in a simple design that is easily customizable?

3. In regards to your ideas, I like the idea of elegant, functional and NO BLING. I think the trend has been towards big pens with too much decorative metal. I think its time to concentrate on the smaller pens, but kits that show off the material, and not the metal components. Just my 2 cents.
 
I'd like to see some high-quality "no bling" kits. Even high-quality Slimline kits. I like the simplicity of Slimlines but they're all very cheaply made mechanisms. You can't even get a Sierra/WallStreet type pen without some kind of unnecessary engraved band.

Also seconding 8MM and 9MM slimline-style kits. With Parker-style refills.

Or something that takes one of the hundreds of slim refills that eat Cross ballpoints for breakfast, like Pilot HiTec-C's.
 
I'd like to see a wider variety of individual parts available so you could select whatever combination you want to make a fully customized "kit" for each pen or style of pen you make.

Other than that, you're just turning the pen body material to give a sight variation of the same pen over and over and over. Fun and interesting, and some beautiful results attainable, but nothing actually unique to the maker.

Less blingy components as well, or more very simple bling that won't detract from the pen as a whole by attracting focus on the bling instead of the writing instrument as a whole.

Add mechanisms (twist, click, etc. that have the ability to use a wider variety of refills without re-engeneering the thing. Most of that stuff kits are designed for using being -at best- the equal of only the most inexpensive of commercial refills and frequently are inferior to many them (i.e. a simple Paper Mate Inkjoy pen can be had for about two bucks and will out write almost all of the stuff kits use, Montblanc RB refills are IMO superior to anything a kit pen is designed to use and the Pilot G2 rules for gel refills but won't fit most kits without modifying them).
 
I definately agree with the idea of a simple pen slightly larger than a slimline with interchangable optional parts. If you're thinking of manufacturing these the 9mm tube OD size would give you a unique niche and no one could confuse your pens with someone else's.
 
A Mont Blanc style two piece (rollerball, fountain and Parker ballpoint) with the same bullet shaped finial on top and bottom and a simple center band. Closed, the pen would carry the same line (like a torpedo) without a pronounced hump where the cap joins the body.

Like this:

montblanc_masters_for_meisterstck_series_is_a_tribute_to_the_traditional_french_knives_rph1m.jpg
 
I doubt a 9mm tube would make a very slim pen. There are several pens using 8mm tubes that use the parker refill. That would make a slim pen.
 
Like most here have already said about the slimline I would like to look at it from a different angle. I turn slimlines mostly because I want people to carry them. So not necessarily a thin slimline but something not too bulky to carry in a shirt pocket. On another note I would like some slightly thicker so some people would have more to hang onto plus give the casting hobbyist more room to put stuff into. I also like the idea of having different clips to customize the pens with. I don't think we need a new design just improve on the popular pens that are out there.
 
I would also like to see parts be interchangeable this would allow some flexibility but, about the only thing we can actually do to make a pen ours is in the wood, acrylic, clay and other blanks that we make. I love the Desire kits for there simplicity. I like the Jr Gent 2 also but I wish they used the same bushings. Only a few dealers are really carrying anything that is unique. Timberbits comes to mind but PSI seems to be invading all of the dealers now?
 
Panamag8or: I agree completely about the lack of comfort of some of those rollerball styles. A friend of mine took an Atlas/Polaris style pen and purchased some of the 10" sections of 3/8" tubing from a pen supply house. He substituted the stock brass tube for one he cut at about 3". Now the pen is a little longer and he puts in Uniball 207 gel refills. Its not the same as a rollerball, but it writes nicely, and its got a nicer feel while writing. The stock Atlas/Polaris has Cross gel refills available that will fit it without modification. Another plus is that this pen style comes in several platings, although you have to look around to see all that's available.
 
I haven't read all the responses but of those I have, I add my support to those who prefer "simplicity". I don't like "bling" and hate pens with "crystals" - of any form/type. To my eye (the eye of a pen turner) a pen with less built-in distraction allows me, the maker, more freedom to choose a body material for the pen. It can then be more masculie, feminine, or whatever based on MY input, not the kit mfr.

Oh - and I'd really prefer it to have the best click mechanism available. Smooth, reliable & durable. I prefer clicks and most of the folk I sell to prefer clicks. I've sold quite a few pens. Hardly any repairs, but of those that do come back, fully half are for click mechanisms that aren't working.
 
How about just some larger OD tibs, band, and tops (and/or clips) to go with 7mm tube. That would allow medium to larger OD pens with small tube for more "meat" on the blank for casting etc.
 
  1. Hardware finish: Solid Stainless, Titanium, Rhodium, or Platinum. Hell I'd even take Chrome.
  2. Pilot G3 gel broad or medium roller, or Schmidt Easy Flo 9000. Gotta have a nice refill. It's a must. I'm very tired of these refills that won't lay down ink or skip really badly. I want it write smooth and lay down dark lines.
  3. For 7mm tubes,
    Center Band diameter somewhere between a slim and a comfort.
  4. Deco spring loaded clip like the presidential. Or a roller clip. No stamped out clips.
  5. Or if you make it one piece like a Sierra, then slim it down a bit.
 
Thinnest possible fountain pen kit.

Vertex click mech, but looks like a slim pro or long clicker.

Plain slimline with a new plating, something exotic without making it more expensive. I like to make novelty pens!
 
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