Kitless Fountain Pen in Green Alumilite w/ Nickel Silver Furnishings

[JPMcConnel]

I thought I would post a couple of pictures of a pen I finished recently. I have been experimenting with different metals as trim, e.g., nickel silver, aluminum bronze, and brass. This pen uses nickel silver. The nickel silver with green alumilite is a pen with a certain amount of weight for those liking a heavier pen. The material is custom cast by Bob Dupras. The pen is 157 mm long capped, uncapped 119mm; it doesn't post. The body Diameter is 16mm. Finials and cap tenon are turned from Nickel Silver.

 

[Jim15]

That's a great pen.

 

[magpens]

That's a really lovely pen ! Well done !! I am wondering what properties nickel silver has that make it desirable for pen-making ? Is it expensive ? Where can you buy it. I have been making ballpoint and rollerball kit pens for 5 years. I think I should start thinking about trying a kitless fountain pen. I guess that will mean another round of spending for taps, dies, and materials. Are there any good tutorials around for making your first kitless fountain pen?

 

[JPMcConnel]

Sorry to be a laggard in responding. Nickel Silver bar stock is priced by the diameter and length of the rod you buy. I buy mine from a place called OnLine Metals and have no choice in the alloy, it is simply Nickel Silver bar stock. It is about three times the cost of machinable brass; it has no silver in it, but machines well, polishes well and is slow to tarnish. It is also stronger than regular brass, a nice feature when you are making tenons. In a mixed materials environment, e.g., plastics and metals, you have to be careful polishing not to tarnish up your plastics buffing wheels with metal. Also, threads in metal can chew up plastics so you have to think ahead if you plan to post the cap to the body, e.g., a threaded fitting on the end of the pen body as opposed to just pushing the cap on the body. Nickel silver also has weight to it, too, depending on the size of the piece you are making.
The IAP library has a variety of documents to consult on making kitless pens, all worthwhile. I don't know your environment for making pens, i.e., do you use a metal or wood lathe, so I simply refer you to the library. I am a metal lathe user and will be adding more metal to my pens in the future where I think it works. Thanks for asking.

 

[magpens]

Thanks for your reply. I, too, use a metal-working lathe.

 

[JPMcConnel]

If you use a metal lathe, then by all means look into kitless pens. Think of it as freedom of expression with all the attendent issues that choices can give you. The tooling is what adds up. I have full sets of ER-32 and ER-40 collets, as well as collet chucks; many drill bits, taps, and dies (although my lathe performs a full range of threading options); toolholders and bits; and so forth. Just as some talk about being limited only by your imagination in what you can do, the same is true for the tooling you can acquire or make.

You have to be careful in your choice of materials depending on whether you expect to machine and thread the material or attach it in some fashion to something else that will be machined and threaded. Alumilite is a material, for example that machines well and comes in an outstanding variety of colors; FLEXIGRAN is another such material as is celluloid. The difficulty with kitless pens can be the small stuff like finding a variety of nice pen clips. There are firms offering quality clips, but the competition for them can be keen. There is also a range of opinion on the best way to finish the surface of your pens; I have separate buffing wheels on my variable speed buffer for each compound I use, of which I have about 15. I also have sand paper or sanding web from 320 grit up to 8000 grit (jewelers polishing papers). These are my opinions and I am not speaking for anyone but myself and my experience.

I realize the above is just a gloss, but With experience comes technique, preference and opinion. Come join the world of kitless pen making.

 

[magpens]

Thanks for the encouragement and info, Pat. No doubt I'll be asking you other things . One or two questions come to mind right off ... what material would you recommend for staters ...( how about Cebloplast ) ? And where should I buy ? Thanks

 

[Band Saw Box]

Looks really nice, well done.

 

[BSea]

That's a very unique design. Does the finial on the end of the barrel weigh much? I'm wondering if you might have an option barrel finial made from the solid green alumilite you used for the section for a lighter feel. The cap I don't see as much of an issue since it won't be capped when you're writing. I also think it would be interesting to see the pen completely disassembled to see all the parts.

And I want to point out that Pat picked the colors for the alumilite. And the pouring method is something we came up with to get the separation in colors that he wanted.

 

[nappy155]

sweet as pie...

 

[JPMcConnel]

Sorry, I haven't been dozing; I am working up a new website for my pens and it is kinda eating into my quality time. I'll try to produce some pictures of the pen disassembled in the near future. And the question is yes, you can substitute the translucent green alumilite wherever there is nickel silver. I am currently working up a green with red alumilite pen that will have at least one aluminum bronze finial.