"Kitless" Kits

[Justturnin]

I would think instead of selling 1 "Kit" you would sell matching sets. Now I nothing about kitless so I may be way off but I see it like this.

Say you want to do a Bock 6 Nib (is that right) and the feed is a certian thread and so the cap should be a certain size (based on your experience) Then you should have a Bock 6 Nib Set that consists of Bit A, Tap A and Die A

Then maybe an End and Finial set that consists of Drill B, Tap B, Die B.

Now with these 2 sets you can make a pen w/ a Bock 6 Nib.

Then say I want to try a Bock 5 (?) Nib all I need is to buy the Bock 5 set and I already have the End and Finial set unless I want to make them bigger then maybe you could offer a couple of flavors of End and Final sets.

Then you can have a Roller Ball kit that fits the El Grande or whatever kit most people use to do this.

Now I may be way off but I think this would make it easier to provide while giving the choice to the buyer. Your goal, I think, is to give an option to begin and maybe you can grow your options as the demand grows.

 

[SteveG]

...So what does everyone want to do, Cheap and Dirty, The Right way or Something Different?

Mike, I am among those interested in the "Unkit". My thoughts are that most interested in this will tend toward the "Right way" option, and select Fountain Pens as the desired type . A formal poll would help clarify, and also give a better feel for how many are actually interested in participating.

Steve Guzy

 

[leehljp]

For me, I want to do this "right" from the beginning. I prefer to go with FP but RB is OK too. IF you do both, I will probably go both, if not cost prohibitive.

I am not there now but I am about to get there for kitless.

 

[studioso]

as someone who has done a handful of kitless pens and is constantly buying pieces and tools here and there, I'd like to offer my opinion: I don't think it makes any sense to offer one size fits all kitless kits: there are so many ways to do a kitless and there are so many tools that you will have to assume your customer has but actually needs and vice versa.
what WOULD be nice to see is a single place where ALL the odds and ends for kitless can be purchased in one stop.
for example, when I decided that a 10x1 tap in my barrels left a shoulder that was too thin and cracked too easy, and decided to try a smaller tap, I had a hell of a time pouring through IAP and the library to see what other common smaller tap might work. then, when I figured that 9x.75 might be a better fit, I had an even bigger nightmare trying to source the part (especially since I'm in canada).

so what I'm saying is that it would be nice if I can find all these odd sizes INCLUDING A .252 REAMER FOR SITTING THE CARTDRIDGE in one location, possibly with a typical application tutorial.

this I believe would make more sense for an existing vendor who also sells bock stuff and even kits etc.

 

[jimofsanston]

I would be interested also in this start up package. It seems it would be a great starting point for me and then i can go on my own. This would be just to get a better understanding of the process of what is involved in going kitless.

 

[IPD_Mr]

Because of this thread and mentioning the M9 x .75 we have sold out of that size tap and die. I have contacted all of my sources that sell this tap and die at a reasonable cost and have been told that there are none in country and that they are not on order. They are all looking at next year if at all for this set. Actually I have taps but no dies in country. (yes I have even bought out all the 1-1/2" dies I could find as well) You can buy this size on ebay from China for about $12 shipped. These are non-adjustable dies. This size is the critical size for me when it comes to the section to body connection. Until I can secure a large quantity of this die at a reasonable price, this idea will be on hold for me.

 

[Carl Fisher]

:frown:

 

[jd99]

Amazon has M9 x.75 taps and dies, for those that really really need them.

Amazon.com: 9mm X .75 Metric HSS Left Hand Thread Tap M9 X 0.75mm Pitch: Home Improvement

So does another vendor....

 

[Timebandit]

Amazon has M9 x.75 taps and dies, for those that really really need them.

Amazon.com: 9mm X .75 Metric HSS Left Hand Thread Tap M9 X 0.75mm Pitch: Home Improvement

So does another vendor....

The Amazon one is Left hand threads. I dont think its needed that badly.

 

[jd99]

Amazon has M9 x.75 taps and dies, for those that really really need them.

Amazon.com: 9mm X .75 Metric HSS Left Hand Thread Tap M9 X 0.75mm Pitch: Home Improvement

So does another vendor....

The Amazon one is Left hand threads. I dont think its needed that badly.

They have right hand also

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0YX3A6X9MT837AGBJF7D

 

[Timebandit]

Amazon has M9 x.75 taps and dies, for those that really really need them.

Amazon.com: 9mm X .75 Metric HSS Left Hand Thread Tap M9 X 0.75mm Pitch: Home Improvement

So does another vendor....

The Amazon one is Left hand threads. I dont think its needed that badly.

They have right hand also

Amazon.com: 9mm X .75 Metric HSS Right Hand Thread Tap M9 X 0.75mm Pitch: Home Improvement

But the taps arent whats needed, its the dies.

 

[Andrew_K99]

As Mike noted M9x0.75 dies can be found on ebay, most are not split dies though.

M9x0.75 die | eBay

AK

 

[jd99]

Amazon has M9 x.75 taps and dies, for those that really really need them.

Amazon.com: 9mm X .75 Metric HSS Left Hand Thread Tap M9 X 0.75mm Pitch: Home Improvement

So does another vendor....

The Amazon one is Left hand threads. I dont think its needed that badly.

They have right hand also

Amazon.com: 9mm X .75 Metric HSS Right Hand Thread Tap M9 X 0.75mm Pitch: Home Improvement

But the taps arent whats needed, its the dies.

Amazon.com: 9mm X .75 Metric Right Hand Thread Die M9 X 0.75mm Pitch: Home Improvement


And my other vendors do have the dies, just pointing out they are out there all ya gotta do is look. Both Split and solid

 

[Timebandit]

Amazon has M9 x.75 taps and dies, for those that really really need them.

Amazon.com: 9mm X .75 Metric HSS Left Hand Thread Tap M9 X 0.75mm Pitch: Home Improvement

So does another vendor....

The Amazon one is Left hand threads. I dont think its needed that badly.

They have right hand also

Amazon.com: 9mm X .75 Metric HSS Right Hand Thread Tap M9 X 0.75mm Pitch: Home Improvement

But the taps arent whats needed, its the dies.

Amazon.com: 9mm X .75 Metric Right Hand Thread Die M9 X 0.75mm Pitch: Home Improvement


And my other vendors do have the dies, just pointing out they are out there all ya gotta do is look. Both Split and solid

Gotcha, i wasnt actually searching for them, easy enough for everyone else to do, just following your links.

 

[IPD_Mr]

They are also carbon not HSS. Huge difference. And they are not adjustable.

 

[jd99]

They are also carbon not HSS. Huge difference. And they are not adjustable.

And do a search, my machine shop supplier has HSS and in stock, like I said both split and solid, I doubt everyone has to wait til next year....

 

[mredburn]

HSS Metric Round Split Adjustable Dies - Round Dies | MSCDirect.com

 

[IPD_Mr]

Well Danny since you seem to know where everything is maybe you should take this one, cause I am done with it. Cheers

 

[studioso]

I'm scared to ask, but I couldn't find 9x.75, and purchased 9x1 instead: I though this might be even better as the hole can be even smaller (9-1=8 as opposed to 9-.75=8.25).
but as I see that no one is bringing that up I'm thinking something's wrong: is it that bad?

 

[jd99]

Well Danny since you seem to know where everything is maybe you should take this one, cause I am done with it. Cheers

Well buddy, I do have Family in the industrial supply business, I (as of earlier this year) have a Production Machine Shop business, along with a couple of others, If I can't find the tooling I need when I need it I wouldn't be doing that great at running a machine shop, now would I??

Plus a bunch of years in the machining trade before I retired from it.

 

[Texatdurango]

I'm scared to ask, but I couldn't find 9x.75, and purchased 9x1 instead: I though this might be even better as the hole can be even smaller (9-1=8 as opposed to 9-.75=8.25).
but as I see that no one is bringing that up I'm thinking something's wrong: is it that bad?

Why scared to ask?

I'm sorta guilty for some of the 9mm x .75mm tap and die issue so let me explain.

When I started going kitless I was doing a lot of bulb fillers and a few eyedropper fillers. Having a tight seal that would not leak required fine threads and a dab of silicone grease. I didn't care for the .5mm pitch which was too fine in ebonite and the 1mm pitch leaked in a few prototypes I made so the only thread pitch I was really happy with was the .75mm so I decided to just make the 9mm x .75mm my thread of choice for almost all of my pen designs rather than switching amongst several similar sized threads.

If you have no desire to make pens where the joints need to be leak free, than by all means use a 9mm x 1mm thread, the few thousandths difference shouldn't give you any problems.

 

[watch_art]

Something I've been asked a few times is why the hangup with 9x.75?

So... why the hangup with 9x.75? Does it have to be 9mm? I use 10x.75 for my section to barrel. Leaves a little more meat around the converter. On my larger pens I use 11x.75 for section to barrel.

 

[Texatdurango]

Something I've been asked a few times is why the hangup with 9x.75?

So... why the hangup with 9x.75? Does it have to be 9mm? I use 10x.75 for my section to barrel. Leaves a little more meat around the converter. On my larger pens I use 11x.75 for section to barrel.

Shawn, It's not a hangup, it's a preference. See the post above yours for my take on the subject. Others may have other reasons.

It really depends on the body to cap threads you use. Myself, I use the 12mm and 14mm multi-start tap and die sets and if you tried the 10.75 threads for the section on a pen using the 12mm m/s threads, you would have a really thin wall condition between your lower body female section and male cap threads.

 

[jd99]

Just ordered a set of M9 x .75 HSS Tap and Die (Split 1" Dia.) that way when someone goes out and buys every one that there is in the country, I'll still have a set. :biggrin:


BWWWWAAAAHAHAHAHAHA.

 

[Brian Chislett]

I am interested if you could ship to the UK. I am in the process of researching he process at the moment. Kitless is the next step.
Cheers
Brian