Kitless Pen Questions For Newbie.

[dbkyser]

I have been making pens a few months and love it, I do want to move to kitless pens and turned my first closed end fountain pen using a section and cap glue in insert.
I make my own alumilite clear blanks, and love this part as well but not sure this is the best product for the sections, seems ebonite is better option.
I am from the US and love the #6 size Nib
What do you use for sections, and where do you get it from?
What size tap and dies do I start with? I prefer triple start.

Here is my first closed end pen with one of my first resin castings.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[jalbert]

What do you use for sections, and where do you get it from?

Basically anything except polyester resin, or other know brittle materials. I prefer acrylic over most anything. Beartooth Woods is my favorite vendor for most acrylics.

 

[CjG78]

Alumilite produces excellent sections, and threads. It is great to work with!

 

[magpens]

That is a beautiful pen, Denny !!!

Thanks for showing !!! .

Looks to me that you are off to a good start in venturing down the kitless trail !! . Just carry on, making changes as needed to get where you want to go.

As for thread sizes, there are many examples of kitless pens displayed on IAP, and most people specify the thread sizes for cap-to-body .........
( or cap-to-section, as the case may be ) ..... and for section-to-body. . Do some searches here on IAP, and I think you will find some suitable examples.

About once a year or so, one of the IAP members volunteers to co-ordinate the purchase of taps and dies for bodies and caps.
You can also search for the threads describing what different members order. . It is not too hard to find out the member names who have co-ordinated previous group purchases. . They might be some of the best people to ask for specifics

The thread sizes for nib to section are predetermined, and the vendor of the nib you choose will be able to tell you.

In general terms, the cap-to-body threads are M13 or M14, with pitches of 0.75mm or 0.8mm (double or triple start). . And the section-to-body threads are M9 - M11 (probably single start) with pitches of 0.75mm to 1mm. . . Get used to asking a few specific questions and I am sure you will get useful info. . . Everybody that you see here on IAP likes to be helpful and share their knowledge and experiences. . .
You will gradually get to know people to the point where you will learn who to ask for the info you need ..... or just start off by asking a few questions about the specific things you need to learn about. . . Just keep the questions manageable and quite specific .... not too much at one time and be quite specific so that the answers can be short and to the point.

Good luck !! . . I have no doubt you will spend many happy and worthwhile hours here on this website !!! . .
Learning and loving every minute of it !!

 

[lorbay]

You might want to start with a 13mm triple start to get going with.
Lin

 

[NJturner]

Just starting out with kit less as well - made a buy of taps and dies with the group purchase - so I'm gonna keep an eye on this forum. I am planning to use alumilite for the body and cap and ebonite for the sections, simply because I like the hand feel of the ebonite and the section is pretty much right there. I've been casting my own blanks with alumilite and like how well it works in general. Gonna start a tap to do some testing in the next few days. Also planning to use some ebonite for sleeving wood blanks as well.

 

[magpens]

*** Just a comment for starting out in MAKING " KITLESS " PENS ** . . . OR GATHERING INFO ON ANY TOPICS THAT INTEREST YOU ***

This comment applies very generally when looking for info on any topic.

-- Here is the comment --
At the bottom of every thread, such as this one, you will see a section with the heading " Similar threads "
Under that heading you will see a listing of other threads dealing with the same or very similar topics or with similar titles.
As the main thread gets longer due to other peoples' contributions, the content under " Similar threads " can grow and change.
The changes that occur are because the " main thread " develops and changes as more and more people give their comments and advice.

If you watch the " Similar threads " for any " main thread " that you are reading you will start to get more and more info about the topic.

Before you know it, you will be acquiring knowledge and references to the topics that you are most interested in at the time.

You can find your own way of recording or preserving the references and knowledge that get revealed to you in this way.
The world of computers is great for having many methods to record and preserve these references and knowledge.
You will be well-advised to learn about preserving and organizing the useful info that you come up with.
Each thread that is listed under " Similar threads " has a link (address), which allows you to return to read that thread over and over again.
It is very useful to learn how to record those links, and send each link or a group of links to YOURSELF using your personal email.
You can then read and look at that information over and over again as often as you desire.

HOPE THIS HELPS

 

[dbkyser]

*** Just a comment for starting out in MAKING " KITLESS " PENS ** . . . OR GATHERING INFO ON ANY TOPICS THAT INTEREST YOU ***

This comment applies very generally when looking for info on any topic.

-- Here is the comment --
At the bottom of every thread, such as this one, you will see a section with the heading " Similar threads "
Under that heading you will see a listing of other threads dealing with the same or very similar topics or with similar titles.
As the main thread gets longer due to other peoples' contributions, the content under " Similar threads " can grow and change.
The changes that occur are because the " main thread " develops and changes as more and more people give their comments and advice.

If you watch the " Similar threads " for any " main thread " that you are reading you will start to get more and more info about the topic.

Before you know it, you will be acquiring knowledge and references to the topics that you are most interested in at the time.

You can find your own way of recording or preserving the references and knowledge that get revealed to you in this way.
The world of computers is great for having many methods to record and preserve these references and knowledge.
You will be well-advised to learn about preserving and organizing the useful info that you come up with.
Each thread that is listed under " Similar threads " has a link (address), which allows you to return to read that thread over and over again.
It is very useful to learn how to record those links, and send each link or a group of links to YOURSELF using your personal email.
You can then read and look at that information over and over again as often as you desire.

HOPE THIS HELPS

This certainly does help, thanks.