Someone beat me to it!

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Carl Fisher

Carl Fisher

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Joined
Jun 7, 2011
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Location
Cape Coral, FL
So I had this killer idea for a pen for the bash this year, but unfortunately I wasn't able to spend the time needed to pull it off. It was an idea I had never seen posted or even discussed before.

Was I ever surprised to see someone pulled off the exact idea I've been playing around with in my head, submitted it, and placed with it in this years bash.

At least now it gives me a visual to work with and possibly improve on because up to this point all I have are a few random sketches and notes on how to pull it off.
 
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The exact same thing happened to me but I am not surprised as I am sure the idea is not as "original" as I thought it was.

Which pen was it?
 
Every time I think I have an original pen idea I go search the web and I usually find the exact same design I was going to do. Now I am just going to make a pen and if I am happy with it then that is good enough.

SO which pen were you talking about?
 
The double ended.

Ever since I saw the cartridge rollerball system, I've wanted to do a double ended rollerball/fountain that had the same proportions and lines of a typical pen but pull double duty with the cartridges installed back to back.
 
Carl,
I guess you and I must think alike.

I had originally intended to try to do this type of pen for the moodified pen contest. The intent there was an FP with cartridge on one end of the normal capped pen with a mini ballpoint to the other end. That idea died when I read the rules for the modified pen contest.

I originally didn't expect to have the time for a Freestyle entry, but when my schedule opened up the only unique idea I could come up with was to try the double ended design. So, I decided to have a go with making the concept work. A few quick measurements pushed me away from the mini ballpoint refill due to length concerns, so I settled on the roller righter paired with the fountain.

For my design, there is not room for two standard cartridges (it makes the pen too long for my liking), so I made it a double-ended eyedropper filler with the capability to use a cartridge on either end if desired. The biggest challenge was finding the right modifications to the roller righter end to prevent leaks. Once this was worked out, the rest of the pen came together. I enjoyed making it, it it has become my daily writer at work.

Rich
 
I'm actually excited to see that someone has put this together. I was just completely surprised at the timing as my intent was to make one for the same freestyle contest but time was not on my side. It would have been funny to see two of them pop up at the same time.

I don't suppose you'd be interested in showing the internals would you? I'm interested in how you did the eye-drop filler setup. Does the same reservoir feed both ends of the pen?

My goal is to actually have 2 different colors installed. Something like DC Blue for the roller side and my favorite copper for the fountain side...or something to that effect.

I love taper you put on the tail end (rollerball cap) and am I correct that there is no clip on the fountain cap?
 
Carl,

I agree it would have been ironic to have 2 of the double ended pens show up in one contest.
I don't have any pictures a present, but I will try to snap a shot or two the next time I need to refill it.

For this pen, the body is a tube that two different sections screw into. Each section has an O-ring gasket to create an ink tight seal. To fill the pen, the fountain section is removed and a eyedropper is used to add ink to the body. Once the body is filled, the fountain section is reattached, and the ink is available to either end for writing.

I suppose if two colors were desired, the body could be made without drilling all the way thru so there is a bulkhead to keep separate ink colors. Then each color could be added separately thru the respective section.

I did not put a clip on it, but the cap finial is removable so one could be added. This is the first time I have done a pen without a clip. The taper adds some character and makes the fountain cap postable. I think my favorite thing is the finial buttons which were a late add as a lucky find in the cutoff box. I was originally looking to add plain white.
 
Rich,

Some great suggestions to think about. I like the thought of not connecting both sides so it can use different ink on each side. I did also like your finial caps as well as the clean white lines in the sections...I voted for it.

So did you use one of the Schmidt roller ball sections or did you modify something else to do the job? If you used the Schmidt, what tap did you end up needing to thread the section cleanly?

Sorry for so many questions.
 
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