Wood plus plastic - proof of concept

[NGLJ]

Although there are some very attractive plastic blanks available, I think that we all have a liking for wood. So I decided to see if I could make a wood plus plastic kitless. For simplicity, and because I prefer "slimmer" pens, I decided to start with a Cross style refill. It is not intended to be a "finished" pen, simply a "proof of concept" to learn from. The plastic is what I had laying around. All in all it didn't turn out too badly for my first attempt. If I was making a "keeper" I would go a little thicker on the cap, since I got a little too thin, and it chipped out. Same with barrel, but it didn't chip out. I would use black plastic, or whatever color goes best with the wood, which in this case is laburnum. The specific piece wasn't perhaps the best choice because laburnum is very hard when there is difficult grain, and can chip out. I am sufficiently encouraged that I will press ahead to try and refine the product.

 

[sorcerertd]

I'm certainly interested to see where this goes. That's actually a pretty cool idea to hide a ballpoint refill in a fancy package. You might find a niche for those since some people just prefer a faster drying ballpoint ink.

 

[BHuij]

Looks great! I'm in largely the same boat as you - I strongly prefer wood as the main body of any pen, but obviously if you're cutting threads it's the wrong material. I always figured when I get around to trying a true kitless pen, I'll epoxy on enough acrylic to the ends of the body/cap/section blanks to take the threads, and use wood for the rest.

 

[d_bondi]

Looks great! I'm in largely the same boat as you - I strongly prefer wood as the main body of any pen, but obviously if you're cutting threads it's the wrong material. I always figured when I get around to trying a true kitless pen, I'll epoxy on enough acrylic to the ends of the body/cap/section blanks to take the threads, and use wood for the rest.

Just FYI, when you decide to jump in to wood kitless, keep in mind that if it is a fountain pen, you will need to completely sleeve, at least the cap, with something like ebonite or another synthetic (eg. alumilite). If you don't, the wood will suck the moisture out of the ink in the nib and dry the pen up too quickly.

 

[NGLJ]

Just FYI, when you decide to jump in to wood kitless, keep in mind that if it is a fountain pen, you will need to completely sleeve, at least the cap, with something like ebonite or another synthetic (eg. alumilite). If you don't, the wood will suck the moisture out of the ink in the nib and dry the pen up too quickly.

Hadn't thought about that. Great advice!

 

[NGLJ]

Iteration #2 - finally succeeded in getting to a "finished" pen using an M10 x 1/M7 x 1 combination and Cross refill. It wasn't without its challenges. My aim was to try and minimize the effect of a "wooden jacket" on the thickness of the cap and barrel compared to just plastic. This meant getting rather thin with the wood (about 1mm) which resulted in some breakthrough to the plastic if everything wasn't perfectly symmetric about the longitudinal axis. The other challenge was that when finishing the barrel I lost the plastic thread on the end despite using a mandrel with support for the barrel. Both of these issues greatly emphasize the accuracy required in making kitless pens. Even the smallest "out of round" can bring some kind of disaster. Experience only makes you better with each "iteration". So after several attempts at a completed barrel I finally made a complete pen. Of course, there is always room for improvement, and the cap and barrel aren't quite as concentric as I would like, but next time......The wood is Pacific Yew from the local coast. My next challenge is to try and make a plastic pen using M11 x 1/M8 x 0.75 with Parker refill. This will require the ultimate accuracy in drilling and threading the section. Perhaps this is too much to expect from a wood lathe. We shall see!

 

[NGLJ]

Iteration #3 - added "wooden" section in same wood as barrel and cap. It took a few tries to get it right, mainly due to thickness of wood (lack of) on top of Alumilite insert.

 

[NGLJ]

A walnut version - trying a few different woods to see how they behave when turned to very thin. With this one I got perhaps too thin on the cap but got lucky! Next I might try something more exotic and a different finish. With such delicate material finishing the ends of the cap and barrel is a challenge even when using a custom mandrel. It is way too easy to crack the threads. I venture to suggest that most of us have a collection of nearly there but......Experience helps but we are dealing with very small margins for error, and I haven't attempted a fountain pen yet - not sure if I will. There is lots of scope without that. I am sure that I am "preaching to the choir" when I say "this isn't easy".

 

[alinc100]

I like them all. I especially like your willingness to experiment and try new things. It would be boring if we all made the same pen.

 

[NGLJ]

I like them all. I especially like your willingness to experiment and try new things. It would be boring if we all made the same pen.

Absolutely, where is the enjoyment of "challenge" if we just do the same thing all of the time. Besides, in trying something new there will be mistakes from which we learn to be better next time! Learning is a life long never ending process. "Making" is like peeling an onion, just when you think that you have got there, you quickly realize there are many more layers to explore, way too many to ever think that you are done! One of best things about IAP is that you get to see the great work of others, and find yourself thinking "how did they do that?". If you want to try that yourself there is any amount of great help freely and encouragingly given.

 

[NGLJ]

Here is the more "exotic" that I mentioned in an earlier post, but same finish (friction lacquer). "Dumpster diving" in my shop I found a piece of Cocobolo. It was what was left from a large piece that a generous, close friend gave me. It is easy to like Cocobolo for its colors, turning and finishing properties. Based on comments here I gave Delrin a try. I used it for the threads at the end of the barrel, since black goes well with the Cocobolo. In future I may use it for section and cap threads, where color doesn't matter. It certainly threads and drills very nicely.