"Kitless" fountain pen

[Dan Forman]

I've been wanting to make myself a new daily user for a while now, so this weekend I confronted the task.

This was made with a nib/feed/section from a Churchill/El Grande, but otherwise there are no kit parts in the pen. This way is a lot more work, but one can customize the shape (no tubes to constrain), and the weight of the pen is significantly lighter, making it more comfortable to use for longer writing sessions.

Triple start cap threads were made with a tap and die set I picked up in a group buy on the IAP (penturners) site, cap band is solid sterling silver. It's a fairly large pen, 6" with the cap on, and of substantial girth (I can't abide a skinny pen). Shape is an homage to one variation of the Wahl-Eversharp Equipoised fountain pen from the early '30's.


http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/T-Caster/P1020369.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/T-Caster/P1020361.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/T-Caster/P1020363.jpg

Dan

[Jeff Nicol]

Dan, You did a nice job of creating what you wanted the way you wanted to do it! The time put into things becomes a labor of love and it matters not how much time is spent getting to the finished product! I think the pen looks very nice!


Keep them coming,

Jeff

[Norm Zax]

Beautiful pen! Nice work. Not sure what you meant by kitless. Aren't the clip, nib, and band part of some kit? Elegant choice of blank.
Norm

[Chris Stolicky]

Good job on the pen.

I am working my way up to a kitless pen. I missed out on the group buy for those triple-start taps, so will probably just fool around with single start for now.

[Dan Forman]

Thanks for the comments.

Norm---"kitless" is a term being used over on the penturners website to describe pens made with a minimum of components that come from existing kits. It's partly about getting away from the recognized styles, and partly about reducing the over all weigh - kit pens tend to be relatively heavy due to the metal tubes and fittings.

Most of us that are going in this direction still use the nib/feed unit that come with kits, but can be bought separately. These are for all practical purposes impossible to make oneself. There are replacement nibs available, and I have a few, but have left the stock one in at present. Solid gold nibs can be had for around $100. :eek:

I cut the band from sterling silver tubing and made the rest of the band assembly, as well as the end caps, out of black acrylic. The clip was bought from another pen maker, but isn't available in any kit. I would like to learn how to make the clips as well at some point.

Dan

[Bernie Weishapl]

Beautiful pen Dan. Well done.