My low cost pens are very satisfying. I can not afford high end pens. Found these low priced pens [ as described in many pen collector forums] can be quite a lot of fun. Sharing my experience with the viewer. All these reviews are based on how it feels in my hand, not much of methods etc. Any comments and question always welcome.
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Sunday, 5 January 2014
Wood kit-less pen 02 of 2014
This is my Second kit-less pen of 2014. Actually this pen was part finished and lying for some time.
There were some indecision about deciding on the design of the Clip and the Clip finial.
I selected a $ 2 Australian coin for the clip finial !
The pen body is a Reynolds Grippy pen refill modified with a wooden section and High quality WingSung Nib.
The Clip is hand made from a thick brass piece and is stiff.
Being a large pen , this pen is surprisingly [light and well balanced as long as the cap is not posted. The barrel is made on an aluminum tube.
There is definitely some more wanted in way of fineness but I am able to convey the design . Will stay in my collection as a prototype.
Curious to know how it appears to the viewers!
Wood Kitless pen
Wood Kitless pen:
This is my first kit-less pen of 2014. Actually this pen was part finished and lying for some time.
There were some indecision about deciding on the design of the Clip and the Clip finial.
I particularly liked the wood of the cap and have been able to retain the effective growth [ perhaps this is called burl ?]
The pen body is a Reynolds Grippy pen refill modified with a wooden section and High quality WingSung Nib.
The Clip is hand made from a SS bolt and is very hard.
Being a large pen , this pen is surprisingly [light and well balanced as long as the cap is not posted. The barrel is made on an aluminum tube.
There is definitely some more wanted in way of fineness but I am able to convey the design . Will stay in my collection as a prototype.
Curious to know how it appears to the viewers!
Tuesday, 31 December 2013
Goodbye 2013 - My fisrt segmented pen!
Goodbye 2013 - My fisrt segmented pen!
This is my first attempt at simple segmentation on an economy kit called Big Ben, and the the wood is leftover from the last two weeks work on various pens.
There are small mismatches at the hardware and wood joins, admit I did not use measurements and tried eye estimation- now there is no way to repair.
This pen is made using a local CA called FeviQuick, which is very thin and fast drying, took me some time to get used to. Earlier all along I have used Pen Makers' CA from PSI.
The barrel shape is Hex-section as usual as I do not have a lathe at present. Ends are slightly rounded.
I am generally happy with the result. Wonder how viewers would like it.
Thanks for viewing this experiment , and , A very happy and prosperous now year to all.
Monday, 30 December 2013
Baron Gold Kit with Hex section body.
Baron Gold Kit with Hex section body.
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This is my second pen using baron kit.
The wood is slightly dark colour, from a ship's pilot ladder step. This is a very hard and elastic wood, though not much heavy.To shape this hard wood using just hand sanding , has been a very tedious work, but managed finally.
Finished with 5 coats of CA and hand polish using all eight grits of micromesh stick, finally soft cloth and waxpol liquid polish.
I am happy with the outcome. Curious to receive viewers' comments.
Baron Chrome Kit with Hex-Section body.
Baron Chrome Kit with Hex-Section body.
My first pen on Baron Kit. I had earlier made two pens using a very similar looking kit called Tycoon [ the section was octagonal however].
The wood is from machinery packing crates, soft whitish in colour-I like the grain contrast in this wood.
Relatively easy wood for shaping by sanding and I tried to incorporate a twist in the hex shape.
The only difficulty with this soft wood is that sanding grit tends to embed in the wood and gardually darken up the wood colour, had to be careful about wiping between the grits.
However, once two coats of CA is dried on the wood, the wood colour becomes stable.
Finished with 5 coats of CA and hand polish using all eight grits of micromesh stick, finally soft cloth and waxpol liquid polish.
I am happy with the outcome. Curious to receive viewers' comments.
Sedona Gold Kit with Hex-Section body.
Sedona Gold Kit with Hex-Section body.
My second pen on Sedona kit, this is a fine looking economy kit. I like the rounded ends.
The wood is from machinery packing crates, soft whitish in colour-I like the grain contrast in this wood.
Relatively easy wood for shaping by sanding and I tried to incorporate a twist in the hex shape.
The only difficulty with this soft wood is that sanding grit tends to embed in the wood and gardually darken up the wood colour, had to be careful about wiping between the grits.
However, once two coats of CA is dried on the wood, the wood colour becomes stable.
Finished with 5 coats of CA and hand polish using all eight grits of micromesh stick, finally soft cloth and waxpol liquid polish.
I am happy with the outcome. Curious to receive viewers' comments.
Sedona Chrome Kit with Hex-Section body.
Sedona Chrome Kit with Hex-Section body.
My first pen on Sedona kit, this is a fine looking economy kit. I like the rounded ends.
The wood is from machinery packing crates, soft whitish in colour-I like the grain contrast in this wood.
Relatively easy wood for shaping by sanding and I tried to incorporate a twist in the hex shape. The only
difficulty with this soft wood is that sanding grit tends to embed in the wood and gradually darken up the wood colour, had to be careful about wiping between the grits.
Relatively easy wood for shaping by sanding and I tried to incorporate a twist in the hex shape. The only
difficulty with this soft wood is that sanding grit tends to embed in the wood and gradually darken up the wood colour, had to be careful about wiping between the grits.
However, once two coats of CA is dried on the wood, the wood colour becomes stable.
Finished with 5 coats of CA and hand polish using all eight grits of micromesh stick, finally soft cloth and waxpol liquid polish.
I am happy with the outcome. Curious to receive viewers' comments.
Saturday, 28 December 2013
El Grande Gold kit with Hex-Section body
El Grande Gold kit with Hex-Section body :
This is the first El-Grande pen I made. This also has come perfect in shape for a hand finished pen.
This wood is of a little darker shade and stands out better against the hardware.
The CA finish is given three coats and finished with micromesh stick, all eight grits. The finish is smooth but not much of shine.
Generally happy the way this pen turned out to be. Hope the viewers like it.
This is the first El-Grande pen I made. This also has come perfect in shape for a hand finished pen.
This wood is of a little darker shade and stands out better against the hardware.
The CA finish is given three coats and finished with micromesh stick, all eight grits. The finish is smooth but not much of shine.
Generally happy the way this pen turned out to be. Hope the viewers like it.
Reinhert Chrome Kit with Hex-Section body.
Reinhert Chrome Kit with Hex-Section body.
Completed this pen today. The blank used has two different types of wood length -wise.
Finished by 8 coats of CA, and micromesh stick polish by hand, but the final polish did not give much lusture. Guess I have to find some shiny wax based polish to apply again.
For a hand made pen, this is the first time it all came perfect in shape.
Curious how it would look to the viewers!
Completed this pen today. The blank used has two different types of wood length -wise.
Finished by 8 coats of CA, and micromesh stick polish by hand, but the final polish did not give much lusture. Guess I have to find some shiny wax based polish to apply again.
For a hand made pen, this is the first time it all came perfect in shape.
Curious how it would look to the viewers!
Friday, 27 December 2013
Two Graduate Magnetic pens in HEX-section bodies.
Two Graduate Magnetic pens in HEX-section bodies.
Here are two hex-section pens I completed today on Graduate magnetic cap kit, Gold and Chrome trim.
The wood chosen is of high quality, supplied as file handle.
The final look on the wood is kept in the natural colour. I had to restrain myself from dying the wood.
Finished in 6 coats of CA and hand polish up to 12000 grit, the pens look quite spartan.
I had earlier made one pen using this kit and had chosen to add some deviations.
The present ones look a little drab in comparison.
Pens from this kit are never much comfortable and practical to write with, but they have a look of their own.
Now it is for the viewers to comment.
Here are two hex-section pens I completed today on Graduate magnetic cap kit, Gold and Chrome trim.
The wood chosen is of high quality, supplied as file handle.
The final look on the wood is kept in the natural colour. I had to restrain myself from dying the wood.
Finished in 6 coats of CA and hand polish up to 12000 grit, the pens look quite spartan.
I had earlier made one pen using this kit and had chosen to add some deviations.
The present ones look a little drab in comparison.
Pens from this kit are never much comfortable and practical to write with, but they have a look of their own.
Now it is for the viewers to comment.
Wednesday, 25 December 2013
Churchill Chrome Kit pen with minor deviations :
Churchill Chrome Kit pen with minor deviations :
This is my first pen using a Churchil kit. I like the barrel end finial!
I used a previously turned semi-finished pen body and modified it to accept the hardware.
I have tried to give this pen a short and stubby look, so reduced the cap length by about 11 mm. To my surprize the final shape looks alright.
The finial edges should perhaps been rounded off, but in absence of a lathe, I did not risk it and left it the same way.
Hope this is not much of a grammar violation!
Curious to know how the viewers find it. Here are some photos.
Vertex Magnetic Metal Cap Gold Kit Rollerball pen in Hex Section barrel.
Vertex Magnetic Metal Cap Gold Kit Rollerball pen in Hex Section barrel:
This is another Hex-section pen I completed today. The kit chosen is Vertex Magnetic Metal Cap Gold Kit Rollerball.
As explained earlier , I used a previously turned and stabilized blank from stock and sanded it into a hex shape, the internal hole was expanded to fit the brass tube using a hand reamer.
This blank has three experiments done into it.
a) The hex shape was given a right handed skew to impart a twisted took.
b) Just prior applying the CA, I dyed the wood using fountain pen ink of pink colour.
c) A segmentation attempt with two wood types
Overall looks are not too bad, but the CA finish would have to be taken up again in future.
Admit I had run out of patience!
Admit I had run out of patience!
Here are some photos. Please let me have your comments.
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